# One Grand Summer



## StriperrHunterr

Okay, folks, it's finally time to drop the curtain on a project I've been putting together since the early part of this year. 

It all started with a personal goal that has evolved into something much bigger. Last year I was lucky enough to figure out the summer striper bite on the Ben Parker's Magnum spoon and in a little over a week I was able to put 120lbs in the boat and it hit me that if I really tried, and got on it early enough, that I could possibly, maybe break 1000lbs over the course of the summer. The question then was how to document it and what data was valuable in such documentation. 

Through some friends, new and old, I got the metrics that I'll need to have this data be of some use to people other than myself. 

That lead to me reaching out to our biologists here on Lanier, and even a trip out with them to see how the pros do it. I spent a Friday morning with them shocking up striper, and anything else "fortunate" enough to be in the field of the boat, and learned how they measure them, how scales are collected and the data is logged. Since pictures are worth 1000 words, video has to be even more valuable, right? So I have my measuring stick based on their design, an accu-cull scale from OBT, 8 magnum flutter spoons, and an SJCam, which is nearly identical to a GoPro of the same generation but at 1/3 the cost, all ready to rock and roll. I've been watching the surface temps and I think 5/1, well 5/2 since this weekend was our anniversary celebration, is the right time to announce this. 

Over the coming months I'll be fishing the weekends, maybe a weekday here or there, but mainly after work in the evenings trying to reach my goal. So why post about it now? Well, I'm looking for a few good mates to help me out. I understand that not everyone can, or would even want to, go as often as I want to, but I need some help getting the boat hitched up to the truck because of my bad knees. So how do you get in on this if you're interested and what do you need to bring? 

If you're interested shoot me a PM and we'll get linked up. What you'll need is a medium heavy rod capable of dropping a 3oz spoon and a reel capable of holding several hundred yards of 20lb Big Game line. I've found spinning works best because of the ferocity of the hits and being able to better hold onto the stem of a spinning reel. You'll also need a couple of your own spoons. That's it. Be able to meet me at my place in Buford by Shoal Creek campground around 5-530, have the requisite equipment, and be willing to help operate the camera, net, and measuring stick and you're in like Flynn. If you have your own GoPro or similar, even better. I've got mounts around the boat already, and could use an extra one to get some fighting and release shots. These will be posted to a YouTube channel, so participation implies consent to that. 

Your numbers will get logged, but won't count towards my total. In talking with the biologists, Chris and Pat, they told me that too few people actually keep fishing logs and even if they do they often don't record the 0 days. Even if I don't reach my 1000lb goal, this is sure to be a fun project for the summer, and if even 1 person besides myself decides to start their own log to give them more data I'll consider it a success. 

I would ask that this thread be kept clean as it will also be used to post videos, update the counts, and share data about the fishing so if you want to reach out to me to go fish, please do it via PM. 

Thanks for reading and I'm hoping to have some videos up soon.


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## howboutthemdawgs

Honest question...is it really the best for these fish to pull them out of 80-100' of water in a survivable water temp up through the water column at a breakneck speed while they are in the fight of their life in to 80-90 degree temps?  In my very humble opinion it's best for the fishery to leave these fish alone once the water reaches a certain water temp. 
If I'm wrong, and I very well could be, please school as to why. I've just heard the mortality on summer caught stripers is pretty high.


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## StriperrHunterr

howboutthemdawgs said:


> Honest question...is it really the best for these fish to pull them out of 80-100' of water in a survivable water temp up through the water column at a breakneck speed while they are in the fight of their life in to 80-90 degree temps?  In my very humble opinion it's best for the fishery to leave these fish alone once the water reaches a certain water temp.
> If I'm wrong, and I very well could be, please school as to why. *I've just heard* the mortality on summer caught stripers is pretty high.



There's plenty of debate on the topic of summer striper fishing. There are also plenty of threads on the matter here. I don't want to come off as rude, but search one of them up, comment on it and restart that discussion. 

I would prefer this thread not be cluttered with the hot weather fishing debate.

Thanks for understanding.


