Striper Luck Continues!

[Adrian]

Launched out of Cairo/Steamplant area and netted a few gizzard shad, turned on the Lowrance Touch and started the search. Early part of the day was really Dead. I marked a school or 2 but they were suspended not eating. It wasn't until about 6:15 PM when the bite started. Wouldn't you know it, on the exact same school I marked around 2:30. As you can imagine there was a lot of down time on the boat hanging out :) It makes up for it when 40 inchers are hoisted up on the deck. Having a Ball!

http://i1245.photobucket.com/albums/gg582/adriandavidpayne/2%20Stipers_zpsebzdfy8i.jpg (http://s1245.photobucket.com/user/adriandavidpayne/media/2%20Stipers_zpsebzdfy8i.jpg.html)

[Saltwaterwalt]

Dang Adrian, I need lessons from you!

[XxthejuicexX]

Dang man! I'm pretty sure I can get my Yak strapped to the deck of the boat and ride along with you....

[Alphahawk]

Nice fish!


Regards

[Reel Tune]

You've got these fish figured out. Congratulations. You've put your time in and now it's paying off with some true river monsters.

[gordonc615]

smh

[jad2t]

Awesome stuff man. I can't wait until they start stacking up at their winter hangout, get out there in the kayak and wrestle with those beasts

[gordonc615]

gizzard shad only? did u just drop em down or float the rigs? I know u've mentioned something about a spoon which ones do you use?

[CreekWalker]

Nice work! Congrats!

[Adrian]

Thanks Ya'll! It's been a Year and a half! Here's the technique, flaws and all... I've been fishing them guerrilla style. I find them on the Sonar, Set a waypoint & tell the Motorguide Xi5 to anchor on top of the waypoint, look at my line counter and drop the bait right in their face. I'm in a 19' bass boat with 2 rod holders. I put down 2 big gizzard shad, then go up front and drop a White Wahoo Jig 'n Shad 1 oz (Academy). We rarely have more than 3 lines in at a time unless my wife picks up her spoon.

I'm sure there are more productive ways to do it, but on many occasions we're hooking up 3 at a time and that's about all I can handle anyway and still release them Alive.

Hope this helps.

[SAMBOLIE]

Thanks Ya'll! It's been a Year and a half! Here's the technique, flaws and all... I've been fishing them guerrilla style. I find them on the Sonar, Set a waypoint & tell the Motorguide Xi5 to anchor on top of the waypoint, look at my line counter and drop the bait right in their face. I'm in a 19' bass boat with 2 rod holders. I put down 2 big gizzard shad, then go up front and drop a White Wahoo Jig 'n Shad 1 oz (Academy). We rarely have more than 3 lines in at a time unless my wife picks up her spoon.

I'm sure there are more productive ways to do it, but on many occasions we're hooking up 3 at a time and that's about all I can handle anyway and still release them Alive.

Hope this helps.

You are doing it all bass ackwards as seen by your catches. :D

[Pinwheeled]

Awesome stuff man. I can't wait until they start stacking up at their winter hangout, get out there in the kayak and wrestle with those beasts


I'll see you out there when they do. I might be after a smaller fish though ;)


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[fairweatherfisherman]

Good report man. Keep 'em coming.

[JKTrevecca]

What kind and size terminal tackle are you using Adrian? Thanks for the awesome pics and reports!

Sent from my KFSOWI using Tapatalk

[Adrian]

What kind and size terminal tackle are you using Adrian? Thanks for the awesome pics and reports!

Sent from my KFSOWI using Tapatalk

I'll give you the full rig rundown, maybe it will help some folks.

Reel is an Abu Garcia ALPHAMAR LC (line counter)
The Rod is 7' Shimano Trolling Rod, Power: Medium Heavy. Action: Medium Fast.
Line is 80lb Braid tied to a barrel swivel. On the other end of the swivel I tie on 3' of 30lb Fluorocarbon leader. For Gizzard Shad I use a Gamakatsu 5/0 Circle hook.
For Threadfins I'll go as small as an Owner size 6. Believe me, it's tiny. But for times when they are smaller or not very aggressive this is the ticket.
For the weight I use 1oz or 2oz Disc weights. Here's a neat trick, on the Barrel swivel hole that the braid is tied to, I use a small cheap & weak clasp fed through the barrel swivel hole and put my weight on it.
For Hang Ups, that clasp breaks and frees my line. 80' braid is almost impossible break in deep water. Like I said in your post, I've had 100% hook & land success with this setup.
All the Big fish posted by me have been landed in less than 2-3 minutes including the Humongous catfish.

