Hey Deep!!...welcome to the fun!!...if you found an 87 w/no dents or dings, you did pretty good!!...
I do a LOT of freshwater striper fishing...how you fish for them, largely depends on what kind od bait or lures are available to you...our main "go to" is live Herring...bat-shops around here sell them now, but back in the day we used to stay up all night and net them under lights, then fish stripers all day w/ the herring for bait...15-20 lb line and a 1 1/2 oz barrel-sinker to get you down to them...in winter we free-line w/only the hook thru the herring's nostrils...free-lining requires an electric trolling motor to move around SLOWLY (just enough to keep the free-lined bait out behind the boat)...let me know what yer using and I'll try to steer you to 'em...large minnows (shiners) work great too...here's a local freshwater record caught last year...63 lb 4 oz...
I don't even know this guy, but I wish I did!!...