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## howboutthemdawgs

Not rude at all. Sorry I just started coming here. I will check it out.


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## KKrueger

I would be interested in helping. I work off 400 and could come in early some days to be able to help you in the evening.

My goal in this would be to learn my way around Lanier

I haven't met you but I think we fished near each other at the OWL event recently. I was in a big green alumacraft CC.

 - Kevin


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## StriperrHunterr

KKrueger said:


> I would be interested in helping. I work off 400 and could come in early some days to be able to help you in the evening.
> 
> My goal in this would be to learn my way around Lanier
> 
> I haven't met you but I think we fished near each other at the OWL event recently. I was in a big green alumacraft CC.
> 
> - Kevin


Yes sir. I do remember you. 

Shoot me a PM with your number and we'll get linked up.


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## PopPop

Sure wish I was closer.


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## KKrueger

Mike, wish I could go tomorrow. Work sure can ruin a good day of fishing.


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## StriperrHunterr

Well, the inaugural trip is this evening and I'm taking a friend from work and his father. A report, good, bad, or ugly, will be posted tomorrow. 

Thanks to everyone who responded and showed interest. I've got a list of names going right now and we'll work to get you all out at some point this summer. 

Pop, if you want to make a trip up I was already planning on taking 1 or 2 days off this summer to fish during the quieter weekdays. I would say that the better time for that is June, I'm already taking one day off to fish with my FiL in 2 weeks and want to spread it out.


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## Padderatz

Hey we could just take my boat its all set up and in the water at Hidden Harbor ?? Let me know


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## StriperrHunterr

Padderatz said:


> Hey we could just take my boat its all set up and in the water at Hidden Harbor ?? Let me know



Sounds like a deal for a couple of these trips.


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## Coenen

A half ton in one summer?








I'll give you a shout, I bet I can lose a couple of those Parker spoons just as well as the next guy! Good luck buddy!


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## StriperrHunterr

Trip #1 5/3/16
Weather: Air Temp mid 70's, water temp 73.5 at launch, light stain with pollen on the water, partly cloudy, WSW winds at 10-15. 

I figured I was being a little optimistic about going last night, but I wanted to fish anyway so I thought I'd give it a shot. Launched out of Shoal due to construction on Shadburn and not wanting to waste daylight driving to another ramp. Hit the first set of humps in the mid creek channel and marked one or two who wouldn't even window shop. Watched the spoon right through them to watch them scatter off the graph and got 0 fish. 

Moved over towards East Bank and marked a couple more, these all had noses in the mud and wouldn't touch a spoon either. 

Tucked out of the wind to see if I could put my friend on a spot or two to close the night off and here's where the graph lit up. Schools of 15-20 fish roaming in and out of my 2d making strong arches and showing up as quality fish on the DI. Dropping spoons on them made them scatter as well, so we switched to flukes, deep cranks, and smaller flexit spoons. No hookups. 

That's when motion caught my eye and a decent fish well over a 100ft away busted surface launching water probably 20 ft around it. Picked up the trolling motor and burned it over to them. Tried walking baits, flukes, flexits, and the assorted topwater on a school of really nice fish for about 15 minutes unable to get one of them to take it. I never got a good look at the fish themselves, but if they were spots this was a school of probably 15 of them all over 5, so my guess is the 6-8lb striper range given that they were schooling like that. We fished until dark even after they stopped busting, trolling cranks to try to reach them as I thought they were putting the bait ball back together for another run. No hits on it either. 

My opinion is that these fish were chasing smaller threads that plagued us a couple years ago, and I say plagued because you could see them bust, cast right in the ring, and not hook up. When you saw the aftermath it was all 1-2" threads that are hard to imitate and get the casting distance you need to reach them. 

With 73 degree surface temps and next week forecast to be in the mid to upper 80s in the afternoons I imagine we'll hit the warmer water we need to really bust this pattern wide open in the next 10-15 days. That won't stop me from trying again before then, though my schedule for the next couple weeks is a little tight. 

So while I logged a goose egg on my report last night, I did see a lot of things that have me hopeful for the near term. 

