Dock light striper??

Wanting to know if anyone has dock light fished or seen striper feeding on dock lights in the area(lakes, ashley, etc). Saltwater dock light fishing has been very productive for me and wondering if it has the same effect in the freshwater.

Yes, on Lake murray their is many people with the green lights! I have fished them many times for striper and their is lots of them their year round. Throw a 1.5 sized squarebill crank bait(1.5 KVD is what we throw) and you are sure to catch plenty of striper.

17ft Scout
90 yamaha

It shouldn’t matter what type of water it is, Stripers have to eat, and if the lights attract prey, it might attract the Stripers. In the past I’ve caught them at night along the light line around bridges, and other structures in tidal water.

I’ve also caught them well up in tidal creeks around lighted docks at night, and that water was probably more fresh than salt. However, they did have access to saltwater.

Best way to find out is give it a try! It may be like dock fishing for LM bass, where you have to move around, but if you intend to be fishing anyway, why not try it? Assuming of course, you’re fishing from a boat. If from the dock, that may certainly limit your chances.

The internet has ruined most lakes and other waterways.

Try a new approach…pm someone instead of renting a billboard.

“Living’s mostly wasting time and I’ll waste my share of mine”

quote:
Originally posted by Loon

The internet has ruined most lakes and other waterways.

Try a new approach…pm someone instead of renting a billboard.

“Living’s mostly wasting time and I’ll waste my share of mine”


Someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed? They piss in your cornflakes?
The OP had a legitimate question and posted it on the appropriate forum. I don’t understand your problem with it. :question::question::question:
How about not dragging down this forum with your negativity?

quote:
Originally posted by scgmc
quote:
Originally posted by Loon

The internet has ruined most lakes and other waterways.

Try a new approach…pm someone instead of renting a billboard.

“Living’s mostly wasting time and I’ll waste my share of mine”


Someone wake up on the wrong side of the bed? They piss in your cornflakes?
The OP had a legitimate question and posted it on the appropriate forum. I don’t understand your problem with it. :question::question::question:
How about not dragging down this forum with your negativity?


Didn't say there was an issue. My issue is people who read interweb stuff and ruin things by snagging docks adjacent to lights or get to close and the owner cuts them off. 3 of my better lights are no more because of this. At least on Murray. Just frustrating. Ask redfishing guys in or around Chucktown and argue with them about the interweb screwing things.

But I do appreciate the concern in my sleeping arrangements and breakfast. But I can assure you I’m good.

“Living’s mostly wasting time and I’ll waste my share of mine”

Missed it buddy. The response from someone not the OP…I will spell it next time. Disregard

“Living’s mostly wasting time and I’ll waste my share of mine”

And still counting my blessings so no lake front

“Living’s mostly wasting time and I’ll waste my share of mine”

WOW … I mean … WOW …

Okay guys I LITERALLY know BOTH of you … and I KNOW neither of you are this way …

let’s all take a breath and exhale …

Good … there’s no need for such hostility … this is not the Inshore Discussion forum … both of you are good reasonable people and have been great contributors to the Striper forum … let’s keep it that way …

Spitfire - Loon does have a point … lots of docklight owners have had their lights messed up by careless and thoughtless people, so I do understand the angst …

All that said, the primary forage of lake Stripers is Shad … Shad actually do NOT particularly like lights … and while Herring and other baitfish do, you might not find docklights on the lake as productive as you would fishing for Reds and Snook along the coast … Not saying you won’t catch fish, but by the time it is warm enough to night fish, they are all predominantly down in the deep water anyway so docks aren’t as productive …

… it’s my Wife’s fault we HAVE to fish !!!

2005 Sea Pro 2100cc / Yamaha 150hp 4-Stroke

No hostility here…dude missed it by an acre or 2. Just saying that lights have been cutoff b/c of idiots(not that the OP is that).

Nothing reasonable about me:wink:

“Living’s mostly wasting time and I’ll waste my share of mine”

So to expand on the original question and LC’s reply, is the popularity of Hydroglows and high pressure sodium lamps all just hype? Or is there some validity to their usage as a Striper-catching tool?

Is their primary function for nighttime cast netters? Or, in the case of the Hydroglows, if you get it far enough below the surface it actually will bring fish up? I will say, you sure see a lot of them come up for sale! Makes me wonder if there’s a good reason for that. :slightly_smiling_face:

You called out and I responded. Anyone that knows me understands that.

Didn’t realize the Striper Forum was a time warp to the 60’s.

My bad mannnn:smiley:

“Living’s mostly wasting time and I’ll waste my share of mine”

I use to catch many nice Striper on Lake Lanier in Lanmar Marina fishing under lights. We would jig up bluebacks on sabiki rigs and then drop them down. A lot of the docks in Lanmar are over 100 ft of water so there’s nothing to compare it to on Lake Murray. I’ve never done as well catching big fish under hydroglow lights or high pressure sodium lights out on the lake. I think the key to catching bigger fish under lights is to find an area where the lights are on all of the time and the fish will get accustomed to feeding around them. I had some buddies, twin brothers, that lived on a houseboat so we would hang out, drink beer, watch TV , grill some food, catch a nap and wait for a rod to go off…lol the easiest striper fishing ever…but I learned alot doing it. Some nights the fish would only bite between 3 and 5 am. We’d have to sit and wait for the magic hour. Some nights, the bait would be plentiful and easy to catch but you put one down on a hook and wait forever to get a bite. Other nights we would jig and jig trying to catch one bait and finally we’d get one, put it on a hook and BAM instant striper bite…Same thing in the morning, bait would be easy to jig up before it got light, right after day would start to break the bait would scatter but the Striper would turn on and bite anything dropped down. The threadfin shad would be like a tornado circling the light, the bluebacks would get in a big mass under the light and deeper, and the Gizzard shad would swim into the light and swim out, constantly coming in then going back out. May and June were definitely the best months in Lanmar but we caught them other times of the year as well. We also caught fish in Sunrise Marina with the houseboat docked in 30 ft of water. I won an SBCC night tournament on Lanier fishing the lights in Lanmar Marina, but from a boat, and caught a 30 lb fish at daybreak. The next year, prefishing for the same annual fathers day night tournament, I caught a 34 lb striper from the dock… So yes, it can be done on the lakes…

