Best lures vary based on season, prevalent forage, water body, and size of stripers. AlphaHawk uses relatively tiny lures, but catches stripers most people would assume demand larger lures. He's showing a textbook example of matching the hatch. Normally, stripers will prefer the biggest bait they can eat so that a single meal provides max nutrition, but I know 20 lbers caught on crappie jigs. This is because the vast majority of baitfish, young-of-the-year shad, are only 1-2 inches long. Stripers can get picky at times. If you aren't having success on what you're throwing, and you're positive stripers are around, switch lures. Without being there, it's hard to say whether to go bigger or smaller, but based on the season, I would guess smaller. There's a lot of small shad in our fisheries now, and they are easy pickings. That said, bring a dedicated big-lure rod. Skipjack like to surface-feed on the small shad, and that commotion attracts bigger predators. A 7+ inch skippie-imitating lure will get a big striper's attention. A pencil popper, 10" fin-s-fish, and a 7" redfin (smokey Joe color) will fit the bill. If no dice, then try a popping cork with a small-shad imitating lure a few feet below it. In tailwaters, you'll have a greater variation in available bait sizes, and stripers will quickly let you know what they want. Look for bait spraying out of the water, then use lures that match. Toss a big bait out occasionally, though, in case a lazy, large striper is around.
Chris
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