For you guys that throw artificials for stripers, what are your thoughts on Striper Delights? How do they compare to Striper Swipers?
In the future, where every stranger poses a potential threat, knowing the predator mindset is the only safe haven.
Xpress H20B Bay Series
Yamaha 115 SHO
Archer, I haven’t used the Striper Delights, but have looked at them. They’re not much different than some old school lures I’ve had & used in the past. I still have several made that way. I much prefer a through wired lure, rather than one with screw eyes. However, I’ve caught plenty of Stripers on those with screw eyes. Atom’s have been around a long time & they work too. I have several of them & have caught a lot of fish on them as well. Although you won’t find Bluefish in the lakes, in saltwater the Atoms hold up well & Blues don’t chew them up as bad as they do wood lures. Atoms will sometimes break across the body, but being a plastic & thru wired lure they still can be fished, at least for awhile.
I like both wood & the plastic lures as they both catch, but there’s a difference in how each acts in the water. IMO, like comparing apples & oranges.
BTW, we used to take broom handles & make our own wood poppers. They worked too. We used screw eyes, drilled a small starter hole, and added epoxy into the hole before we screwed them into the wood. They held up fine & caught fish, but occasionally a big Striper would pull the screw eyes out. Softer wood, but they would still catch lots of fish.
As long as you’re mostly hooking up with schoolie size, any lure is going to be fine. The guys who make wood lures & are really serious about it thru wire them all. 
If you want to try a serious wood lure, check out something like RM Smith. In plastic, take a look at Stillwater Smack it’s & Smack it JR’s. 
Both will catch fish. The biggest difference between the 2 is that a Striper Delight will float and a Striper Swiper will sink, so you fish them a little different.
I remember Striper Swipers were used a lot by surfcasters when I was growing up. They’ve probably been around more than 50 years. You can let them swim just below the surface and just give an occasional “pop” to break the surface.
Can’t say I’ve really used Striper Delights much at all, but I do remember they will just float flat on top when still and I prefer using a popping bait now that is weighted in the back. I like Storm Saltwater Chug Bugs, but Pencil Poppers are probably the most common on Lake Murray.
Of coarse, if you’re in schooling fish, much of the time they will hit whatever you throw at them.
BTW, I was just doing some spring cleanup this past weekend and ran across a few SDs and SSs that look like they’ve never been used. Will sell them cheap if you are interested.
'07 198 DLX Carolina Skiff
FS90 Suzuki
I like casting a Super Spook because they’re big and you can throw them a mile with braided line… I prefer the XT models with the stouter hooks… I use a fast 5 twitch, walk the dog action and pause, then wind your slack and repeat…
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…
I’ve got some SS that don"t have paint anymore, they"ve been used so much! My favorate is the Creek Chub Tootie Fruity!
I like the Super Spooks and Super Spook Jrs. Only baits I’ve ever had that stripers will knock 3’ out of the water and grab when they come back down!
Also I like the Super Flukes in the Baitfish color. Put a weighted 3/0 EWG hook in them and they can be thrown a mile. Stripers and largemouth were eating them like candy for me last week.
I like the super spooks as well. Clear has been the best color for me. As much as I love seeing a fish blow up on a top water bait, these days I pretty much go with a fluke type bait. Even with a rubber net, it can be a PITA unhooking a fish hooked on a treble hook(s) when in schooling fish and trying to get back out there ASAP.
Speaking of spooks, has anyone else ran into a problem with the middle set of hooks on a super spook locking up with the back set when casting? I now pull off the middle set. Doesn’t happen all the time, but enough to be frustrating.
'07 198 DLX Carolina Skiff
FS90 Suzuki
quote:
Originally posted by striperskiffI like the super spooks as well. Clear has been the best color for me. As much as I love seeing a fish blow up on a top water bait, these days I pretty much go with a fluke type bait. Even with a rubber net, it can be a PITA unhooking a fish hooked on a treble hook(s) when in schooling fish and trying to get back out there ASAP.
