by Alan Caolo | July 24th, 2013
John Repoza with a nice bass
Striped bass subsist on a wide array of forage. By weight, they consume baitfish more than any other food source, and fly fishers take the majority of their fish on various types of baitfish imitations. But stripers can be acutely selective, and they routinely defy anglers who exclusively fish baitfish flies. This is particularly true on the flats, where stripers turn their focus to crabs, juvenile flounder, and shrimp, perhaps 60 to 70 percent of the time. Based on numbers of prey consumed, shrimp are most important for inshore-feeding bass, especially during the warmer months of the season—anglers equipped with a good shrimp pattern are prepared for these picky fish.