# Drumming up hybrid's stripers anyone try this?



## Jonboater (Mar 19, 2013)

OK, two weeks ago I was watching the TV show nut and bolts of fishing and they was with A fishing guide on heartwell lake fishing for hybrids and stripers and the guide would take a pool stick and hit the bottom of the boat to "call" in the fish as he said. And even show him catching fish seconds later after hit the bottom of the boat. Even said if there's a boat catching fish within 50 yards of him he could hit the bottom of the boat and call the fish over to his boat. His reasoning or thoughts to why this works is because the fish raise in A hatchery got train to hearing the banging noise and related it to feeding time.  This isn't the first time I heard of doing this,there was a article in Gon fishing lake Juliet and the fishing guide also done it on that trip. Just wanted your thoughts on this. Or if any of you has ever tryed this. Just thought it was real interesting show and had to tell and ask you guts about this.


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## justrun (Mar 19, 2013)

No, but I know little engineers are designing a little drumming machine as we type.  They will be on the market soon.


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## bigfishheads (Mar 19, 2013)

woodpeckers


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## Worley (Mar 19, 2013)

*Stick*

Maybe he will jump in at some point in the conversation but I had a friend with me at Hartwell and showed him that little trick and he bout passed out as graph lit up with a blazing few fish and we hooked up...I was taught by Doug Youngblood as well, it works at times.  I would NOT expect to beat the boat up the river and have fish jump on the lines...I've only done it in deep water, summer like patterns...


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## brianj (Mar 19, 2013)

No way this works, don't waste you time


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## jerseycat9 (Mar 19, 2013)

If you're over trees and downlining just grab a rod and start tapping the bottom of the boat. When you see those trees come alive, and arches shooting out of them to eyeball your bait you will know it works lol.


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## gary b (Mar 19, 2013)

I've heard of leaving the motor running even heard of banging a 2 x4 on your boat. Have not tried either it seems to me the sound of my boat makes the fish run the other way. Lol


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## jeffc (Mar 20, 2013)

It works,  it is a great tactic.


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## Canyon (Mar 20, 2013)

I can see all the folks now, out beating the boat with a broom handle on lanier.


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## FishEd927 (Mar 20, 2013)

Saw the same thing on an episode of hookin up with Mariko Izumi.  She was on Lanier with Doug Youngblood in the summer time downlining.


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## StriperrHunterr (Mar 20, 2013)

I know, and did it this past Saturday, that pulling your line between the reel and first guide up about 2 feet and letting it fall back down can raise a strike. Basically, grab the line in the middle between the reel and first eye to about 2 feet, count a couple of seconds, and then release and let the bait fall back again. I don't know if it makes the baitfish react and become more lively, or if it makes it look wounded, but I know it has worked for me on downlines. 

I normally only do this if they seem to have turned off and they always hit it within a few seconds of the fall. 

The pavlovian response from hatchery makes sense, from a human perspective, but I don't know that fish can reason all that much. If that were true they would eventually be conditioned to avoid baits that have produced well in the past, resulting in cyclic patterns to baits, rather than constant producers. That's just my opinion, though.


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## brett30030 (Mar 20, 2013)

I don't think they feed the stripers and hybrids raised in this state. They are not large enough to feed on anything but zooplankton before they are harvested for stocking, that may not be the case on how SC raises their fish.


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## Jonboater (Mar 20, 2013)

Interesting thoughts guys! Maybe we can get some guys to try this out on Allatoona lake with all the hybrids it has. Or better yet get Robert of first bite to try this out for kicks one day and get his thoughts on this.


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## Lanier Jim (Mar 20, 2013)

My idea of drumming up fish is rigging up 12 drop shot worms on the same line.   If you get on some fish, you'll limit out on one drop....then you can eat a BBQ sammich  

LJ


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## TroutManJoe (Mar 20, 2013)

I've seen it work on Stripers in various mountain lakes... seems to work best when the fish are scattered. Who knows might just be a mental confidence thing. Seems to work some of the time.


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## SnapperG (Mar 20, 2013)

Canyon said:


> I can see all the folks now, out beating the boat with a broom handle on lanier.



I can see myself now...instead of running to Walmart at 4:30 in the morning to pick up something I left the house without, I can hit the home depot for a 2 x 4 on the way to the lake.


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## shakey gizzard (Mar 21, 2013)

We discussed this topic several years ago here! Did a search, but cant seem to find it! Lots of good theories!


