Took my first trip to lake Murray today and drifted with live heron. No fish in the boat but it was a midday trip.
Maybe it was because you were using heron for bait… Haha just kidding. This is a tough time of year for the striped ones.
Maybe so… Maybe I should of asked for herring instead of heron.
Lol!! Funny stuff guys! … Alot of people spell “herring” the way we southerners say it.
Not nearly as bad as calling stripers “strippers.”
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175 Yammy Jammer
I know first hand that you can’t catch strippers on herring OR heron. I’ve tried. Maybe trolling will work…
Nowake, fishing is tough right now. But in a few weeks it will get much better. Fish will be schooling on top and bunched up in thick schools below. Also, you were probably drifting way too fast based on the wind. You need to be going very slow when fishing down that deep. You lines should be almost perpendicular to the water.
Wellcraft V-20 sportfish with a 200 Evinrude
quote:
Originally posted by scgmcI know first hand that you can’t catch strippers on herring OR heron. I’ve tried. Maybe trolling will work…
I hear that trolling $1 and $5 bills works. That’s only what I hear. I have no first hand knowledge of this.
War Eagle 754 Ducks Unlimited - Yamaha 75
I’m going to try up around the upper end where the saluda comes into the lake. Hit some of them deep pockets and catch them coming out of the river. I’m new at this striper fishing but I would like to put the snag on some of them suckers.
The best time to go up top is in the winter. Right now most fish are down by the dam and deep.
You may find a stray or two up there, but I wouldn’t fish any higher than Shull Island. Most fish are from spence to the dam. Cruise around the mouth of jakes and look for schools of fish up on the points and over the trees. Once you spot the fish drop lines and try to hold over them with the trolling motor. Anchor if you don’t have a trolling motor. I wouldn’t fish up there till around Thanksgiving, or at least not till the lake turns over.
Wellcraft V-20 sportfish with a 200 Evinrude
Nowake, I’m fishing the upper end for white perch. Success varies from day to day with the perch. They are here, but constantly moving chasing shad. I’ve only kept one small 14" striper that swallowed the spoon last week. Most of the perch were between 21’ and 27’ deep. Same advice applies for them. Find them and stay over them with the trolling motor. When they move you have to find them again. Some days that isn’t easy.
The striper guys are correct. There aren’t many good sized stripers up here at this time of year. The stripers will usually move up here in mid to late October when the water starts cooling down. At that time they are usually schooling and easy to catch, provided you don’t run all over them with a big motor. My advice, for that time of year, is to use the trolling motor and stay a long cast away from them to keep from spooking the schools. If you are drifting for them right now you need to keep the boat drifting as slowly as possible, anchor down or hold over the fish with the trolling motor as mentioned above. Good luck.
Sometimes they will school in the evenings at the small water treatment plant in Jake’s. That’s probably a few weeks away.
After we have the first string of lows in the 50’s and highs in the 70’s in late September, the fish will begin to stretch out from the dam all the way to the Gap and into Crystal Lake and Hollow. Bear and lower Beaverdam are also not out of the question. However, they still prefer to orient toward the main river channel. As the lake continues the turnover process, the stripers will get a stronger presence around the Elbow. During all this, my preferred techniques continue to be downrods and spoons in the depths with a freeline or 2 ready for action. When turnover completes in the 1st or 2nd week of November, it’s time to start pulling the rivers.
These are my observations after chasing these fish for 28+ years. I’m sure experienced anglers have similar observations. Hopefully, this can be helpful to those fairly new to doing what we do.
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You might also consider trying the catfish in Murray. I’ve caught 2 flatheads over 20 lbs. while fishing for the perch and numerous ones over 8 lbs. They don’t usually make the long runs like a striper can, but they do put up a great fight on 12 lbs. test line. I’m sure some of the striper guys have caught some big ones, probably bigger than mine.
Thanks for all the info guys. Like I said, I’m really just getting into striper fishing so all the info I can get is valuable. Especially on Murray, that lake is huge and is deep all over. Nothing like Lake Greenwood, Thurman, or Russell. I was pretty impressed with the lake for my first time on it.
Nowake, your view of Murray is much like my opinion of the Hill. Murray is no where near as huge as Thurman but is much deeper on average. The fish over there don’t behave like Murray fish as far as their seasonal movements. During the warm months, we have to make the choice to fish in the Russell tailrace or all the way down to below Modoc, into Ga Little River, or down to the shadow of the Thurman Dam. I’ve only done well in the midlake during cold water periods… At any rate, I’ve only been going to the Hill for 8 years and have worn many a butt kickin along the way. However, over the past couple of years, I’ve started to put things together and catch 'em more often than not. Put in your boat riding and hook time, and you will figure out the Murray fish.
Tight lines!
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I fish on the upper end of Thurman all the time and I agree it is a hugelake. Murray is short and very wide and as you said, deep. Wasn’t knocking on Thurman at all, its an awesome lake. Especially now she has water in it.
10-4.
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