# Stripers



## sguy (Jan 8, 2019)

So when is the best time of year to target stripers? Is one basin better then another....ie....blackwater, yellow river, Escambia river? Thanks in advance!


----------



## Bigwill4life (Mar 3, 2009)

What you just asked is top secret In this town and most people would say that they don't catch them up this way at all.


----------



## barefoot (Nov 3, 2011)

USUALLY - Nov.-thru- Jan is good.
Go in the worst weather you can handle, the colder the better. I like cold rainy, foggy mornings they tend to feed longer in the mornings in this type of weather.

All our river systems have stripers and/or hybrids in them...some are better at different times so there is no 1 BEST spot.

If you want to use live bait, go w/ a free-lined live mullet 8-10" long in a deep high current location. As for artificials: I've caught them on jigs, suspending jerk baits, mirro-dines, top water walk-the-dog lures and so on...if they're eating, you'll know it by the water boiling and bait fleeing for their lives.


----------



## ThaFish (Feb 27, 2013)

I just started trying to target them recently. Tough thing to get figured out, but we've been catching them with some consistency. Super fun fish for sure!


----------



## sguy (Jan 8, 2019)

Lol...tried to make the question as general as possible. I know better then to ask for exact spots or what use. I lived and fished Choctaw bay the last 10 years and they don't have them there, but now live in Milton so still learning this area.


barefoot said:


> USUALLY - Nov.-thru- Jan is good.
> Go in the worst weather you can handle, the colder the better. I like cold rainy, foggy mornings they tend to feed longer in the mornings in this type of weather.
> 
> All our river systems have stripers and/or hybrids in them...some are better at different times so there is no 1 BEST spot.
> ...


Great info...thanks


----------



## sguy (Jan 8, 2019)

barefoot said:


> USUALLY - Nov.-thru- Jan is good.
> Go in the worst weather you can handle, the colder the better. I like cold rainy, foggy mornings they tend to feed longer in the mornings in this type of weather.
> 
> All our river systems have stripers and/or hybrids in them...some are better at different times so there is no 1 BEST spot.
> ...


Awesome info...!


----------



## Bigwill4life (Mar 3, 2009)

I would listen to barefoot most miserable days seem to produce the most fish and quality fish at that.


----------



## Bigwill4life (Mar 3, 2009)

Caught this 12 pound beauty on whites River near becks lake.


----------



## Chris V (Oct 18, 2007)

Everybody has covered it pretty well, especially the cold weather part. High pressure turns the bite up, kind of like bull reds. I’ll add that periods around the full moon have always been very good for me as well, especially the three day period leading up to it. I prefer jerkbaits over other artificials, but catch them on a variety of things. They’re also a TON of fun on fly, with muddlers and bigger baitfish patterns being best. Finding bait is usually critical and the best action is always in bait-rich, high current areas. They aren’t very tackle shy, I usually go with 30lb leader.


----------



## jwilson1978 (Mar 23, 2021)

I'm in agreement with the cold front moving in Misérable cold wet day is best for real stripper. That's the truth.Up here the best time to catch those and Big Hybrids are at the dam's in the first couple of hours before daylight. They seem to bite better at night here.


----------



## ThaFish (Feb 27, 2013)

I agree with the above post that night time is the right time...


----------



## Pop Rivet (Jan 7, 2022)

Dock lights are the ticket.

That said, those of you that typically night fish for them, do you find that they typically key in on a certain bait, and a certain bait only, or is that just me?


----------



## Jason (Oct 2, 2007)

You will catch em on dock lights but not the monsters people usually target....biggest I have ever caught in the lights are a couple lb fish. The monsters are in the depths and structure....


----------



## jwilson1978 (Mar 23, 2021)

Pop Rivet said:


> Dock lights are the ticket.
> 
> That said, those of you that typically night fish for them, do you find that they typically key in on a certain bait, and a certain bait only, or is that just me?


I have only fished damns for them. They are not picky there. Its more about when they bite. People catch them on everything from chicken liver to artificial. Saying that I know a guy that fishes Smith lake that says they are really picky and if you are not fishing with what and the size bait fish they are feeding on your wasting your time.


