live bait rigging for stripers
 

I seen lately a few guys have been using live skipjacks for stripers and im curious about where/how to hook them.
Ive used gizzard & threadfins in the spring and ive hooked them through both nostrils with good results but i tried a live skipjack the same way and it was instant death for it once i did. Maybe i did it wrong or stressed the 'jack too much but he went lifeless stat!
i know with shad, certain steps need to be taken to avoid "red nose" which ive read stripers are not a fan of at certain times.
If your using big skip jacks do you run 2 hooks or just 1 big hook? Hooked in the mouth, back, tail?
So since big line sides are a fan of big meals i figure i need to learn the proper rigging so im using something stripers want instead of dragging dead skipjacks down the river! lol.
Thanks for the info!

You are correct ... <'TK><
 

John ... If you are looking for schoolies or large rogues ... Your method is correct ... Nostrils !! .. .. whether it be Gizzards, Skippies or trout , Planer board or free swim... Your Skippy death rate maybe do to natural death rather than the hooking method ... I also used treble stingers sometimes on my trout and Skippies ...

I used the Nostril method for 20 years ... In fact I would hook my trout this way and at the end of the day bring them home and put them in my refrigerated tanks and use them for later trips ... They were alive and happy ... (year round) ...

Skippies is one of the hardest baits to keep ... They discharge a toxic oil which is detrimental to themselves .. So a constant water flow thru their tank helps ... But I had over $1000 invested with the latest and greatest in a tank and system and the best I could do was keep them alive 5 hours ... And this was about the same my Friend and rival Ralph Hollis Dallas could do ... But yet I could drive a Eagle Claw #7 Shaunesy hook thru their nose and immediately throw them in the water .. and they would live all day ... The challenge here was to catch them at Cordell Hull ...Trailer out to Granville and Martins Creek ... No more than an hour ordeal before I could push fresh water thru my tanks again constantly but the death rate would be 40% ...

Also if I was really after Mama ... 16 to 18 inch bait is not out of the question ... I grew this size trout in my tanks ... Remember ...Rogues are lazy ... they follow the schools after they ravage ... They just can't turn down a slow, large , striper candy swimming by at one of their favorite ambush points ...Ambush points !! Now where are they :confused:

Your turn .. Tell me where they might be ... ;) John ...not aimed at you but to all who are interested in going after trophy Stripers ... I will help ... But you have to go out and educate yourself ... Read all you can ... And then throw out 50% of it as BS. Then report what you have learned and I will guide you in the right direction ... Note: Priest holds no trophyies ... This is strictly the Cumberland River Chain ...

Hope this helps ...... <'TK>< :)

Great stuff TK. I love striper fishing with skippies. Have always had my best luck using skipjack. Besides GSP and below dams I don't have any hot spots on the Cumberland River. I wish I did. I know they are in the Caney too. The biggest I've ever had in my boat was 36 lb on live skipjack wow that was an memory. So glad I had a friend with me. Happy Fishing!


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Dollar bills work really well for attracting strippers.

Thanks TK, i really dont have any information on Cumberland River stripers aside from what ive seen a few guys doing below old hickory and cheatham in the summer during generation. My limited knowledge is geared around the waters of East TN, but i dont see a reason why they wouldnt work on the Cumberland once i found them.
I think i have a place or 2 in mind for chasing on the Cumberland this year so im gonna give them a try.
Actually, as bad as it sounds, my biggest hang-up right now, is not getting my cast net to fully open up when throwing for shad. 1 out of 10 will open up as pretty as a picture while the others look like a half moon or worse! LOL. ive gotta work on that, before the spring run hits!

Years ago, we caught a 16, a 17, and a 38# striper at Tim's Ford, fishing at the dam. We trolled a large bucktail jig tipped with an artificial shad about 4" long. All we did was follow the birds. I have since heard that Tim's is dead for big rockfish.

Do you use any scent on them?

I use to spray mine with Crown Royal and it seemed to work better.

