Fishing Report 7/16

Saltwater Striper Fishing
1

Haven’t’ posted a report in awhile so I figured I’d better do a brief one …

Liz & I picked up some nice (really nice) bait from Ned’s (Better Bait behind the Shell on 6) and put in at the dam around 7:15 - 7:30 …

The Lowrance started acting stupid right off the bat … the 7HDI wasn’t reading the depth correctly … After several restarts it finally sorted itself out and started working properly - not that it mattered much …

We went straight across the big pool and settled in around Jake’s and started pulling down rods …

We ran 7 down rods … three on each side and one out the back …

The three back lines we ran at 65 - 70 feet …

The two middle lines we ran 45 - 55 feet …

The two front lines we ran at 25 - 35 feet …

We pulled them at .5 - .8 mph and started out from the mouth of Jake’s out to the riverbed and then ran down the riverbed going towards Spence and back again …

Ran that line three times and at the end of the third run hooked it over to the other side and pulled back towards the ramp …

We limited out (10 fish - 8 keepers + 2 small (18-19") fish) around 11:00 with 6 in the box …

Big fish was 28 - 29" the rest were 24" - 26" and one gut hooked 21" …

The bite really turned on right after the sun dropped completely below the horizon … Most of the bites came on the 60’ lines but all depth ranges produced keeper fish …

Ended the night with a dead starting battery … Not sure why that happened, but since I have three other batteries on the boat not a big deal … except I left the jumper cables in the truck … :angry:

Two side notes …

Is anyone experiencing issues with the Lowrance satellites holding GPS position? Ours couldn’t lock in our position for about the first hour or so … I run my chart on the 5DSI, but I also have the Navionics phone app and it was whacked out as well …

Just wondering if anyone else is noticing an increase in the 24" to 26" range … Last year it was like (for us anyway) the majority of

2

Nice! Shoulda told me ya needed some ice!! :smiley:

'07 198 DLX Carolina Skiff
FS90 Suzuki

3

I didn’t need any … I have a dozen or so frozen water bottles that I use to keep them cool … I just pulled them all out to take the pic … LOL

4

Lawcrusher, when you are pulling baits at those speeds how much weight do you use? Thanks.

5

Lawcrusher & Striperskiff,

It was good talking to y’all out on the water Wednesday eve! It has been so long since using the VHF that I forgot how clear the sound quality is. I also forgot about the “one-way” communication. Sorry if I cut you off Terry - wasn’t meant to be rude :smiley:

As both of y’all know, Renee and I rode around until we found decent numbers of fish at 8:15 in C3. We caught two legit keepers, had 3 spit the hook, numerous pull downs that resulted in mangled/skinned herring and quit at 9:30 when I could not see to hook bait any longer. Remembered both the crank flashlight, and head lamp were stowed in gear bag on the ride to the dock :smiley: Could have fished a bit longer with both. The bite was much better after sunset.

Glad to hear that you and Liz limited out Rick! We fished DR with combo spotlock/drift. Would have done better to pull into the wind as wave action at times was rocking the baits up and down a few feet.

Sure was a beautiful evening under the stars with my firstmate!

<’)))))<
Tight Lines!
DANO
Hurricane 198 w/115 Yamahammer

6
quote:
Originally posted by smalljaws

Lawcrusher, when you are pulling baits at those speeds how much weight do you use? Thanks.

You know, it’s funny because I’ve gotten more than a few “you pull your downrod baits?” …

I just thought that was how it was always done - I mean, the fish move so why shouldn’t I … :stuck_out_tongue:

If I’m stationary downrodding then I’ll use 1-2oz weights …

If I’m drifting/“trolling” downrods then I use 3-4oz weights …

I carry 10 - 15 rods on our boat at any given time so when we’re downrodding I’ll set them up half and half and change out as the situation dictates …

I’m of the school of thought that the more I prepare on land then the more time I have baits in the water … So I will pre-rig a dozen or so hook and leader setups (in addition to the ones already on my rods) so if one breaks off or needs to be changed out then it can be done quickly and then I can retie or whatever while all the lines are in the water …

I also use lots of easy-to-tie knots, loop knots, and snap swivel setups … I know it’s heresy to use a snap swivel, but whatever … I use really small (whole swivel is less the 3/4" long) heavy test (70#) offshore swivels made by American Wire (mighty-mini crane swivels) so I don’t think it affects the presentation much if any …

In all the times that I’ve used snaps I’ve only lost one fish and that was more my fault for using an inferior loop type snap swivel and since I changed over to the American Wires I’ve (knock on wood) never lost a fish due to swivel failure …

Probably more information than necessary in order to answer your question, but there it is … :smiley: :smiley: