striper question

[yourkiddin]

i was just turned on to stripers six weeks ago. i am wondering how long they bite the way they are right now? i am pretty succesful most days. not always of course. im using live bait. does the bite turn off in the real hot months? then come back in the fall. i live in ga around west point lake.

 

[RicMic]

Re: striper question

They bite all summer, BUT they go deeper as the water warms up.

 

[yourkiddin]

Re: striper question

thanks for the reply. i am so addicted to this now. i have to find other places that hold these fish in the deeper water. i was actually showed 3 good spots thats in the 15 to 30 ft range. so now im going to have to search out some deeper places. another thing is i have been using blue gill to catch them. a guy told me this is only working because the threadfin population was decreased buy the cold weather this past fall. and that they would not bite next summer on blue gill when the threadfin made a comeback. any thoughts on that would be appreciated.

 

[gonefishie]

Re: striper question

Our state record was broken last month at a lake that's full of shad. The guy caught it with a bluegill.

Apparently, the link doesn't work anymore. It's a 39.something almost 40lbers. The previous record was 35 something and set in 1993 on the Ohio river caught below the McAlpine dam.

 

[RicMic]

Re: striper question

Stripers can really lock onto a particular SIZE of bait and ignore anything outside that size range, I don't know that they are going to ignore an easy meal of the right size, because its a different color(like bluegill), lots of guys buy and use trout for striper bait and they come in several flavors. Blue backed herring are also a popular bait, just make sure to check the law, they have been illegally released into several lakes in GA and are now a huge problem. I know guys that do really well on deep stripers with big saltwater jigs, it is a lot of work though and I would "sweeten" them with a strip of bait.

 

[dingbat]

Re: striper question

Stripers are the laziest fish around. They will eat anything of any size or color if you put in front of their face.

Live bait (live lining) and chumming works best if the fish are in the top 15-20' of the water column. Deeper than that jigging an trolling bring better results. There isn't a Striper swimming that can resist a 6" Albino or Lime Green Bass Assassin on a ? oz. jig. Either can they resist a #15 Tony Accetta spoon trolled in front of them.

Stripers are nocturnal feeders. They move into the shallows to feed after dark. They respond well to big, dark colored (purple and black works well) top water baits.

 

[gonefishie]

Re: striper question

Maybe saltwater stripers behave differently then freshwater because I have seen school of stripers working a ball of baits in broad daylight many times. It happens more often in early morning with low light. I watched an episode of In-Fisherman when they were fishing the Cumberland river. They trolled with planer boards using the biggest live gizzard shad they can catch. The stripers they caught were monsters.

I stayed at the holiday inn express but am still no striper fisherman.

 

[dingbat]

Re: striper question

Maybe saltwater stripers behave differently then freshwater because I have seen school of stripers working a ball of baits in broad daylight many times. It happens more often in early morning with low light. I watched an episode of In-Fisherman when they were fishing the Cumberland river. They trolled with planer boards using the biggest live gizzard shad they can catch. The stripers they caught were monsters.

I stayed at the holiday inn express but am still no striper fisherman.

Stripers feed when the opportunity lends itself. I've spent countless hours chasing breaking Stripers in the middle of the afternoon, but as you noted, periods of low light are their preferred feeding time.

Fishing for them at night is much more productive. We have a saying here when surf casting for them. "The sun hurts their eyes.

 

[RicMic]

Re: striper question

Maybe they are different in fresh water, you can catch them and hybreds anytime of the day, in the hot months of summer, it is often better at night, since they follow the bait to the surface. In the colder weather, the middle of the day may well be the best time. I can tell you, that the stripers or hybreds can be boiling the surface after bait, but if you don't put the exact right size in front of them, you can pull it right through the middle of them until your arms fall off and they won't even look at it. Its happened to me several times, that they were feeding on TINY shad and the only thing they would hit was a crappie jig, color didn't seem to matter. Hybreds seem to behave like stripers and not so much like the white bass. Just about two weeks ago, I was tearing the hybreds up right in the middle of hot sunny days, 1PM to 4Pm and I was the only person still fishing, everyone else had left, because it was to hot and still.

 

[yourkiddin]

Re: striper question

thanks guys, this was some good info. this is something i am going to be pursuing further. it is so much fun catching these big fish. the biggest i have caught was 12 lbs. im just a beginner and have done good for my first season. but i could not imagine getting ahold of one in the 40lb range. lake lanier is 2 hrs away. west point lake where im at, the record is 33lbs. so i know not to expect anything over probably 15lbs. i have yet to get a net and bait tank to catch the gizzard shad.

 

[dingbat]

Re: striper question

I can tell you, that the stripers or hybreds can be boiling the surface after bait, but if you don't put the exact right size in front of them, you can pull it right through the middle of them until your arms fall off and they won't even look at it. Its happened to me several times, that they were feeding on TINY shad and the only thing they would hit was a crappie jig, color didn't seem to matter.

Schoolies can get to where you have to match the hatch but...if you have schoolies on the surface you want to be fishing down deep and down current of the action anyhow. This is where the big ones lie in wait for the wounded fish and left overs to fall. Have pulled many a good fish out from under a pile of schoolies.

As I said earlier, a 6" bass Assassin on a 1/2 oz. lead head will get the job done. Use a 6ft, fast action, 12-17lb med-heavy, spinning rod and a good quality 2500 or 3500 spinning reel loaded with #10 braid. Keep the bait in contact with the rod tip as it drops to the bottom. Most of the time they will pick the bait up on the drop.

 

[RicMic]

Re: striper question

I'm not an expert, but in my experience, the main problem at this time of year is the temperature. The surface temps on some of the lakes around here is in the 80's and if you just pump that into your tank, it can kill your bait quick.

 

[Wingedwheel]

Re: striper question

An answer to both topics in this post. Warm water in the livewell can be a real problem when its warm as RicMic said. The pump will also heat the water up considerably when its warm. I always keep a cooler with ice and throw some in every now and then. Its a pain, but it keeps things alive. As for the Stripers, I've always had good luck trolling with a poor mans down rigger. Thats a Hellbender with about 15' of leader behind it with a Pet spoon on the end. I've actually gotten tired of pulling them in on the better days.

 

[vhuevos7]

Re: striper question

I am by no means an expert on striper's but I have found if you get to the right depth by using your fish finder and talking with the lake loacals you can do pretty good year round with live bait.

 

[aspeck]

Re: striper question

The patterns for Stripers in Raystown have changed over the years, but the one constant the last 10 or 15 years has been live trout. The warmer the water the deeper they will go.

But even in the hot days, they will still school and feed on the surface, you just have to be at the right place at the right time.

I have not consistantly fished for stripers in years, but when I did my favorite lure was a white 3/4 oz bucktail jig with red eyes and a red collar with a 5" snatrix trailer in white. Drag this under a schooling, feeding, frenzy and hang on! The largest one I have caught has been upper 20's, but the state record is now over 50lb. They are fun to catch and anything but lazy when hooked. You need to find the balance between horsing them in and playing them, because they will fight themselves to death.

We have used large Rattle Traps in shad pattern also with good results also. But trout take more stripers than anything these days.