so we are up the tugaloo(on lake hartwell) this weekend,between markers t-13 and t-14,fish schooling all around the boat,bait just a jumping,nothing no bites i mean nada…so along comes another boat pulling planner baords…bang first pass he nails one…thankfully it was the only one he got but they continue to school all around us…what is up with this…i do not understand how they just pass by my bait???
its one thing if nobody is catching anything around me but now its getting personal:smiley:they just don’t like me…
i am no expert but i am not having any trouble finding the fish,but getting them to swallow the hook is a whole different deal…
also whats up with other boats crowding you when your working an area??have some respect for others,i know i do and i try real hard to to fish on top of somebody else…
What were you using for bait/lures?
My trouble has been the finding part!
On CH for schooling, (and this should be similar on your lake) most guys will throw artificals past the school, then bring it into the school. You can do the same thing working a corner. Favorite artificals are gottcha shad (4"), thing-poppers and an asortment of things like divers (the bigger fish should be lurking under the hyper active smaller schoolies on the top) and don’t forget the zarra spook.
Are you going with live bait? If so the planner board success would make sense… boat away, no spooking
As for the rudeness… no help (or hope) in that department
i was using herring and moving around with the trolling motor…
learning how to reag your graph is makes finding them easier…i paid for a guide and he showed me how to set the FF and what to look for…it seemed like alot($$) at the time but it has been priceless in helping me find them…there are times i wonder and about that time they start schooling all around me,so i know i am in the right areas,just have to perfect my hooking part…
i may have to try CH sometime…i have been told there is a higher concentration of stripers in that lake and it makes it easier to catch them…yeah right…i really believe that:clown_face:
i know i set th gain down to 30% or less,the chart speed as high/fast as you can get it to scroll…take out any fish symbol stuff…basically you want it to look like a graph…
i am no expert on this…but i can watch the bait fish(big clumps)on the screen(usually 20-30 ft off bottom) and literally see the stripers come up from the bottom and hit them(it will be a stripe/or slash mark going from bottom to top)…and to confirm it i can watch my rod tips at the same time and my bait will be going nuts…it is really cool to see all this…now if it just had a special button to make them bite my hook,i would be set…
i think there are some other settings,i will have to dig thru my notes…
How well is your trolling motor setup working on your boat??
Were you pulling planers or just freelines?? Somtimes I think the planer boards act kinda like a teaser and entice the fish.
It could also be how far back he had his bait from planer boards, I will vary the lengths on my baits till I find one that works. Also I try to always keep at least 1 down rod and will pick up fish on that sometimes as well when on nothing else.
It could have also been he just pulled be the right fish at the right time. If he were catching fish after fish I would say something was different but to just catch 1 or 2 he probably just hit the spot at the right time.
Also do you keep a casting rod for the schooling fish, I always keep a casting rod with a jig to pass the boredom when nothing is biting but I will catch fish sometimes when I see a swirl or something chasing bait and I cast near it. To me that fish is in a feeding mode and will hit the first thing in front of his nose.
Good luck and I would like to go out with you after I get some deer hunting out of the way, by the way taking my boat in for some repairs this week while I am deer hunting.
When stripers are schooling in the fall you have to “match the hatch” so to speak. On Lake Murray they are usually feeding on shad that are about an inch long. If you throw a lure or live bait that is bigger than that you will get very few strikes. A small spoon or other lure that is close to the size of the bait they are feeding on usually does the trick.
What type/size bait are they feeding on? You should be able to see a few jumping to get away from the stripers. If you want to use live bait the best thing to do it ease up to school with the t-motor & cast net some for bait.
As far as the boat rage I know what you mean. Seems like every year when the stripers school you have a bunch of converted striper fishermen who roar up to the edge of a school at break-neck speed, shut the big motor off & start casting. When they don’t catch any stripers (I wonder why) they crank up & chase after the next school. Very frustrating indeed.
Here is a technique that I like to use to somewhat offset this phenomenon. Try this:
-Motor around in the area where everybody is chasing striper schools. Pick a random spot on the water; start pointing in that direction (all of the people in your boat) & act like you are excited.
Crank your motor & head for the “imaginary” school at WOT. Shut the motor down & start casting to the fictitious fish.
Within 30 seconds you will have several boats roaring over to your spot. When they start casting to the “school,” ease away from them, and then go find a real school of fish to work. It may only buy you a couple of minutes, but it will give you a little edge & makes for a good laugh.
t-price,
trolling motor setup is awesome,it moves that boat around faster than i ever imagined…
i basically was using down lines…i have never used planer boards yet…thats fixin to change…
yes i keep a casting rod but i need to practice my casting…bill dance would not be impressed:frowning_face:
Megalops,
i love your thinking:smiley:
now that you mentioned it the bait that was jumping seemed smaller than what i was using,i had herring 5-6inches long,what was jumping looked alot smaller…
I had a similar problem, doing it all right but no bites. Then I switched to a shorter leader, no more than 16" and started using a 2/0 to 4/0 circle hook through the nose of a FRISKY bait. The shorter leader let’s the fish get the bait easier while it’s still trying to run away. I usually get 3 fish every trip.
Oh, by the way, that’s Lk Murray. I still have not caught a striper out of Lk Wateree.
i have never fished for stripers in freshwater but i just moved down here from Maryland and have worked on charter stiper boats for a long time up there n learned a couple of things about stripers
has anyone every tried trolling bucktails, umbrellas, or sassy shads for them, i no in the chesapeake this works all the time
no casting for them when they school on the bay i would always come up to them slowly n cast over the school then bring the lure or jig through them, the best lure i have found for this is a number 14 tony(spoon), but also always like to have rubber storm lures in the mullet, or shad pattern, always a couple crank baits that can get down to the deep fish and always have a couple sting silvers/hopkins lure to jig the big ones up from the bottom of the school
do u think these tatics would work around here, plus im supposed to be going to lake marion in 2 weeks to fish, can i catch stripers there
Yea, we troll for them all the time during spring and summer with jigs, umbrellas and other things. Most, I think I am speaking for most of us, of us like to freeline live herring and pull them with the electric motors. It is a very efficient way to catch the lake stripers. However there are some guys that will swear by, and some of us swear at, trolling umbrella rigs. I for one have had some success at it but near as much as live bait fishing.
I have also tried trolling the Santini tube lures which I know is popular up North but have not had any luck with them. I am sure they work it is just hard to switch methods when you have one that works most of the time.
have some respect for others,i know i do and i try real hard to to fish on top of somebody else…
