glad we went fishing in the rain saturday.

[jon1977]

We were after trout but that soon changed. Released to catch again.

[MNfisher]

Wow! What did you use to get these bruisers???

[Travis C.]

Nice looking fish.

[Alphahawk]

Nice fish!

Originally Posted by MNfisher

Wow! What did you use to get these bruisers???

Looks like the same fish to me!

Great job!

[MNfisher]

Originally Posted by Tennesseejugger

Looks like the same fish to me!

Oh well! Ha! Well what did they use to get that BRUISER! HA!

I am still looking for my first rockfish! I hooked one below percy last summer and it broke me off. I was bummed. It was about a ten pounder. But I want one over 30! REAL BAD!!!!

[flyfish]

Seeing those pics may make me give up on trout as well. How bad is the water down there with that much generation? How would it be in a boat? Seems like you'd get flushed out pretty quick, but you could cover a lot of water.

[bd-]

If they're running the sluice gate open, I'd stay clear of the area immediately below the dam in a boat. It gets pretty rough. I helped a few folks out last fall after they paddled out into it and got overturned. The sad part was, if they'd just waited another 20 minutes, the sluice was scheduled to cut off for the day. They got soaked, lost a rod, and ruined their trip for nothing.

If the sluice gate is closed it is not any worse than any other tailwater.

bd

[jad2t]

I've tried and tried and tried to catch big stripers below the Center Hill dam and had no luck. I have caught some really nice bass, but no stripers. Everyone I ask uses live bait, I strictly fish with artificials. Can someone give me at least some hints on what kind of lures can be used to catch stripers? Not even 30 pounders like I'm guessing those are.. just a 5 pounder would make me happy!

Originally Posted by jad2t

I've tried and tried and tried to catch big stripers below the Center Hill dam and had no luck. I have caught some really nice bass, but no stripers. Everyone I ask uses live bait, I strictly fish with artificials. Can someone give me at least some hints on what kind of lures can be used to catch stripers? Not even 30 pounders like I'm guessing those are.. just a 5 pounder would make me happy!

Anything that looks ike a shad will work, the gulp money minnow swim bait is awesome!

[txnative]

The usual tailwater lure, bucktail jig, works. You have to match weight to current, though, and still be able to cast it far enough to get to where the fish are. I use either a 7 1/2 ft med-heavy inshore spinning rod with 20 lb fireline crystal on a 4000 size reel or a 9 ft surf rod with 30 lb fireline on a 4000 size reel...depending on what I'm throwing and how far I have to get my lure.

It's a lot of work to deal with stripers below center hill due to the high oxygen levels giving them a "turbo gear," but it's as fun as anything you can do with your clothes on when 20-30 lbers are hitting your bait on every cast for 2 1/2 hrs (maybe longer, but I was too sore to go on dealing with them). This is NOT a common scenario, I lucked into a bite like that 2 years ago in much different conditions than they are now, but if only 1 fish is around, I'd make every effort to catch it. A reel screaming in pain as a big striper burns off 100+ yards of line is music to my ears.

By the way, take extra lures and line...some of the fish in the caney are more than anything but stand-up gear can handle from the bank...I've lost more than my share of gear (and sleep) chasing the smaller (30 and under) ones only to have a monster whip my...well, you know.




Chris

[jad2t]

Originally Posted by txnative

The usual tailwater lure, bucktail jig, works. You have to match weight to current, though, and still be able to cast it far enough to get to where the fish are. I use either a 7 1/2 ft med-heavy inshore spinning rod with 20 lb fireline crystal on a 4000 size reel or a 9 ft surf rod with 30 lb fireline on a 4000 size reel...depending on what I'm throwing and how far I have to get my lure.

It's a lot of work to deal with stripers below center hill due to the high oxygen levels giving them a "turbo gear," but it's as fun as anything you can do with your clothes on when 20-30 lbers are hitting your bait on every cast for 2 1/2 hrs (maybe longer, but I was too sore to go on dealing with them). This is NOT a common scenario, I lucked into a bite like that 2 years ago in much different conditions than they are now, but if only 1 fish is around, I'd make every effort to catch it. A reel screaming in pain as a big striper burns off 100+ yards of line is music to my ears.

By the way, take extra lures and line...some of the fish in the caney are more than anything but stand-up gear can handle from the bank...I've lost more than my share of gear (and sleep) chasing the smaller (30 and under) ones only to have a monster whip my...well, you know.




Chris

Well immediately after this month work will slow down and my fishing season begins. I plan to stock up on some fresh trout first which should be easy. Conservationists, leave me alone. Yes I eat fish that I catch because it's very healthy to do so. Eating fish from WalMart (from China sewage ponds)...not so much. Back to fishing, after I have some trout, I'm dedicating the rest of my time strictly to striper fishing. I'm going to make an order from Cabelas specifically for this purpose. I have in my "cart" a silver spoon, GULP money minnow swimbaits, and a big Rapala stickbait that I think resembles a shad pretty well. Any other tips?

[txnative]

Pencil poppers, super spooks, redfins, slug-go's, super flukes, and 1/4-1.5 oz jigheads with stout hooks.


Chris

[Travis C.]

Originally Posted by txnative

Pencil poppers, super spooks, redfins, slug-go's, super flukes, and 1/4-1.5 oz jigheads with stout hooks.

Chris

Definitely these but I will also add to not completely stock all you box with huge baits. They do eat big stuff but a lot of the baitfish aren't large all year long. Put some 3" or 4" shad swimbaits on good hooks to make sure you can match the hatch so to speak if need be.