Tea

The tournament I won fishing Lanmar was actually an NSBA event in 2003, before the SBCC…before some one calls me out on it…lol

Team Shad Up & Fish

If you’ve had fun catching fish on the transom bait, you are welcome…

I’ve spent about 85% of my life’s wages on fishing, the rest I just wasted…

quote:
Originally posted by Reality_Bites

I use to catch many nice Striper on Lake Lanier in Lanmar Marina fishing under lights. We would jig up bluebacks on sabiki rigs and then drop them down. A lot of the docks in Lanmar are over 100 ft of water so there’s nothing to compare it to on Lake Murray. I’ve never done as well catching big fish under hydroglow lights or high pressure sodium lights out on the lake. I think the key to catching bigger fish under lights is to find an area where the lights are on all of the time and the fish will get accustomed to feeding around them. I had some buddies, twin brothers, that lived on a houseboat so we would hang out, drink beer, watch TV , grill some food, catch a nap and wait for a rod to go off…lol the easiest striper fishing ever…but I learned alot doing it. Some nights the fish would only bite between 3 and 5 am. We’d have to sit and wait for the magic hour. Some nights, the bait would be plentiful and easy to catch but you put one down on a hook and wait forever to get a bite. Other nights we would jig and jig trying to catch one bait and finally we’d get one, put it on a hook and BAM instant striper bite…Same thing in the morning, bait would be easy to jig up before it got light, right after day would start to break the bait would scatter but the Striper would turn on and bite anything dropped down. The threadfin shad would be like a tornado circling the light, the bluebacks would get in a big mass under the light and deeper, and the Gizzard shad would swim into the light and swim out, constantly coming in then going back out. May and June were definitely the best months in Lanmar but we caught them other times of the year as well. We also caught fish in Sunrise Marina with the houseboat docked in 30 ft of water. I won an SBCC night tournament on Lanier fishing the lights in Lanmar Marina, but from a boat, and caught a 30 lb fish at d

quote:
Originally posted by scgmc

So to expand on the original question and LC’s reply, is the popularity of Hydroglows and high pressure sodium lamps all just hype? Or is there some validity to their usage as a Striper-catching tool?

Is their primary function for nighttime cast netters? Or, in the case of the Hydroglows, if you get it far enough below the surface it actually will bring fish up? I will say, you sure see a lot of them come up for sale! Makes me wonder if there’s a good reason for that. :slightly_smiling_face:


On Murray I see the Hydroglows being used more to bring the bait up …

That brings the Stripers up, but only so far due to upper level water temps and O2 levels …

That’s why you drop baited hooks back down under the bait to the Stripers like Reality_Bites was saying …

Hydroglows work well for me. Summer time temps push the fish in the big pool. The lights bring bait under the boat that can be stacked from the surface down 45’. Catch the fresh bait, and drop down about 3 cranks off the bottom. The fish are moving around, and will be attracted by the ball of bait, but usually end op finding the struggling herring on the bottom. You can actually watch the fish move in and out on the finder. Pretty cool.

“Wailord”
1979 17’ Montauk
90 Johnson

Wilderness Ride 115

quote:
Originally posted by Lawcrusher

All that said, the primary forage of lake Stripers is Shad … Shad actually do NOT particularly like lights … and while Herring and other baitfish do, you might not find docklights on the lake as productive as you would fishing for Reds and Snook along the coast … Not saying you won’t catch fish, but by the time it is warm enough to night fish, they are all predominantly down in the deep water anyway so docks aren’t as productive …

… it’s my Wife’s fault we HAVE to fish !!!

2005 Sea Pro 2100cc / Yamaha 150hp 4-Stroke


I can assure that shad are definitely attracted to lights. It is amazing how much shad they can pull in. It does seem that the striper kinda hang on the edge of the light though, in the shadows.

I use my hydro glow mostly in the late spring/early summer. This pic is pretty typical of what it looks after drawing the bait in.

I usually will go to a typical hump or point I would fish during the day and set up, normally 30’-40’ or so. I like to get out just before dark and have the light in the water before it turns totally dark. Even when they look to be thick enough on the surface to walk across them, I still pretty much always fish a few cranks off the bottom, at least until the water warms and the fish are suspended over deep water.

Like anything with fishing though, you never know day to day, so it’s always best to bring at least some bait along just in case.

Be warned though. This kind of fishing is not for everyone. If you don’t enjoy getting on the lake after a hard day at work, sipping your favorite cold beverage while watching the sun set over the horizon as you gaze at tons of bait under the boat that you can catch at will just under the beautiful green glowing surface while waiting for the tips of your downrods to double over… you may not enjoy this type of fishing.

'07 198 DLX Carolina Skiff
FS90 Suzuki

On flies(sorry if it hurts your neck)

“Living’s mostly wasting time and I’ll waste my share of mine”