After being skunked on the troll this weekend, I think I am going to have to just try drifting with herring this Saturday morning.
Couple questions:
I was thinking of using my 5-gallon slo-mo trolling buckets as a drift sock, using my line counter reels to put the herring on the stripers heads…a couple questions:
what size weights does everyone use?
Where is the best place to buy live bait? Are they out on the lake at the dam always? Is it possible to buy the day before, will the herring stay lively in a livewell properly iced and salted overnight?
Any other advice for first time drifting with downrods?
Or do you think trolling can produce just as well and we were possibly unlucky last week?
i would not worry about the drift sock unless the wind is blowing hard. I use 1.5 oz egg sinkers this time of year, 1 oz when fishing less than 20’. I think the best bait is from better bait. They have a drive through. They give you chemicals and fresh cold water. Bait is very healthy. I think there hours are 5 till 8. Richard also sells bait at the launch by the dam. Can’t get any more convenient than that. I would get the bait fresh in the morning. The healthier the better. As far as the downrods, set them at different depths and see what is working. I would try at least one freeline with a small split shot. Last Saturday I caught most of my bigger fish on the freeline. But the water is getting hotter by the day.
I have my boat tied up at a friends house…since I do not have the livewell of the boat, do I need to bring a bucket or styrofoam cooler? Or does better bait have the container also? 18 gallon aerated livewell, wouldn’t you say I should get about 18 herring?
I use a 1 oz egg sinker. No big deal though. When I go just for the morning bite, I use a 5 gal. bucket with a special lid. It has a battery operated bubbler. About 9:00am I will put in a frozen 20 oz water bottle just to keep them cool. I usually buy 1 Doz. herrin. However, when I bring a friend, I will buy 2 Doz. and use my friends super big bait tank. I never have lost any bait to death other than stripers. The only problem, those tanks cost hundreds of dollars. The 5 gal. trick is my favorite because its easy to handle and less weight. I would buy them the morning of the trip. Coolers have corners, so it’s said that the herrin kill themselves swimming into them. I havent seen it though. Round tanks and buckets are better. You can even make one if the want. I havent had problems keeping them alive, but I dont over crowd them. hope this helps.
yeah, I have a live well with a good bubbler and rounded corners in the boat. I just need to get the bait from better bait to a dock in Timberlake, thats all. Once there I will get them into the boat.
Get the water you need for your tank from them and put it in buckets. It is cold and they will give you the chemicals you need. In my experience when you put lake water in they die. Even if you ice it. If you transport in buckets, remember that they will die very fast if conditions are not right. If you have to many in a bucket for even ten minutes they will die.
I use a square cooler with a keep alive pump with the air infuser. It keeps them alive just fine. kept five dozen for five or six hours without a loss. Of course the way the fish were hitting it was not five dozen very long. The corners are kind of rounded but it is not round. the setup only cost me about $70.
I usually run about 3 or 4 feet. But I have been down to about a foot and still caught them. Not sure how much it matters. Although I am sure some say it does.
I have about 18" between swivel and hook. Of course the sinker is above the swivel. Some use a red plastic bead between the sinker and the swivel. They say it makes a tapping noise. Some people get real technical about everything.
I forgot about the beads. That is the way I was shown and completly forgot about it. I may have to try that on half my rods the next couple times out and see if there is a difference.
yeah, that is like a carolina rig for largemouth fishing (what I used to do since recently becoming obsessed with striper fishing). I am sure as I get older the boats will get bigger and I will become obsessed with inshore, then nearshore, then finally offshore fishing…
Yeah, same here. I am running an 87 Galaxy that someone gave me. It is not pretty, but it runs and floats (most of the time). I only had to put about $500 into it to get it running and another $300 for rod holders, bait tank, fish finder, etc.
I have about 18" between swivel and hook. Of course the sinker is above the swivel. Some use a red plastic bead between the sinker and the swivel. They say it makes a tapping noise. Some people get real technical about everything.
Just went to Sportsmans Warehouse and got some red beads, 1.5 oz sinkers, and invisible leader line to rig up my downrod rigs tonight. Ready for the weekend!!!
Invisible leader??? what is that??? what brand are you talking about??? lay the info on me…I’m ready to fish…
not sure it is out in the car, just saw it for the first time myself…whatever brand, it says “invisible leader line” on the front. figured I’d give it a try.
If it’s in the car, I hope you still have it in the package or you’ll have a hard time finding it, since it’s invisible. Thats why I use cajun red line. I can see it but the fish cant. But, I’ve never asked a fish so you never know, they are probably laughing at me. Most of the time I just use the cheap stuff. Well, Berkley trilene is not too cheap. I use 12lb line that is green. I do know for a fact that while fishing the Wando (in the winter), the Red’s hit grubs on 6lb line but wouldnt touch my 12lb line. So, they do see heavier line when the water is clear. I’m not too sure what the stripers see at 50-60 ft of water. I’m not a diver, but I think it’s pretty dark down there. I cant stomach the high prices of some of that line, even at Wally World.
I experimented with cajun red. two lines with it and two lines with trilene XL. Ran all the lines at the same depth. Hits were almost three to one on the trilene. Only tried it for two days and got rid of the cajun red. Maybe just a coincidence or something I did not figure, but enough to make me get rid of it.
