[flywhaler]

i'm a new angler so don't laugh...when chunking bunker for stripers, how big are your chunks and what size hooks do you like to use? thanks.

 

[Matts]

I've caught them on thin steaks and last year, some anglers reported better success on strips, but I usually get 3-4 chunks from the middle and cut up the head and tail for chum. I've heard that the biggest bass hit the head, and the tail lasts a long time, but I've never had luck with them.

 

[flywhaler]

thanks. i cut it into 4 parts. i think that's too big. i live in PW too. i usedthe ramp at manorhaven because it's so close to my house...what a piece of junk! i'll go to bar beach next time. i fished outside manhasset bay just past the 5mph signs. didn't catch much though. do you know if ALL of manhasset bay is 5mph? thanks again.

 

[jimgleiss]

#1 - striped bass have BIG mouths
#2 - bigger bait = bigger fish

i have most success bass fishing with live bait such as bunker or eels. bass will try to swallow bunker that won't fit in their mouths (they don't need to swallow it to get hooked), and i've even caught a bass with the bunker still in his mouth and 3"+ was hanging out. if i don't have live bunker, i'll chunk. first using all the heads i have. i cut from the top of the head, diagonally down so that the guts of the fish are still attached and exposed (nice and bloody). i discard the tails. i have been using 5/O treble hooks lately with great results on live-lined bunker. in the past i used 5/O or 6/O circle hooks.

good luck.

 

[Scalawag]

One thing to remember from what I learned,

Chunking is mostly done outside the inlets or maybe in the inlet but not really a bay fishing thing

 

[620414]

Caught 6 20-24 inch bass on chunks this evening. I had 2 heads out there hoping that their grandmother would show up, but no luck in that department. 2-4 pound bluefish were keeping us busy for most of the evening. We were right between Stepping Stones Lighthouse and Ft. Totten. You could get there easily from Manhasset bay. Using 8/0 Gamakatsu Octupus Circle hooks. Not one gut hook all evening.

 

[612387]

The best part for me is the one right behind the head. I use about a one inch cut, take the guts out and put them on your hook first. Then hook the top of the chunk, about a half inch down. Just through the skin, don't try to go under the bone. Fresh bunker is by far better then frozen.

 

[flywhaler]

wow! thanks for the great info guys.

 

[jimgleiss]

fished with chunks this mornin in the back of jamaica bay (nowhere near the inlet). i was live-lining bunker but they were dyin real fast from draggin them across the muddy bottom (muck covered their gills and suffocated them). used heads (cut just like i said in my previos post) for three keeper bass, 15 to 22lbs. best place to fish w/ bunker chunks in underneath a school of bunker. bluefish will usually come up and chomp on the school, while the bass hang below picking up the scraps (like chunks). big bass are lazy. they let the bluefish do the work while they sit and wait.

 

[craigkoproski]

give this a try

if the bunker are plentiful take a fillet knife and run it along the side of the bunker taking off the fillet. Obviously you will only get two fillets per bunker. Then take the knife and cut one end of the fillet into strips just like you would a squid. Hook the fillet from the end you didn't shred and use a 6/0 circle hook gamakatsu's work really well. The nice thing about fishing fillets is if there is any kind of current going they never hit the bottom so no crabs. I've also had luck fishing them with sliders. Good luck.