If you know about trolling
bunker spoons for striped bass,
you know about Montauk Striper
Bunker Spoons from Julian’s Bait and
Tackle in Atlantic Highlands, N.J.

Newer companies might’ve cornered
the market in recent years.

But Julian’s are venerable spoons.

They catch more stripers than any,
Jimmy Morenz from the shop said.

Jimmy, who’s worked at the shop for years, and his dad, Whitey Morenz, used to run the Miss Take II, the party boat from Highlands, N.J.

Morenz is a venerable name itself in fishing.

Julian’s bought the Montauk Striper company from anglers who founded the spoons at Highlands, Joe Julian, the store’s owner, said.

A couple of other companies from New Jersey first made bunker spoons, before the Montauk Striper company did, he said.

The first, from Sea Bright, made them from headlight reflectors, he said.

Montauk Striper Spoons, 40 or 50 years old, Joe said, are still handmade at Julian’s.

Jimmy helped make them during winters
20 years ago, Jimmy said.

They aren’t mass-produced by machines.

“We work on them so they swim right,” Joe said.  “Put different bends in them and whatnot.”

When the spoons are fished on the 9-foot rods the company sells to troll the lures, “man, they swim, they pump,” he said.

The spoons are sent to another company to apply the powder-coating paint.

The bunker spoons come in 10-, 8- and 6-inch sizes, or sizes 1, 2 and 3, respectively.

They’re available in chrome, green or white.

The No. 3 in chrome can even be trolled for lake trout, imitating alewives, Jimmy said.

Montauk Striper Spoons are sold at Julian’s, founded in 1932, and a few other shops in New Jersey, as far south as Manahawkin.

They’re also sold at a bunch of shops in New York, Joe said, and a few in Delaware, though they haven’t become as popular in Delaware.

They aren’t available by mail order from Julian’s.

That’s unlike some of the new spoons.

“Ours are the best,” Joe said.

Julian’s Bait & Tackle
990 Highway 36
Atlantic Highlands, NJ 07716
Phone: (732) 291-0050

Scroll down for a few photos.

Jimmy Morenz, back in the day.