hunk'in is smelly, dirty and messy but striped bass sure do love their fresh chunks. The points below apply to any bait, Menhaden (Bunker), Mackeral, Herring, Anchovey or whatever is prevalent in your waters. Keyword in that sentence is fresh. Either freshly dead or fresh defrosted, not fresh 90 minutes ago. Always go out of your way to get and use fresh bait!

Depending on the size of the bait you should slice it into four or five pieces. Some fishermen believe the head chunk is best but in my experience it makes no difference. When you use the head chunk I prefer placing the hook at the cut end. Not through the jaw, eye socket etc. My experience is that I get more hook sets (see the arrow in the picture) but that's not a "rule." Do NOT toss the guts - an old trick is to use a small rubber band to hold the "blood and guts" in place. The fluids will spread out in the water and attract fish. Chunks get washed out after 20 minutes or so. Cut your old chunk into smaller bits as chum and re-bait with a new piece of "blood & guts."

Fishfinder rigs without orange "floatie thingies" are good especially with Circle hooks.

Hooks: If you are going to use a standard "J" type hook make sure they are big enough so that the barb is fully exposed. If necessary pierce your bait with your knife to get the hook barb exposed. I prefer size 6/0 baitholder hooks or up to 9/0 octopus hooks during the Fall. This is doubly important with a Circle hook or you will miss fish.

Circle Hooks are designed to catch the fish’s lip. Do not immediately set the hook when a pick up is detected. You will either pull the bait out or end up falling flat on your keyster. The fish must make a turn away from you and swim off. You have to be patient, let the fish run off with the chunk and then either throw your reel in gear or apply full pressure. Fishing from a boat, Circles are perfect.