I am new to striper fishing this year. Up until Saturday afternoon I was doing pretty well. Does this warm weather cause them to migrate back to the deeper waters towards the dam? Yesterday I saw very few from Rocky Creek to Big Mans and the few I did find would not bit.
Sandow,
This is my opinion, but a few warm days will not move them back down lake that quickly. With that being said, there are fish that do stay in the lower lake creeks all year long so yes the trend is that alot of fish move up the Big Saluda and Little Saluda but we have many members in our club that do well in creeks below Dreher island in the colder months. Don’t get frustrated when you find them and they won’t bite. I usually try different methods or baits and if that don’t work try to target fish in shallower or deeper depths depending on where you located them. If you really want to get in depth optinions from many different anglers join us at the Flight Deck Feb. 12th @ 6:00. We would love to have you and tell fish stories. 
Richy
“My biggest worry is that my wife (when I’m dead) will sell my fishing gear for what I said I paid for it.”
I don’t know about the stripers, I mostly target the white perch. I got to fish for a few hours on Saturday morning in the elbow area. One of the worst days I’ve seen in a long time. I marked lots of suspended fish in from 41’ out to atleast 52’ deep. This is not what I want to see when I’m fishing the spoons for perch. I’m assuming that these were stripers and perch mixed, but since I didn’t use live minnows or herring and downrod I have no way of knowing for sure. Some days the fish just bite better than others. Maybe the bluebird skies had a lot to do with the slow bite.
We also fished the elbow area sat am and marked LOTS of fish but we were targeting cats and they weren’t biting either.
What about cold fronts ?
Opinions?
It’s all about water temp. and the general nature of the fish. They are moving up rivers and creeks to spawn( It will likely be all for naught, but there is evidence of limited reproduction according to DNR.). Wild weather swings aren’t going to change anything unless water temps. drop below 45. Then and only then would I look in the lower lake for warmer water with fish. As for now I plan to be in the rivers until April.
Xpress HB-22
175 Yammy Jammer
I should have been more specific. Do you think the cold fronts severely affect he bite?
In my limited experience, I don’t think cold fronts affect the stripers or perch like they do largemouth bass. Some of my best days fishing for perch and catching stripers with the spoons have been when the line freezes on the spool of my baitcasting rods. Once we even had a group of striper fishermen jokingly ask if they could come tie up to our boat. They were freelining over deep water while we were bumping the spoons for perch at 38’. They watched us land a bunch of perch and 4 keeper stripers while they weren’t getting any bites. I just told them that they needed to put their baits closer to the bottom. I do believe that a lot of stripers prefer smaller baits when the water gets colder, but mostly I think they are opportunistic feeders.
quote:
Originally posted by JuiceI should have been more specific. Do you think the cold fronts severely affect he bite?
Sure. I find that fronts can make even stripers bite tentatively and move them off their previous feeding areas, perhaps into a little deeper water. The key is to slow down and be patient for success. I like to slow my pull down to a. 4 mph creep in post frontal conditions.
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175 Yammy Jammer
Surface temp on Sunday afternoon was 55*, the same place was 49 a week ago. I was in a creek off of the big S and fish were right up on the shore busting on baits
Wellcraft V-20 sportfish with a 200 Evinrude
The stripers do reproduce on Murray. I have caught too many 8 to 12 inch fish that I know were not released. Unless someone is transporting fingerlings privately, they had to be reared naturally. Hey, they said they would never reproduce in the Santee system!
Oh, and the fish have been up close to the bank feeding on shad. There seems to be a few stacked up in creek channels too. I find the the fish bite is sluggish on high pressure days with no clouds. Water temp went up from 50 to about 57 last weekend. The changing weather is not good for the striper bite. Also, don’t waste your money on the “black salties” They don’t seem to bite them as good.
quote:
Originally posted by smoakinThe stripers do reproduce on Murray. I have caught too many 8 to 12 inch fish that I know were not released. Unless someone is transporting fingerlings privately, they had to be reared naturally. Hey, they said they would never reproduce in the Santee system!
Not trying to be a wisebutt, but how do you know they weren’t released? I always thought DNR released fingerlings? Where would they hold 1.5million 10" for that matter where would they hold 100k 10" fish if they stocked them that big?
“Sea~N~Stripes”
21’ Hewes Craft Custom
115 Evinrude
I was at the boat ramp at the dam last spring and DNR released a truck load of striper. Not even sure I would classify them as fingerlings, more like fry. They were about 3/4"-1" long.
Wellcraft V-20 sportfish with a 200 Evinrude
It is very sparse, but according to the DNR rep that presented at our November meeting, there is up to 5% natural reproduction taking place somehow, unless I’m having a pre-senior moment:smiley: They dye the otoliths at the Bayless Hatchery, and a significant amount of last year’s gillnet sample had no such markings. Hmmmm!
Xpress HB-22
175 Yammy Jammer
Smoakin - that makes since. I troll with bucktails because I don’t have a trolling motor. Prior to those warm days last weekend I would easily limit out every time out. Now it is slow and several fish are small. Yesterday I just happened to be watching my poles (they are usually behind me and I listen for the click) and noticed I was getting hits about every time I saw fish. I even held the pole for a while and could feel them hitting or bumping it, I guess they were just not aggressive enough to get hooked. So maybe they are still biting just not hard and I didn’t realize it.
Also, in some of my research about white perch from several years ago, I seem to remember that they can cross with stripers. The resulting hybrid, if my memory is correct is called a wiper and doesn’t thrive like the hybrids from white bass and stripers. I think they have a limited lifespan, possibly a couple of years. Hope they don’t get started in Murray.
True. I don’t know for a fact. As a true fisherman, I sometimes “embellish” the truth. I have reason to believe these fish reproduce naturally. DNR says it’s possible. Last one I caught was 2 weeks ago. It was 10". Seem to catch a pile of small ones on crappie minnows. I’m glad they’re thriving.