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## ooz (Mar 21, 2013)

My college roommate's Uncle  Capt Mike Patrick took  us all out on the Hill one day and busted out an ol Ax handle with duct tape on the bottom and started tappin the bottom of that ol Glassmaster. Results were  a pile of   Sghetti on the Graph and Stripes in the box.  Never told  us why he did it though.


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## EZ Spin (Mar 21, 2013)

I have never "drummed" them up but when the top water bite is on in spring and fall and the stripers and spots quit biting we often crank the motor and run a few circles and the fish will start busting the surface again. Especially when the water is calm. I always thought it was because we stirred up the bait fish but maybe that 250 Merc sounds like hatchery feeder when they have grown!


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## Jonboater (Mar 21, 2013)

Yes I done that before also. Beginning to wonder it banging the bottom of the boat sends A sound/shock way threw the water causing  the bait on the lines to jump causing the fish to bite.  But if that was the case you would see them on the fish finder. So for some reason the banging on the boat gets the fish attention. Maybe one of are local guides can put there two cents on this thread.


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## Gadestroyer74 (Mar 21, 2013)

Only drumming I know works is a 5 gallon bucket a brick and stick of dynamite


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## Bob Benson (Mar 22, 2013)

Many call the technique "Thumping". It was used heavily in the Northeast Saltwater Striper fisherman. Most would use a wooden paddle and bang the side of the boat. Similar to Shark fisherman. It does work on our Southern Lakes. There are a number of guys in North and South Carolina that have mastered the technique. My take on it is the Stripers/Hybrids are curious. The sound gets them moving. Its also like mentioned before, starting the Outboard gets them fired up and moving. I have had fish come up while running my bilge and or a raw water washdown over the side of the boat.


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## Yankee in GA (Mar 22, 2013)

My brother and I used to troll a lot on the bay in R.I.  We always felt we had more action when we played music on the boat stereo.  It seems to make sense after seeing these posts.  Never thought to bang on the boat though...


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## one_shot_no_mor (Jul 1, 2019)

Reviving this thread...
Went with a friend on Lake Hartwell this morning to fish for stripers.  We "drummed" on the boat continuously and watched on his fish finder as fish gathered under the boat.  Caught 13 nice stripers and two big catfish in a little over two hours.  i'd say it works...


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## jocko755 (Jul 1, 2019)

I had a guide on Lanier do this and sweared by it.  You have to beat out a tune like "Rocky Top". They have a preference.  Don't tap out "Ice ice baby", they'll turn off.


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## 28gage (Jul 1, 2019)

There is a guy here in TX that is selling a drumming thing for striper.  A guide I fish with said he saw it work (at least the guy was drumming and catching).  So it's for sale whatever it is here in TX.


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## KKrueger (Jul 1, 2019)

I put water in a two gallon bucket and toss it out loudly.  Makes em look up and investigate.


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## specialk (Jul 1, 2019)

we always called up fish using an old telephone....


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## duckyaker90 (Jul 1, 2019)

KKrueger said:


> I put water in a two gallon bucket and toss it out loudly.  Makes em look up and investigate.


I bet 3 gallons would work better


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## duckyaker90 (Jul 1, 2019)

Surprised hydrowave hasn’t came out with a drumming chip.


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## fredw (Jul 1, 2019)

Once the down line  bite sets up on Oconee we don't leave the dock without a thumping stick.  Ours are a 1 inch dowel, 48 inches long, with a rubber crutch tip on the end.  I don't have any theory as to why this works......but it does.


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## duckyaker90 (Jul 1, 2019)

I saw somewhere when in the hatchery they beat the tanks at feeding time. Not sure if that’s true or not but it seems I’ve read that somewhere.


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## Batjack (Jul 1, 2019)

Don't know / never tried it, but what I do know is that no matter where we're at..if the bite slows down and someone comes run'n by us...it's on for a few minutes. If they don't swamp us that is.


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## Hillbilly stalker (Jul 1, 2019)

Its practiced by a lot of people at Santee Cooper. Never laugh at a guy with a full live well.


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## Scout'nStripers (Jul 1, 2019)

Check out the way they call up stripers on Lake Texoma. There's a guy out there that has a patient on the prop that attaches to the trolling motor. We called up stripers all day with this method.


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## MYRX (Jul 2, 2019)

I have used the same striper/hybrid guide on Hartwell for 9 years. He has always used this trick when the bite was slow. As I understand from him, it actually scares the bait (blue back herring) and makes them more active.  All I can tell you is it seems to help at times.  When the bite is good, of course this tactic isn't deployed.  He uses a shorten old broom handle.


