Need some advice on River Fishing

[aero320]

I am going to start Striper finishing on the Cumberland in the very near future and need some advice on how to pursue this. It is my understanding that live baits are pulled using side planers to spread out the bait offerings and also allow the bank side baits to get closer into the bank. I have the rods that will be needed already setup. Here are my questions:

1. Does it make any difference whether you are fishing upstream or downstream?

2. How much line do you let out before attaching the planer board?

3. Are the lines behind the planer boards simply "free-lined" or do I need to add weight?

4. Are the fish always next to the bank, or should lines be setup on both sides of the boat?

5. Do river fish school up like they do in the lakes so you can get multiple hookups, or are they solitary?

It recently occurred to me that driving to the river is about the same distance as driving to Tims Ford and I am bored with trolling.

Thanks for any advice.

[JKTrevecca]

I am going to start Striper finishing on the Cumberland in the very near future and need some advice on how to pursue this. It is my understanding that live baits are pulled using side planers to spread out the bait offerings and also allow the bank side baits to get closer into the bank. I have the rods that will be needed already setup. Here are my questions:

1. Does it make any difference whether you are fishing upstream or downstream?

2. How much line do you let out before attaching the planer board?

3. Are the lines behind the planer boards simply "free-lined" or do I need to add weight?

4. Are the fish always next to the bank, or should lines be setup on both sides of the boat?

5. Do river fish school up like they do in the lakes so you can get multiple hookups, or are they solitary?

It recently occurred to me that driving to the river is about the same distance as driving to Tims Ford and I am bored with trolling.


Thanks for any advice.

I've only been at this for about a year so take this advice as worth what you've paid for it. The guy that taught me everything I know about fishing for water zebra's won angler of the year at one point and everything he taught me has worked. So... Here are my responses.

1. In my opinion, yes. especially if there is current flowing. The logic here is that most bait fish will come from upstream so I try to present my baits in the same direction.


2. 8-12 feet before attaching the release. The more you let the bait free swim, the more likely you will be to get hung up in brush etc but when fishing the river bank, that is part of the deal regardless so just be preparred to lose some bait and some terminal tackle as part of the pursuit.


3. I like to attach a small split shot above the bait just to slow them down a little bit so they can still swim freely but have to work harder to go crazy in the timber. The key here is to try it different ways and see what works. I've caught fish using 100% free-line behind the boards and also using the split shot method. I also put out a balloon line off the back of the boat, giving that guy 20-30 feet of line before attaching the balloon and letting him free swim with no weight at all.


4. I've found that the fish generally favor 1 of the banks but I always rake a wide path just in case. Last Saturday, all 9 of my hook-ups were on the right side of the boat and/or the balloon line. Nothing hit my planer boards that were on the left side of the boat.


5. Yes. On Saturday, all 9 hook-ups were in an area no more than 100 yards long. We'd drift past, fight a fish or two, turn around and go back up-stream, then drift past the same area over and over again until the bite went away. 8 of our 9 hook-ups were around some submerged timber. Like 1 tree. Very small area.

Good luck!

[aero320]

I've only been at this for about a year so take this advice as worth what you've paid for it. The guy that taught me everything I know about fishing for water zebra's won angler of the year at one point and everything he taught me has worked. So... Here are my responses.

1. In my opinion, yes. especially if there is current flowing. The logic here is that most bait fish will come from upstream so I try to present my baits in the same direction.


2. 8-12 feet before attaching the release. The more you let the bait free swim, the more likely you will be to get hung up in brush etc but when fishing the river bank, that is part of the deal regardless so just be preparred to lose some bait and some terminal tackle as part of the pursuit.


3. I like to attach a small split shot above the bait just to slow them down a little bit so they can still swim freely but have to work harder to go crazy in the timber. The key here is to try it different ways and see what works. I've caught fish using 100% free-line behind the boards and also using the split shot method. I also put out a balloon line off the back of the boat, giving that guy 20-30 feet of line before attaching the balloon and letting him free swim with no weight at all.


4. I've found that the fish generally favor 1 of the banks but I always rake a wide path just in case. Last Saturday, all 9 of my hook-ups were on the right side of the boat and/or the balloon line. Nothing hit my planer boards that were on the left side of the boat.


5. Yes. On Saturday, all 9 hook-ups were in an area no more than 100 yards long. We'd drift past, fight a fish or two, turn around and go back up-stream, then drift past the same area over and over again until the bite went away. 8 of our 9 hook-ups were around some submerged timber. Like 1 tree. Very small area.

Good luck!

My Spring live bait setup is just about what you described. I have two rods from both sides of the back of the boat with shad free-lined. The only weight on the line is the swivel and the hook. Then I have two more extending from the back of the boat that are free-lined with balloons tied about 18' above the swivel. These rods are way back and staggered depending on the direction I plan to turn the boat. The final two rods are free-lined on each side of the boat with side planers about 50' above the swivel. The purpose being to cover more area. You could certainly add two more to the side. Sometimes the stripers will run the free-lined baits to the surface and then hit them. It is amazing sometimes how hard it is for the stripers to catch the free-lined shad. I usually keep two down lines but rarely catch a fish on them when the water is colder.

Did your fish come from the bank side of the boat or the other side?

Merv and I are going to the River on Saturday (unless he wimps out)!

Thanks for the information

[eksfish]

The real big boys are usually solitary!

[JKTrevecca]

Bank side

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[MNfisher]

The real big boys are usually solitary!


Yep, like he said. The 15-35 lbers will school together, but the 40-60 lbers will most of the time be by themselves. You have to target them with big slow baits. They get lazy when they are that big. Eat less frequently, but more at a time. The big ones I've caught or hooked, often come when the action has died down from smaller fish, you think the bite is over.....then BAM!!