One note, you'll have to use smaller leaders to get through the eyes of the size 6 hooks. Also, 25+ lb fish will try to bend a size 6 hook straight out if you horse it.

Hope this helps somebody

[Reel Tune]

Great rundown of your equipment, the correct equipment for the fight is essential for success, and with a 100% landing percentage it shows.

[JKTrevecca]

Thanks Adrian. My set-up is somewhat similar. I use Abu Garcia Ambassaduer c3's, ugly stick medium heavy 6'6 rods, 2oz egg sinkers above a swivel, 2-3 foot leaders, but where I differ is the hooks. I've never used circle hooks. I've used l042's and for the last few months have used octopus hooks. The biggest difference is hook size and I'm hoping that is what's hurting me because it's an easy fix. 2/0 might just be way to small for an 8 inch gizzard. I've been using primarily 2/0 hooks regardless of bait size. My last trip I used some gamu 4/0 octopus hooks and the fish landed came on that with the fishes missed on the 2/0's.

How are you fishing the circle hooks? Are your rods in rod holders at the time of strike or are you holding them. If they are in rod holders, are you doing anything to set the hook or relying on the strike/turn to set the hook for you? How fast are you getting to your rods in the event of a strike?

I don't set hooks when striper fishing. When the rod doubles over with the tip into the water and drag smoking like a choo-choo I wrestle the rod out of the holder and am careful to maintain tension/pressure but I never "set" the hook. I'm curious to know what your actions are from the time a fish strikes to when you have the rod in your hand and know for sure the hook is fully embedded in the mouth of the fish.

Thanks again man. Missing 5 of 6 pull downs/strikes SUCKS! I feel like my line of questioning makes me sound like an absolute rookie and I'm okay with that if it improves my landing ratio. I have no pride. The fish have won the last few battles but I will win the war! (any non-fisherman would read this and say "what a freaking dork")

-- Jason

[FloatNFish]

Awesome fish Adrian! Keep wearing em out.

[Adrian]

JK, if you never use Circle hooks for stripers, you owe it to yourself to go get you some. They do all the work for you. I put the rod in a rod holder & sometimes hold it in my lap. When the stripers swallow the bait and turn their head, that Circle hooks buries in the lip and it's "Fish On"! Once the rod tip hits the water & I hear the clicker I know it's coming into the boat. The 20 pounder my wife caught last week was on the Owner size 6 hook I was talking about. She was using 50lb Braid & 17lb fluorocarbon. You only get 1 fish per hook with those things if they are that big using a 6. I kept telling her, don't bend your hook out!

All that said, I think the Circle Hook is going to up your percentage dramatically.
BTW, I'm sure no one here thinks you're a Dork & we know by all your other posts that you are definitely not a Rookie. I'm totally expecting some pictures of some Big ones when you get your hooks.

[MNfisher]

Nice work Adrian! I impressed with your catches every year! Wish I had the gear or time to try this. It would take a lot of paddling in the yak to find the schools I would imagine.


Mike

[Reel Tune]

I fished with a very experienced Striper fisherman on Boone several years ago, and I always like to bring my own gear. We were using Brown Trout in the 10-14" range, and trolling them with planer boards. I decided to use 8/0 Owner Circle Hooks and he looked at me like I was nuts. I ended up going 3 for 3 that day all 30 - 35lbs. He said he never gets hookup ratios like that, so I think I changed his mind. Anytime I'm using live bait shiners, shad, trout, skipjack, cigar minnows, creek chubs, etc I'm using a circle hook appropriate to the size of the bait. The hooks are not cheap, but landing the fish quickly, and safely is more important.