Thanks for reading.


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## Klag

I am primarily a spoon fisherman myself and I am not getting any spoon action yet either, and I'm not even bringing my Ben Parker with me on the kayak until water temps are a little higher.

I was reading 75.6 degree surface temps at 7am at Balus Creek yesterday, even after the cool rains a few hours before. Freeline herring was my only producer.


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## StriperrHunterr

Klag said:


> I am primarily a spoon fisherman myself and I am not getting any spoon action yet either, and I'm not even bringing my Ben Parker with me on the kayak until water temps are a little higher.
> 
> I was reading 75.6 degree surface temps at 7am at Balus Creek yesterday, even after the cool rains a few hours before. Freeline herring was my only producer.



I debated trolling the spoons but with them so snug to the bottom when we did mark them I didn't want to take a $16/snag chance


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## Padderatz

ok any time you want to try things out get in touch. geese16.kp@gmail.com or 678 714-9776 I am retired so anytime.


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## MYoung

CensoredCensoredCensoredCensored, I wouldn't mind giving this a try and learning the ways of the spoon!


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## Jonboater

Try a red fin  right now . And fish lighted boat docks.


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## Kestas69

Redfin is way to go right now. Or bone spook. Way to early for power reeling. You can catch few by casting and steady retrieving sexy spoon.


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## JJhunts

Keep us posted on your progress, awesome project.


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## brett30030

get one of these for release

http://seaqualizer.com/products/shallow-water-striper-seaqualizer


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## StriperrHunterr

Thanks guys, and for the reminder Brett, I'll order one really soon. 

I had to cross the dam this morning for a doctor's appointment and had to fight my inner addict. I saw a school just going nuts busting on bait right in front of the dam on the Gwinnett side as soon as you come onto it and I had to remind myself that I couldn't just go back home and get the boat. 

Combined with the action I saw the other night I'd say that the time for topwater, if not giants, is upon us. I can't go out this weekend but I wanted to let you all know so if you do go out you keep a topwater tied on and your eyes open. 

Good luck to all.


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## Scout'nStripers

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> Combined with the action I saw the other night I'd say that the time for topwater, if not giants, is upon us. I can't go out this weekend but I wanted to let you all know so if you do go out you keep a topwater tied on and your eyes open.
> 
> Good luck to all.


I'll have to give that topwater bite a try. Thanks for the advice....LOL


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## StriperrHunterr

Scout'nStripers said:


> I'll have to give that topwater bite a try. Thanks for the advice....LOL



Good luck.


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## StriperrHunterr

5/13/16
Wxr: Clear, winds variable at 10-15 mph.
Water: Clear, 70 degrees stable all day. 


I had an awesome trip with my father in law Friday morning. It was fitting, too, to pay homage to my grandfather. 

We got on the water right at safe light and went to a spot that I've seen some activity on previous days to try to see if we could get in them. 

We fished from 630-12, and boated 7 striper over the course of the day, all cookie cutter 4-6lb fish, but also all on topwater. The key was having the lure make noise. They were chasing what had to be loose bait because we never marked a ball, but every so often they would come launching 4-6" herring out of the water with them. So we burned spooks over the surface on long casts and they would absolutely get crushed. Ended with a total of 10 fish, 2 spots on shakey heads, and the biggest spot mixed in with the group of striper, right at 2.75 lbs. 

My father in law got his first striper ever as well, also a nice cookie cutter in the 4-6 class, but the water quality had to be phenomenal because they were fighting like much bigger fish.

None of these fish count towards my goal since they're not on the spoon pattern, but it was an all around great day. I did get a couple of scale samples that I'll be providing to DNR in the near future.


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## TroyBoy30

def topwater time for the stipers.  you can't catch a spot because of them


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## StriperrHunterr

TroyBoy30 said:


> def topwater time for the stipers.  you can't catch a spot because of them



Yeah, it surprised me when I pulled that bigger one from the same area with the striper. We were out over 140ft bottom and it came rocketing up and demolished the spook.