There's many ways to throw the Castnet it but what I did is practiced in my yard a whole lot. Make sure that the rope is snug on your wrist so the whole thing doesn't fly off in the water. You should loop the rope through so when you pull the rope gets snug around your wrist.


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I've been throwing a cast net since I was a kid and still throw the dreaded "banana" on occasion. I realize there are a bunch of different ways to throw a net, but for me it is almost always one of two mistakes that stop the net from opening properly.

1. Being lazy and not setting up the net properly. This means not going through all the steps to getting the net ready to throw. In my method I have a few folds of the net to do as I get it ready to throw. Sometimes I think, maybe I can shortcut them a bit to make it faster. Sometime it works, but many times it doesn't. A wasted throw isn't worth the few moments gained by short-cutting the setup. I wish I would take my own advice on this one.

2. Getting tired. After throwing a bunch, my shoulders get tired and I start letting my hands come together at the end of the throw. This always results in a bad throw. You need to keep your hands apart so that the net will open. Easier said then done when you have to throw a bunch of times to get bait. If I can not catch enough before I get really tired then I usually give up on bait fishing and go try something else. That lead gets heavy after a while.

The combination of these two mean that you should take care to make your throws count. Find shad with the depthfinder or your eyes first, then set your net up correctly, and make good throws. I rarely get better with more throws on the water. If I can fill the bait well within about 10 throws (but preferably 1 or 2 throws) then all is good. If I mess up a bunch of those first 10, it is usually a lost cause by 30 or 40 throws.

All that said, cast nets are fun and super effective for catching shad. If you like to use live or cut baits, they will save you a ton in bait costs. Plus if you find the shad, you will usually find the predators. Also, it is an interesting learning experience to understand the daily and seasonal movement of shad.

Good luck on learning your cast net. It is worth it for sure.

Jim

PS - Be careful throwing a cast net in current. A snag is bad news when the net is tight around your wrist and the boat is moving. This is a big issue if you throw a net around a dam with all the current. The neoprene wrist band is way better than the self-tightening loop on your wrist.

Cast nets ... <'TK><
 

Yikes! I will have to keep a knife handy. I always worry about this around the dams as it is hard to rip a net out of a snag. I bet that scared the **** out of you when you got pulled over!

As for techniques of throwing the nets, I have no idea where my method came from, but it is not a teeth or shoulder method. Just have to spin the net when loading. I think putting a net full of lead in my mouth is nuts! No need to lose teeth over a few shad :)

I typically have carried an 8, 6, and 4 ft net in the boat. But I destroyed my 8 footer in the spring and have been using the 6 ft net a lot this year. The 4 ft net is small mesh and good for creek minnows or small shad. A standard 6 ft 3/8 net will catch lots of big gizzard shad, but not in water deeper than about 6 ft. They will just swim out from under it. It is great in shallow water and really easy to throw.

If I get back to fishing the dams a lot, a big net will be on the replacement list. On the lake side, look in shallow coves with mud bottoms for shad. These are the easiest places to find them. Plus the snags are usually pretty obvious and easy to avoid.

Jim

I think our methods are the same .. <'TK><
 

There needs to be a seminar at the gathering for the rookies. :)

all great info guys, thanks alot!. the net we have i believe is an 8ft. dia net.
Im just not consistant with it, i will have 1 good throw, then follow it up with 4-5 "bananas". i have the general concept with the shoulder method, its just a matter of taking it to a lake and just practicing with it till i have the right form and release.
good thing we got to the water so early that day, it took us half the morning (totally missing the first light bite) to get just a small handful of shad! LOL.
its funny cause we spent 2-3 hours gathering 5-6 shad, all crabby and tired and wet the whole time, but once we made that first drift and i hammered my first 12lb-er, it made it all OK! lol.

I'm for that! I bought a cast net two years ago, threw it a few dozen times and realized how bad I sucked at it, and THREW it into my garage, where it still remains...lol. Yeah, I'd be all over some instructions!