A good friend of mine, my daughter, and myself set out this morning on the hunt for the elusive stripers. It was our first time really trying to fish the lake since we moved up here a little over a year ago. With the exception of one time fishing with worms, only to catch a sunfish and a small catfish.
Stopped at the Get and Go this morning around 5:30 to grab a dozen heiring. Was met by the sales man, “Charlie” bright and early with a smile on his face. Filled the live well and headed to hiltons to put in. We slow trolled Umbrella rigs about 100’ behind the boat, some Alabama rigs 75’ or so behind the boat, live heirings on the top water 30’ or so behind, and a spoon or two. We only managed 2 stripers before calling it quits about 10:30. Both fish were about 12" and lived to fight another day. They both swam of well. Water was reading 81* on the Simrad. Not sure what we were doing wrong, but it most certainly wasn’t working for us. We looked good too!!
I just bought a 23 SeaCraft last weekend, and we had the rod holders full, and the outriggers extended. I feel like we looked professional enough that the fish would have been jumping in the boat just to check us out. Hahahaha that most certainly didn’t happen.
On the bright side it was a beautiful morning and quality time spent with my 13 year old daughter that will soon be way too cool for old dad.
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… On the bright side it was a beautiful morning and quality time spent with my 13 year old daughter that will soon be way too cool for old dad.
“Boatless”
In the end, that’s all that matters!
Especially, since you are just starting out, one thing you may want to consider next time out is picking one way to fish (live/cut/trolling) and focusing on that. Trolling speed for any kind of artificial is normally going to be too fast to pull live bait at the same time.
No electric trolling motor. If I just put the boat in gear I’m trolling 2.3-2.5 knots by GPS. We did have a mixed assortment behind the boat. All trolling, was hoping to get a good hit on one or the other, and switch up from there. That didn’t happen, lol. One of the small stripers was caught on a spoon, and the other on an umbrella rig. I really didn’t know where to start. The little research I did read referred to the umbrella rigs, and trying to keep the speed below 3.0 knots? I’ve never trolled before, and rarely fished fresh water. Being from the Lowcountry, I always preferred the salt water. Bottom fishing and inshore for the normal. Thanks for the advice!
Second what Striperskiff said … too many different methods going on at the same time … U-Rigs will limit the shallower areas and stopping over schools when you find them …
I’ve hung more than one U-Rig on the bottom, but I’ve only lost two to the lake so I count myself lucky in that regard …
That being said, U-Rigs are my second to last resort (cutbait is last) … Planers (unweighted in the colder months and weighted in the summer months) are our preference followed by downrods in the summer …
But to pull planers you will need a trolling motor … in my opinion the trolling motor is the single most important piece of fishing equipment that you can buy …
We came up here from Florida and fished Inshore almost exclusively … Since we typically fished in less than 10’ of water for Reds, Snook, Trout, Drum, Sheeps, and Tarpon it was easier to use a push pole and a drop anchor than to go out and expend $1,000+ on a trolling motor to rust on the bow of our boat … But once we moved up here and started fishing Murray (Thanks Striperskiff) and Clark’s Hill (Thanks Murraymaker) we quickly found out that the trolling motor is essential to successful fishing trips …
Oh, and lost a $30 brand new umbrella rig first thing this morning. 12’ is way too shallow to troll with those things. Learning as I go.
“Boatless”
2 things…$30 for a u rig(I need to raise my prices) and 12’ isn’t near too shallow.
You’ll get it figured out.
“I may be going to hell in a bucket. But at least I’m enjoying the ride”
The rig was pre-loaded with artificials, not sure what the going prices are. If anyone up this way sells them locally, I’d be a whole lot happier buying local. This was a last minute investment from one of the big box stores. I always prefer to buy local, since I can usually get an education along with the purchase.
I use Capt. Mack’s 3 arm and 4 arm U-Rigs … those will run you $35 - $45 for a fully setup rig … I then strip all of the wire leader off and replace it with 60# fluorocarbon … I then take half of the jigs off and replace them … with something special to add some eye candy to get the Stripers attention … …
The three arms with four 1/2 oz jigs and bling running on 20# mainline at 100’ behind a boat going 2.5 - 3.0 mph will be running at a depth of approximately 9 - 11 feet … if I run out 150’ behind the boat then I’m running about 13 - 15 feet down …
The four arms with five 1/2 oz jigs and bling running on 20# mainline at 100’ behind a boat going 2.5 - 3.0 mph will be running at a depth of approximately 10 - 12 feet … if I run out 150’ behind the boat then I’m running about 14 - 16 feet down …
If I run a full spread of U-Rigs, then I’m running a 4-arm down the middle at 100’ and two 3-arms off each side … one at 125’ and one at 150’…
I will then zig zag through the area I want to fish while varying my speeds until I find the speed that the larger fish will hit on … after that it’s just duplication …
PERSONAL NOTE: We do NOT pull U-Rigs between June 1 to Sept 30 … I have limited out on one U-Rig before … while it’s pretty fun to catch 3 & 4 striper at a time on a single U-Rig, that kind of fishing will make for a very short day during ‘5 & Done’ season on Murray …
2.5 - 3 mph? That’s pretty fast. 2.3 for some reason has always been the magical # with me. I used to sell u-rigs to some doctors and other folks when I worked around Clarks Hill. Actually sold all my bait and trolling gear a few years ago and went strictly fly and light tackle(finding them was never the issue and needed a challenge away from bait and trolling).
Recently started making u-rigs again and have sold and fished(making sure they work:wink:)a few.
Always thought the store bought stuff was overpriced junk, just IMHO.
Jason, pm me if you want a few.
Good luck buddy.
“I may be going to hell in a bucket. But at least I’m enjoying the ride”
Loon, you’ve been holding back on me … LOLOL … I might be interested in looking at what you’ve put together … shoot me a text when you get a chance …
I can’t get the 150 to push my boat any slower without a trolling plate and I don’t pull them enough to want to invest in a plate … maybe your rigs will change my mind …
How much? I don’t like churning up all the water behind my boat … bad enough I’m leaving a trail of hydraulic fluid from a leak I can’t find in my trim motor … I really got to get that fixed … If I knew where it was leaking from …
If you are going to use the big motor to troll, look at gettign you a troll plate. This is the inexpensive way to troll. It will slow your in gear speed to half speed. You can find them at cabelas and such for around $100.00.
Too high and yes it will slow, but the amount trimmed up when traveling is too high when I put the rigs out. Lower all the way and I can hit the target 2.3 I’m looking for. Rigs I pull put enough “drag” that it keeps the purdy boat in good speed with the trim tabs lowered.
Funny guy
“I may be going to hell in a bucket. But at least I’m enjoying the ride”
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