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## Deleted member 35556

The Parker spoon has been in the boat for the last few trips.  I've dropped it a couple times to no avail yet.  I suspect we're still a few weeks away if the temps stay as cool as they were this weekend.


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## StriperrHunterr

jivarie said:


> The Parker spoon has been in the boat for the last few trips.  I've dropped it a couple times to no avail yet.  I suspect we're still a few weeks away if the temps stay as cool as they were this weekend.



I saw lots of schools moving on the chart, but it seems like they're chasing slightly smaller herring, in the 6" class right now, and they're running and gunning. 

If someone did get one on the spoon right now I'd call it more fluke than actual pattern. I agree, we're still a few weeks out, much to my disappointment.


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## StriperrHunterr

6/7/16
Wxr: Warm and sunny, wind somewhere between gale force and hurricane force. 
Water Temp: 80
Clarity: Over 6 feet with a very mild stain. 

Got out last night with Andy O. He's a great guy that I'm going to be fishing with more, and if you get the chance to go with him I would recommend it. 

We marked tons of schools on the south end, just like what Bill said in his thread. We were dropping the spoon on them and getting Andy familiar with the overall technique as well as how to work it if you get snagged. 

He ended up hooking the first fish of the year on the spoon and she came unbuttoned 2 feet from the boat. A nice 4-6lb class fish, which I'm presuming all of the fish in these schools were the same size based on size of returns on DI. There is still a minor amount of surface activity, even in the evening with all of the pleasure boat traffic, and we both had several swirls and hits, but they didn't really want to seem to commit. We threw spooks, prop baits, and even the McStick with no solid hookups, but enough action to keep our adrenaline up and the jokes flowing. 

Based on the weather forecast for this weekend we should only get better as time goes on. I'm going again on Thursday with mattuga and will be running the same patterns as before, and have been confirmed by other member like Jim. Humps with access to deep water, and on the windblown side if there is wind. They seem to be staging in the deeper water waiting on the bait to blow over and ambushing from below. 

If you're going out scout these areas on your chart, and keep moving and keep an eye out. We were on one hump last night when the one 2 up in the chain lit up and looked like someone was chucking grenades on it. Keep a topwater or shallow subsurface lure tied on at all times, and make sure you can bomb it out a good distance. The boat noise scatters the bait and the fish along with them. Keep your distance and bomb it to the upwind side of the hump, working it over the crest and you should see some action. If you get a swirl or a bust, stop the lure, count to 2, and start it up again. The first swirl seems to be intended to stun the bait with the second coming to actually get it. 

The only photo last night was of the sunset since no fish actually ended up on the deck, but I've seen enough to know that landing one isn't too far off. The weather is looking choice for Thursday, if hot, with lower winds, so I've got fingers crossed. At least this trip with Matt won't be washed out.

If you guys see me out there, feel free to come on by and we'll talk tactics, bust some chops, and see if we can't get more fish in the boat. 

Good luck, and be safe out there.


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## KKrueger

Nice report. Good luck Thursday.


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## StriperrHunterr

KKrueger said:


> Nice report. Good luck Thursday.



Thanks, I'll have two more trips next week. One is already spoken for, I'll PM the group later in the week for the second.


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## Kestas69

Spoon is the new trend witch is of course works, but
if they want something smaller use bucktail with white or chartreuse trailer. No need to go fancy. Have been catching them on bucktails 10 years ago and still using all the time every time. It is just little to early for consistent power reeling bite.


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## StriperrHunterr

Kestas69 said:


> Spoon is the new trend witch is of course works, but
> if they want something smaller use bucktail with white or chartreuse trailer. No need to go fancy. Have been catching them on bucktails 10 years ago and still using all the time every time. It is just little to early for consistent power reeling bite.



I know. The premise of this challenge, though, is to catch them on the spoon. I could catch them on bucktails, or downlines, right now, but I want to see if I can get to 1000 in the course of one summer using only this one lure.


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## thedudeabides

You should track what you spend on spoons throughout the course of the year too. Wonder if you'll hit $1000 before 1000 lbs !


