I’m not much of a bait fisherman and wondered if anyone is catching Stripers on Lake Murray on lures this time of year? If so, what technics might work right now? Any help would be appreciated.
I’m not much of a striper fisherman. I do catch some keepers on the Berry’s and CC spoons while fishing deep for white perch. The 3/4 ounce silver CC spoon has been working well for me for the past month when the fish are mostly deeper than 40’. I also like the 1/2 ounce white Berrys with either a silver reflector or silver glitter on them.
You might try casting a white or chartreuse bucktail, counting it down to different depths under the gulls. My best advice, if you want to catch multiple fish, is to approach quietly with your trolling motor to avoid spooking the stripers. If they don’t hit the bucktail try dropping the spoon straight down into them, also working it at different depths through the school. I’ve seen times when a spoon couldn’t free spool to the bottom because the stripers would hit it on the fall. That’s some really fun and fast fishing!
I haven’t tried an A-rig, but they are supposed to be really good under the gulls too.
Thanks Spoon. I take it you don’t even need to make a cast unless you see birds or something under the boat on the fish finder?
try a little fishes lure or any shad look alike. buck tails work if you can find the right color
If you’re targeting stripers you usually need to either see diving gulls or mark fish on the depthfinder. However, I have caught a lot of perch,largemouth and catfish when not seeing gulls or marking fish. This will most likely happen for me when I decide to try a spot that has produced well for me in similar weather conditions. If the fish are really locked on the bottom and semi dormant they might not show until you catch a couple and get them stirred up. Seems to me to be especially true with largemouth. Remember also, that the shallower you are fishing the smaller the area you will be seeing on your depthfinder. Most of the time the best fishing will be in or very near the baitfish pods. When the baitfish are near the bottom in cold clear water a spoon is very hard to beat. Also, with really cold water the fish can get pretty lethargic. Be patient and give the fish around 5 minutes to decide to bite before you move to another spot. Sometimes you only have to move 20 or 30 yards from one spot to another to begin or continue catching fish. Have several colors and sizes of spoons. Just like crappie fishing sometimes having the right color bait can make a tremendous difference. I always have white, silver, gold and chartreuse spoons with me in the fall and winter months.
Spoonmaster, what sort of swivel or rig do you use? Do you keep multiple rigs with different pound test line on hand for switching to different size spoons? I would absolutely love to try it, especially for perch and Striper but have no idea where to even begin!
~Rob
I prefer a ball bearing barrel swivel tied about 18" to 24" above the spoon. I like fluorocarbon line in 14 to 17 lbs. fished with a baitcaster due to the bigger fish that I will hook on the spoons. Mono will do, but the stretch can make hooksets harder in deep water. I’ve considered braid, but haven’t tried it yet, maybe today. Baitcasters will deal with any line twist much better than other types of reels. In past years when the water was this cold I’ve caught perch and stripers as deep as 85’ and largemouth as deep as 55’. Most guys don’t think fish go this deep, but they really do. On Monticello I’ve fished a “triple rig” and caught 2 and/or 3 perch at a time. To rig this way just tie two crappie jigs (hair works best) spaced about 8" apart and 8" above the spoon. I’ve only ever caught 2 at a time on Murray, maybe the Murray perch are smarter than the Monticello fish. If I’m by myself I’ll usually have 5 or 6 different spoons already tied on rods. Currently I’m catching the majority of my perch, bass and catfish atleast 45’ deep with some a bit deeper than that. I recently bought about every 3/4 ounce silver Cotton Cordell spoon that Sportsman’s had on display. They’ve been working very well for me on stiff rods in the deeper water that I’ve been fishing lately.
Yesterday was about the worst I’ve seen the fish bite in over a month. A new friend and I tried the shallower water for largemouth and didn’t produce too much. If I had it to do over, in the same area, I’d have suggested fishing about 10’ or 20’ deeper than we were. I’m fishing with an old friend today in a different area of the lake and hope we can find some hungry fish.
Hard to beat the Alabama Rig until the water gets 60 degrees.
Spoons(as mentioned), bucktails and small flukes on jigheads will work as well.
Personally prefer to throw flies at them.
Formally Reel Karma
“There is something about hunting those fish that will stick with me and my future fishing plans like a bad case of striper herpes”
-SCOF
Not the best pic, but we got this one yesterday off the dock in maybe 8 feet of water on a fluke.