Speaking of spooks, has anyone else ran into a problem with the middle set of hooks on a super spook locking up with the back set when casting? I now pull off the middle set. Doesn’t happen all the time, but enough to be frustrating.</font id=“red”>
'07 198 DLX Carolina Skiff
FS90 Suzuki
I’ve definitely had this happen to me as well. A slightly smaller treble in the middle position works, too. As far as unhooking treble-hooked fish- try it in a kayak! That’s extra challenging…and dangerous. [:0]
I’m a big fan of any type of topwater. Spooks, Sammy’s, Chug Bugs, poppers of many sizes are all in my tackle bags. The issue with trebles has always been difficulty unhooking fish & danger of sticking them in our anatomy. Over the last few years I’ve been changing out the trebles on most lures & going with single hooks. Primarily I’ve gone to Siwash styles, but there’s been some other single hooks I’ve used too. Now, with the newer “inline single” hooks that at designed to replace trebles, I’ve been trying them as well. Owner, Mustad, VMC, Gamakatsu & Decoy all make them.
There’s debate whether singles are better, and IMO like anything we do in this sport, not everyone will agree. For the time I’ve been using the singles, I cannot say my hook-up rate is better or worse than with the trebles, but I’m more confident about unhooking or releasing fish & not sticking a hook in me with them.
I still lose some fish, that’s going to happen, but I can’t say it’s because of the single hooks. I’ve used barbless trebles too & cannot say I’ve lost fish because of them. I debarb a lot of single hooks, and don’t feel that’s an issue.
All in how you approach these issues IMO. I may not replace trebles entirely, but most of my lures that came with them will be switched out to single hooks, if for no other reason than my own safety.
BTW, the problem of belly trebles catching on each other, if you stick with trebles, give a shorter shank style a try, even if it’s to replace just one of them.
quote:
Originally posted by scgmcquote:
Originally posted by striperskiffI like the super spooks as well. Clear has been the best color for me. As much as I love seeing a fish blow up on a top water bait, these days I pretty much go with a fluke type bait. Even with a rubber net, it can be a PITA unhooking a fish hooked on a treble hook(s) when in schooling fish and trying to get back out there ASAP.
Speaking of spooks, has anyone else ran into a problem with the middle set of hooks on a super spook locking up with the back set when casting? I now pull off the middle set. Doesn’t happen all the time, but enough to be frustrating.</font id=“red”>
'07 198 DLX Carolina Skiff
FS90 Suzuki
I’ve definitely had this happen to me as well. A slightly smaller treble in the middle position works, too. As far as unhooking treble-hooked fish- try it in a kayak! That’s extra challenging…and dangerous. [:0]
Tim knows all about trebles and kayaks and emergency rooms! 
I personally take the middle hooks off a big spook. 95% of the fish u hook are going to be on the front hook, and the back hook is gonna be on the outside. I have considered putting a single on the back but too lazy to do it…ha
“All fisherman lie. And if they say otherwise, then they’re lying”
“Sea~N~Stripes”
21’ Hewes Craft Custom
115 Evinrude
I’ve found it better to rig mulipule rods an not try to unhook the fish as caught unless they are small! Throw fish and rod in bottom of boat and grab another rod and cast to the school, clean up later after 20 boats come to mess things up!
HaHa!! It doesn’t take 20 boats to mess things up. I went out yesterday afternoon to check some largemouth spots for an upcoming tournament. I stopped well short of my first spot to re-rig a couple of rods. Plus, I noticed a center console sitting fairly close to the first spot I was going to check so I wasn’t in a big hurry. As it turned out, striper started schooling literally around my boat. I just so happened to have a fluke rigged up so I popped up and started making some casts. Then I heard it…the boat that was sitting on the first spot I was going to check had fired up the motor and was headed my way. I didn’t think anything about until he came running right up into the school roughly a cast (no more than a cast and a half) away from me. Obviously the school went down and didn’t come back up. He had a young boy with him and they proceeded to sit in that spot while I pushed on to check my spots. If this guy is new to striper fishing, he surely didn’t give the young boy anything to learn from since he spooked the school and ran up on another boat in the process. If he was an “experienced” striper fishing, again, he didn’t pass on a positive way to do things to his young passenger and should’ve known better.
