whats the best lure for stripers
I’m the least qualified to answer this since I only fish for stripers a couple times a year at best, but this is going to depend on how deep you find them and how active they are.
I know the only time I’m likely to catch them is when they are active in the rivers, and I look for them busting the surface. At that point, a chartreuse or white bucktail, as big as I can find, seems to be best, but also can get them on large minnow stick baits and rat-l-trap types.
I can’t chase them down since I am paddle-only, but seeing the bust the surface means they are around. At that point I’m basically blind casting around places that seem to have decent bottom structure. Larger lures seem to attract them for me.
The most versatile lure you could have for stripers would be a bucktail jig with a twister tail. You can cast it, jig it or troll it. As far as what’s best varies depending on what the fish are doing. Surface plugs, spoons, stickbaits, swim baits, etc. should all be in your arsenal.
War Eagle 754 Ducks Unlimited - Yamaha 75
For fish that are 20 feet or deeper, without a doubt, I would say jigging spoons. Shallower, I would say swimbaits like sassy shads or Storm Kickin’ Minnows. Bucktails with twisty tails are also very versatile and effective. In clear water and bright skies, whites and chartreuses are great. Muddy/stained water and darker skies call for blues, purples, blacks, and firetiger combinations. My .02!!
Good open-ended question!
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175 Yammy Jammer
In the Chesapeake we always used bucktails or eels. Not sure if this translates well to our landlocked stripers.
If two wrongs don’t make a right, try three.
Anyone ever try an eel like artificial on our lake fish? I’ve seen some ridiculous sized bass worms in clearance bins before that were maybe 15-18 inches long, and wondered if one trolled slow would get a hit.
I haven’t, but I have tried live ones! LOL
I’ve used them in salt water growing up back in “Ohio”, so I’ve always wondered how they would do in the lake. One of my crew in the Hooter’s Tournament last spring went to Florence to pick some up as a secret weapon. I assume he mostly sells them to stores in the Beauford area for Cobia, but he said the guy mentioned guys have bought them from him to use for those monsta cats at Santee.
Anyway, we didn’t do anything with them. Really only put one out once in a while. It was hard to do much experimenting with them in the middle of the tournament with a tank full of herring that you know for sure they will hit. They were good size eels though and I’m sure it would have been a decent size fish if we did get one. I believe, since then, the law has changed and you can only use baitfish that are indigenous to the lake you are fishing.
I picked up a couple of Storm Swimmin Eels one time to try, but they didn’t seem to have much action when steadily trolling. I think they may do better trolling in water with current running. I was trying to find an artificial eel we used is salt water a looong time ago, but looks like they are no longer around. It was called something like an Aloue Eel and had a chain in it connecting the the head and tail section. Surgical tube eels are also used, but I haven’t tried them in the lake.
'07 198 DLX Carolina Skiff
FS90 Suzuki
I read that the Deadly Dick jigging spoon I use in the summer was originally constructed with the sand eel in northern saltwater locales in mind. However, the 3.3 ounce, 6 inch chrome and silver model I use seems to mimic a herring to me.
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175 Yammy Jammer
Yea. IMO, I’m not too sure it matters a whole lot what type of fish a particular jig is imitating as long as it has a good fluttering action when it falls. I used DD’s, Hopkins and 3 oz Crippled Herring this fall and can’t say I seen a whole lot of difference in results between them.
But…Even though, over the years, I’ve always used a hopkins spoon. If someone told me I had to go catch a striper and could only bring one spoon…I think you converted me…lol I’d have to go with a DD.
'07 198 DLX Carolina Skiff
FS90 Suzuki
I like chunking super spooks to fish on top. They are fairly heavy so you can throw them a mile. I do miss quite a few fish with them but I feel like i get more bites and more fish overall. Red Fins and Bomber Long-As are good for “waking” a bait to get bites. When it gets really cold I like the double fluke rig because it gets good distance casting, it has a good slow sink rate and the baits dart back and forth when you twitch the rod, a nice slow presentation. Umbrella rigs with bucktails and 6 inch curly tail grubs are great cause you can cover a lot of ground with them and often catch 2-3 fish at a time when pulling 2 or more rigs. When I fished the Trent River near New Bern, NC the black/silver Bang-o-lure with props on both ends was the hot lure. I liked fishing there in December and January. I about fell out of my chair one morning when I saw George Poveromo on TV casting artificials to stripers in the Trent River. Its just not a place many people know about… so to see it on TV was crazy. He also liked the silver and black combo there.
I’ve spent about 85% of my life’s wages on fishing, the rest I just wasted…
I’m not saying that the stripers prefer artificial worms, but I’ve seen two put in the boat during one of our largemouth tournaments. Both hit Carolina rigged Zoom trick worms and both would have been keepers. Also, I’ve caught a lot of good sized stripers on light colored floating worms while fishing for largemouth in lake Murray.
I have tried the Berkley artificial eels. Put one out while trolling live bait and while we caught stripers on the live bait the eel never got a hit.
quote:
Originally posted by striperskiffYea. IMO, I’m not too sure it matters a whole lot what type of fish a particular jig is imitating as long as it has a good fluttering action when it falls. I used DD’s, Hopkins and 3 oz Crippled Herring this fall and can’t say I seen a whole lot of difference in results between them.
But…Even though, over the years, I’ve always used a hopkins spoon. If someone told me I had to go catch a striper and could only bring one spoon…I think you converted me…lol I’d have to go with a DD.
'07 198 DLX Carolina Skiff
FS90 Suzuki
DD’s rock! I told Richard Hall I was looking at trying the lure. He correctly predicted I wouldn’t be disappointed. I’m not as big on spoons right now since I’m puling really shallow water. But I will always have a DD tied on when I’m primarily fishing deep water.
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175 Yammy Jammer
How bout the artical that was posted on here a couple months back where kid fishing in a high school bass tournament in NC caught a lake record 60lber on a black trick worm.
WILDBILL
If you have a good sholder, an alabama rig is hard to beat in the winter!Use it with 3" peral shimmy shads color the back with a green marker!
For trolling - tube and worm;
Jigging - bass assassins