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## across the river (Jul 5, 2019)

duckyaker90 said:


> I saw somewhere when in the hatchery they beat the tanks at feeding time. Not sure if that’s true or not but it seems I’ve read that somewhere.




They don't raise stripers in tanks in Georgia.   They hatch them in these "jars" in Richmond Hill that mimic a river to rotate the eggs,  and then they almost immediately transport them to other hatcheries where they load them up on microscopic "bugs" in these fertilized ponds until they pull them all from the ponds and stock them in the lakes.  The whole deal takes about a month.  They don't raise them in tanks like trout.


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## duckyaker90 (Jul 5, 2019)

But it was on the internet so it has to be true


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## bfriendly (Jul 8, 2019)

You can bet I’ll be banging on my boat!?


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## mpwarrak (Jul 9, 2019)

Funny I actually had a guide pull up to the spot I was fishing a few weeks ago and do that very thing.  He was beating the bottom of the boat with a fishing rod I thought, and doing it to the beat of some song that was in his head.  They didn't do much good fishing, and eventually left to go annoy some other fishermen and fish...


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## Fullnet2 (Jul 14, 2019)

This is a technique that definitely works. I am not a striper fisherman but learned of this technique when I overheard a conversation by three seasoned striper anglers. First,it seems you need a round drumming stick like a pool que or old fishing rod. A 2 x 4 will barely work.Next and more importantly,is proper cadence. Just continually thumping will not work but you must tap three times,skip two times etc. There is a formula,according to these guys,that works every time . According to them it's a rather complicated formula and unfortunately I can't remember the sequence.


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## Mickey Flatshoals (Jul 14, 2019)

Fullnet2 said:


> This is a technique that definitely works. I am not a striper fisherman but learned of this technique when I overheard a conversation by three seasoned striper anglers. First,it seems you need a round drumming stick like a pool que or old fishing rod. A 2 x 4 will barely work.Next and more importantly,is proper cadence. Just continually thumping will not work but you must tap three times,skip two times etc. There is a formula,according to these guys,that works every time . According to them it's a rather complicated formula and unfortunately I can't remember the sequence.



Yeah, and anytime I catch a big one I tell people, “I caught it in the middle on a hot dog and bobber”. 

If you practice that special drumming rhythm too much the Loch Ness monster might appear.


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## oppthepop (Jul 15, 2019)

Well, I've fished with Keith Hudson, fishing guide on West Point Lake, and I've seen it work. He hits the boat with a stick and the hybrids and stripers bite - go figure.


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## Mickey Flatshoals (Jul 15, 2019)

I’m not disputing that it may be a catalyst for bait fish. I’m just laughing at a couple old timers telling someone about the secret knocking sequence that’s supposed to work every time.


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## robtest (Jul 18, 2019)

I must have seen the same tv show about the thumper... I did a little research and some youtubing and found a couple guys that had made them with a car seat motor and a hammer... Get on Amazon, click click click, and a week later, I had a prototype... Played around with it, redid the layout, stuffed it all in a large ammo can with a little 12v battery and good to go!  About $75 in parts...

I have only had one chance to try it out... We tried it on one spot down by the Saddle Dike on Lanier, and didn't seem to do much for us...

Later in the day, we had been fishing up near Shady Groove N about 15-20 minutes and no hits, so turned it on again... In the next 20 minutes, we put 2 26" fish in the boat and had a decent size one break off... So that seems very promising...

I just need more test time. I am still not convinced, even though I have seen lots of "lookiloos" come up towards the boat thumping with a pool cue...  One of the guys had a video saying "see there on the fish finder, it's working, it's working!!!  But I didn't see nothing... lol...


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## whchunter (Jul 18, 2019)

Saw a YouTube video of a crappie fisherman who everytime the crappie bite slowed he would take his paddle and hit the side of his aluminum boat. It seemed to work. Fish are curious. Sound and vibration seem to attract them.


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## robtest (Jul 22, 2019)

Did a little more testing while out with my buddy Michael Garrow on Friday. Mike seems to think the fish seem more active on the fish finder when it is on...  I am still only partially convinced... I need to finish up the prototype so that it can plug into the 12v on the boat...   The little 2.5Ah battery that I put in the box seems fairly sufficient and makes the unit stand alone. We probably did 4+ hours continual high thump setting (110+ bpm) over the course of the day.


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