Given he had a youngster with him, I bit my tongue and instead gave him the two “what the hell” arms in the air (to which he simply waved back) and drove off to check my spots. I don’t usually go out targeting stripers but I do keep my eyes opened for schooling and this sort of thing drives me crazy. I couldn’t imagine targeting stripers as much as you guys do and have to deal with this even more. You guys are more patient than I am.
In the future, where every stranger poses a potential threat, knowing the predator mindset is the only safe haven.
Xpress H20B Bay Series
Yamaha 115 SHO
Archer, have you ever fished up in the Chesapeake Bay? It would have been a dozen boats up there and half of them would have run right thru the school! 
I actually have but when I was a young boy, but I do remember my dad and uncle complaining about the same thing.
In the future, where every stranger poses a potential threat, knowing the predator mindset is the only safe haven.
Xpress H20B Bay Series
Yamaha 115 SHO
I guess Midlands Striper Club maybe needs to update their website and include a topic for novice fishermen on how to correctly approach schooling stripers. It really is aggravating when some of these novice fishermen spook the fish. I’m pretty sure the Midlands guys would never mess up anyone else’s fishing.
Even worse for me is when I throw back a small white perch. If the perch doesn’t swim back down immediately then the gulls start diving and trying to pick it up. Next thing I know here come a bunch of school chasers, rocking the boat. Some of them will cast almost into the 'toonboat because that’s where the gulls are diving. Never figuring out that the gulls are only diving on a puny white perch. Well, then it’s time for the cracker or popcorn trick. I let them cast on the other side of the lake for crackers or popcorn instead of a floating perch. The gulls will happily dive on either one.
It’s got so bad up there that when someone hooks a fish, they’ll try to keep it in the water & move to the opposite side so folks in other boats can’t see them bringing it in. It’s almost comical, and sad at the same time.
I got so tired of it & never went out in the bay on the weekends & primarily stuck to fishing the smaller creeks. I caught a lot less & smaller Stripers, but I often fly fished for them & released them anyway so didn’t care.
Spoonmaster, good idea! Unfortunately, it’s not only novice anglers who do it up there. Charter Captains will do it too!
I tried to explain schoolin curticy to a guy last year and he wanted to meet me on the bank, I told him I didn’t have my gun ready to give me a few minits and he left!
I was fortunate to find some hungry stripers one evening last week. They were swirling on a midlake point. I was the only boat that found them. Once I got near them I only ran the trolling motor and tried to stay a long cast away from them. Put 15 stripers in the boat and 13 of them were keepers. Culled several 24" fish. If another boat had come roaring into them when I first got there, they would have scattered the school and I would have been lucky to catch one or two. Had one over 9 1/2 and another over 8 3/4. Sure was nice without the school chasers messing it up.
Well before I insisted on having trolling motors on any boat I use for fishing (except kayaks), I used to have to approach a school with the big motor (150 2 stroke).
I found that if you came in slowly and cut off early enough you could coast into the general area of the school and get within casting distance. Most of the time it worked out well.
Later, I started using a “cut them off at the pass” technique. I’d position my boat where the Striper are likely GOING TO BE IN A FEW MINUTES, and found that to work effectively, too.
quote:
Well before I insisted on having trolling motors on any boat I use for fishing (except kayaks), I used to have to approach a school with the big motor (150 2 stroke). I found that if you came in slowly and cut off early enough you could coast into the general area of the school and get within casting distance. Most of the time it worked out well. Later, I started using a "cut them off at the pass" technique. I'd position my boat where the Striper are likely GOING TO BE IN A FEW MINUTES, and found that to work effectively, too.
Those are as good a method as any. It’s often a guess, particularly if you see them at a distance. I’ve put fish down because I misjudged, but have never run in on another boat because they were catching.
But, unfortunately some folks have no clue, and don’t care to have. It’s a “me” world these days it seems, with no consideration for others at all. Also some don’t want to learn anything, they would rather run in on another boat thinking because the other boat is on fish, they’ll be on them too. Hell, I’ve seen A-holes in boats run in on shore anglers that had hooked up with a school close to shore and ruin any chances of anyone continuing to catch them.