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## StriperrHunterr

thedudeabides said:


> You should track what you spend on spoons throughout the course of the year too. Wonder if you'll hit $1000 before 1000 lbs !





It's up there, for sure, those things aren't cheap. But once you learn the technique for getting them loose you really don't lose that many. If only u-rigs were so easy.


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## j_seph

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> It's up there, for sure, those things aren't cheap. But once you learn the technique for getting them loose you really don't lose that many. If only u-rigs were so easy.


Since I went to 80lb braid on U rigs I usually just straighten hooks out


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## StriperrHunterr

j_seph said:


> Since I went to 80lb braid on U rigs I usually just straighten hooks out



And if that fails it just rips your angler out of the boat.


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## j_seph

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> And if that fails it just rips your angler out of the boat.


If ya can't point the rod down at it from the back side and pull it lose then ya wrap around a cleat and give er gas, pull the tree top up and do it by hand lol


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## StriperrHunterr

j_seph said:


> If ya can't point the rod down at it from the back side and pull it lose then ya wrap around a cleat and give er gas, pull the tree top up and do it by hand lol



Yeah, I guess there's that. I'll stick to spooning my fish.


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## GA native

j_seph said:


> If ya can't point the rod down at it from the back side and pull it lose then ya wrap around a cleat and give er gas, pull the tree top up and do it by hand lol



And get a few more stuck baits off the log as well.


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## Kestas69

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> I know. The premise of this challenge, though, is to catch them on the spoon. I could catch them on bucktails, or downlines, right now, but I want to see if I can get to 1000 in the course of one summer using only this one lure.



Nothing wrong with that! Good hunting


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## Scout'nStripers

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> Yeah, I guess there's that. I'll stick to spooning my fish.


Are you just going to use Ben Parker spoons or any spoon. I bought a few knock-offs on the "Bass Baits Buy and Barter" FB page. Pretty decent price and would make a god back-up if you need it. Just let me know if you're interested and I'll look up the invoice from guy that makes them. I bought 2 different chrome sizes.


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## Andy O

I did have a great time with Mike. Just wish I'd not had to tell him what to do quite so often.... Just kidding.  He's a great guy, with a ton of knowledge. Definitely looking forward to my next opportunity with him.


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## King.Of.Anglers.Jeremiah

A Few guys sell some other knock off versions on eBay for cheap as well. Question about the Ben Parker spoons and other flutter spoons. Do they cast well, or are they meant just for dropping and jigging?


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## StriperrHunterr

Kestas69 said:


> Nothing wrong with that! Good hunting



Thankya, sir. 



Scout'nStripers said:


> Are you just going to use Ben Parker spoons or any spoon. I bought a few knock-offs on the "Bass Baits Buy and Barter" FB page. Pretty decent price and would make a god back-up if you need it. Just let me know if you're interested and I'll look up the invoice from guy that makes them. I bought 2 different chrome sizes.



I've been thinking about other spoons. I'm sticking with the Ben Parker, for now, but I'm thinking that the reflective shattered stickers that some planer boards have on them would be a good way to turn a plain spoon into a similar pattern. 

Andy actually brought up an interesting idea about scent pads on them, too, though I've never had one hit and miss. They either aren't interested at all or take it fully. 

The kicker, I think is going to be how well it can drop and how much action it has on the retrieve. I think they want a slow subtle wobble that produces slower, but more intense flashes, because I've downsized spoons at the same time as others sticking with the Parker and I've not produced. 

Also, the mylar trails he puts on his trokars add another element that makes it look closer to a real fish, IMO. The spoons in your picture have the buck tail or synthetic buck tails, and I don't think they look as much like a real tail as does the mylar. It may well be all in my head, but that little bit of confidence is what keeps us dropping and catching, even if it doesn't matter to the fish. 



Andy O said:


> I did have a great time with Mike. Just wish I'd not had to tell him what to do quite so often.... Just kidding.  He's a great guy, with a ton of knowledge. Definitely looking forward to my next opportunity with him.



 Same here. 



Jeremiahisbrown said:


> A Few guys sell some other knock off versions on eBay for cheap as well. Question about the Ben Parker spoons and other flutter spoons. Do they cast well, or are they meant just for dropping and jigging?