----------



## Bodupp (Oct 3, 2007)

I am convinced of the following:
Live bait beats artificials 4 or 5 to 1.
Live bait from the water you're fishing beats store-bought.
Catching live bait is a pain in the ass.
Stripers are spooky like deer. They shut down/run from outboard noise. They will do the same for trolling motor noise if it's off/on, off/on. They tend to tolerate slow, monotonous steady speeds.
In clear water, they will see you standing and casting and will do the deer thing.
In clear water, flourocarbon outfishes regular mono.
In clear water, red circles hooks outfish silver.
First light until sunup, and sundown until dark are the very best times to fish.

Soooo, if you bait up with live bait caught from where you're fishing, hook it with a red circle hook tied to flourocarbon, slow troll it a long way from the boat using slow speed on your trolling motor, keep your movement below the gunnels, and fish the first light/last light periods, you _might_ get a bite.


----------



## jwilson1978 (Mar 23, 2021)

So the pistol for the stripe shad or protect your spots. lol Nice fish though.


----------



## Bodupp (Oct 3, 2007)

The reason some of the pics look like a double click is because I practice catch and release, and we sometimes catch the same fish over and over again. Or possibly because I'm a dumbass when it comes to posting pictures.
The pistol is for the mosquitoes.


----------



## jwilson1978 (Mar 23, 2021)

Bodupp said:


> The reason some of the pics look like a double click is because I practice catch and release, and we sometimes catch the same fish over and over again. Or possibly because I'm a dumbass when it comes to posting pictures.
> The pistol is for the mosquitoes.


The pistol is for the mosquitoes.  I hear you!!!! You fishing the Coosa?


----------



## Bodupp (Oct 3, 2007)

Tallapoosa. Water is too warm in the Coosa to grow trophy stripers.


----------



## jwilson1978 (Mar 23, 2021)

Bodupp said:


> Tallapoosa. Water is too warm in the Coosa to grow trophy stripers.


Up here real ones are getting rare. And usually caught by accident. On lake Tuscaloosa (By bass fisherman) and around the dams on the Warrior.


----------



## CardShark (11 mo ago)

Wow, there are some nice Striper pics in this thread!


----------



## Shmelton (May 19, 2020)

The hybrid run is just kicking off on the hooch. Stripers ought to be good to go by the end of the month. Can’t wait for the triple digit days on the trusty silver tiny trap.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk


----------



## jack2 (Mar 19, 2010)

my friend in lineville caught these the other day behind r.l. harris dam. he used an umbrella rig.
jack


----------



## lil'skeet (Sep 1, 2012)

Bodupp said:


> I am convinced of the following:
> Live bait beats artificials 4 or 5 to 1.
> Live bait from the water you're fishing beats store-bought.
> Catching live bait is a pain in the ass.
> ...


Spot on.
One thing I have done when you know they are on bait is cut up chunks of bait half of a thumb size and keep a steady "chunk" line going. They do school up. Few chunks drifting back to your baits every 2-3 minutes. Once they start feeding it's on as long as you keep them feeding, until they decide to stop. Double a triple headers happen often. 
Menhaden!


----------



## Bodupp (Oct 3, 2007)

Once upon a time, I was anchored up about a mile below the dam with a good current flow - not too fast, not too slow. I was on the edge of a feeding flat and a dropoff and was working the chum - smell, sight, and sound. I had an IV drip dripping menhaden oil making a visible slick behind the boat. I was pinching live gizzard shad minnows and tossing them over the side. Pinching shad is not unlike pinching a turd - done right and it's an art form. Pinch too hard = dead shad. Too soft = shad swims off. Just right = shad spinning in circles on the surface.
Nothing happened for several minutes so I tossed a big popper back in the slick and popped it as loud as I could. By golly, they ought to hear that! And, by golly, they ought to smell that slick and see those spinners! And...
Fish on! My guest reeled in his first ever striper - 7 pounds.
Another rod loaded up. 12 pounds.
Next fish was bigger still - 17 pounds.
Shit was happening. Fish were blowing up behind the boat from 5 feet back to 100 yards back.
Next fish made my guest grunt and whine. 24 pounds. Oh hell yeah. Sun was going down and I had plenty of frisky baits.

They shut the turbines off at the dam. No more bites.


----------