Mike

[Travis C.]

The big ones I've caught or hooked, often come when the action has died down from smaller fish, you think the bite is over.....then BAM!!

Mike

That's why they bat clean up. Usually they straggle along behind the schools getting freebies and wounded bait from the others frenzy.

The "big" non schoolie fish you are looking for that one or if your lucky couple bites. Boating her is a whole other story in itself.

[Brian37075]

Just curious if you can't get live shad, would blue gill work?

[TNBronzeback]

Ive had mixed results in the river with bluegills. My experience is they tend to mouth and play with them more than shad. Ya end up with some mangled half dead/descaled gills. Thats just my experience in the river though.

[tkwalker]

I am going to start Striper finishing on the Cumberland in the very near future and need some advice on how to pursue this. It is my understanding that live baits are pulled using side planers to spread out the bait offerings and also allow the bank side baits to get closer into the bank. I have the rods that will be needed already setup. Here are my questions:

1. Does it make any difference whether you are fishing upstream or downstream?

2. How much line do you let out before attaching the planer board?

3. Are the lines behind the planer boards simply "free-lined" or do I need to add weight?

4. Are the fish always next to the bank, or should lines be setup on both sides of the boat?

5. Do river fish school up like they do in the lakes so you can get multiple hookups, or are they solitary?

It recently occurred to me that driving to the river is about the same distance as driving to Tims Ford and I am bored with trolling.

Thanks for any advice.

1. Aero, Does it make sense to troll against the generated current ? Which you probably can't do if your fishing where you need to be ...Think about it ... ( Go with the current and use the elect trolling motor to control the tension on the boards ... )

2. Optional ... Experiment ...

3. Your bait is your weight ... Live skipjack will be a challenge ... Gizzard shad easier to control ... Also trout ...

4. Port side only (bank side only in a river environment ) Run two boards in Tandem ... One in front of the other ... No way you can control Starboard boards while working around Buoys and current ...

5. The river environment is totally different ... Like previously stated The rogues follow the schools ... They are not as apparent as lake schoolies i.e. JPP ... etc ...

Aero, the bottom line here is YOU need to get out and do your home work ... If !! you are going to be successful at this ... River trophy's are going to be hard to come by with out trial and error research ... ... As far as Gills ... The river is not like a lake ... JPP, Normandy, Tim's Ford ... ETC ... Forget the gills ...

The bottom line here is You have to learn to river fish ... There has been some good and bad info posted on the this thread ... It is up to you to see what works and what doesn't work ... <'TK>< :)

[tkwalker]

Just curious if you can't get live shad, would blue gill work?

Brian, you can always catch live bait if you learn to cast a net ... If you want to be a successful striper fisherman ... here again how much work and effort do YOU want to put in to it ?? .... <'TK>< :)

[tkwalker]

The real big boys are usually solitary!

Lazy Rogues ... They let the schoolies ravage the bait fish and the rogues come along at their leisure and clean up ...

But they can't help busting a slow moving trout, Skippy or Gizzard in front of their nose ... <'TK>< :)

[JKTrevecca]

... There has been some good and bad info posted on the this thread ... It is up to you to see what works and what doesn't work ... <'TK>< :)


Hey TK - I'd love to know what the bad info is so I can avoid it. Would you mind to ellaborate. PM would be fine with me if you'd rather not post it on here. Thank You!

[aero320]

1. Aero, Does it make sense to troll against the generated current ? Which you probably can't do if your fishing where you need to be ...Think about it ... ( Go with the current and use the elect trolling motor to control the tension on the boards ... )

2. Optional ... Experiment ...

3. Your bait is your weight ... Live skipjack will be a challenge ... Gizzard shad easier to control ... Also trout ...

4. Port side only (bank side only in a river environment ) Run two boards in Tandem ... One in front of the other ... No way you can control Starboard boards while working around Buoys and current ...

5. The river environment is totally different ... Like previously stated The rogues follow the schools ... They are not as apparent as lake schoolies i.e. JPP ... etc ...

Aero, the bottom line here is YOU need to get out and do your home work ... If !! you are going to be successful at this ... River trophy's are going to be hard to come by with out trial and error research ... ... As far as Gills ... The river is not like a lake ... JPP, Normandy, Tim's Ford ... ETC ... Forget the gills ...

The bottom line here is You have to learn to river fish ... There has been some good and bad info posted on the this thread ... It is up to you to see what works and what doesn't work ... <'TK>< :)

TK, thanks for responding ... I have gone back and read most of your responses on the topic and think I have a good place to start.

[MNfisher]

Boating her is a whole other story in itself.


Isn't that the truth! I know I've hooked more rogues than I've caught!


Mike

[tkwalker]

Hey TK - I'd love to know what the bad info is so I can avoid it. Would you mind to ellaborate. PM would be fine with me if you'd rather not post it on here. Thank You!

Bad use of words ... Everything was good .. But not all things said may not fit the situation ... For instance .. Line depth depends on the river depth environment ... What is the size of a bait, Skippies are very active and strong compared to gizzards or threadfins, and trout... So you want your largest and strongest fish on the rear board ... This lets him (what I call) sweep a 180 deg. area behind the board....

Also be mindful of the front boards line length. Don't get it to long or it might interfere with the rear board and especially in bends of the river where you have back eddies and slack develops on the board and the baits may get tangled with each other ... This is when power control with the elect Mtr. is really needed ... Hope this clarifies .... <'TK><:)

P.S ... All The posts were Great .. But like anything else "You have variables". ..

[thehick176]

All this talk about river fishing is giving me the urge to get down there after some smallmouth this weekend!