They cast decently, if your back can take it. They're right at 3 ounces and to get that much weight moving without snapping the line you're doing a high torque low speed sweep and I can't do but so many of those in a day. During the OWL event I had a magnum spot come chasing it and try to crush it after I made a long cast on a shallow point. There's too much surface area on the spoon for them, and he got the body with no hooks in him. 

If you hang them up in the wind they'll get some distance, but the more interesting thing is if you do a shallow angle you can get it to skip sometimes, to the tune of 6-10 feet. No kidding. You'd have to be close but the amount of noise and flash that would produce I think would kill when they're up busting herring on the surface.


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## Scout'nStripers

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> Also, the mylar trails he puts on his trokars add another element that makes it look closer to a real fish, IMO. The spoons in your picture have the buck tail or synthetic buck tails, and I don't think they look as much like a real tail as does the mylar. It may well be all in my head, but that little bit of confidence is what keeps us dropping and catching, even if it doesn't matter to the fish.


 I'm not afraid to try new things, especially if it saves me $, but hey, whatever makes you happy. IMO and from my experience spooning, the mylar really doesn't make that much difference. I swapped out the weak split rings and put blood hooks on most of my BP spoons over the course of the summer and didn't really notice a big difference. I think you're going to find after 10-20 fish on one spoon that mylar is trashed anyway. 
Just sounded to me like you fish over trees a lot and at 15-20 dollars a pop for BP spoon it might be a costly endeavor for you. Especially if your are taking folks out spooning for the first time. Good luck.


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## StriperrHunterr

Scout'nStripers said:


> I'm not afraid to try new things, especially if it saves me $, but hey, whatever makes you happy. IMO and from my experience spooning, the mylar really doesn't make that much difference. I swapped out the weak split rings and put blood hooks on most of my BP spoons over the course of the summer and didn't really notice a big difference. I think you're going to find after 10-20 fish on one spoon that mylar is trashed anyway.
> Just sounded to me like you fish over trees a lot and at 15-20 dollars a pop for BP spoon it might be a costly endeavor for you. Especially if your are taking folks out spooning for the first time. Good luck.



The people I take provide their own gear. Plus, I've learned the way to get hung and get it loose in the vast majority of cases. Trees feel vastly different than striper do on this pattern. 

I've not noticed degradation in the mylar yet, and I have well over 10-20 fish on the same ones from last year. 

It's not so much fear, it's that I have confidence in this lure to produce, and have fished it side by side with other spoons in other colors and they just don't match up. When you hook up with 2 more fish than the guy behind you using something different you could say that it's luck. When you are on fish #7 to their 0 that starts to demonstrate that there may be something to yours that's not in theirs. Like you said, the best tackle advice comes from the fish's mouth, and my fish are saying that they like the BP spoon over any other. YMMV though.


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## j_seph

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> The people I take provide their own gear. Plus, I've learned the way to get hung and get it loose in the vast majority of cases. Trees feel vastly different than striper do on this pattern.
> 
> I've not noticed degradation in the mylar yet, and I have well over 10-20 fish on the same ones from last year.
> 
> It's not so much fear, it's that I have confidence in this lure to produce, and have fished it side by side with other spoons in other colors and they just don't match up. When you hook up with 2 more fish than the guy behind you using something different you could say that it's luck. When you are on fish #7 to their 0 that starts to demonstrate that there may be something to yours that's not in theirs. Like you said, the best tackle advice comes from the fish's mouth, and my fish are saying that they like the BP spoon over any other. YMMV though.


I noticed with the 5 inch ones I bought as well that when you drop they do not go straight down. Are you dropping then letting it ang till it gets vertical or not?


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## StriperrHunterr

j_seph said:


> I noticed with the 5 inch ones I bought as well that when you drop they do not go straight down. Are you dropping then letting it ang till it gets vertical or not?



The 5" have a more aggressive curve to the body shape, so they don't like to drop as fast without fluttering out. I was trying that earlier in the season thinking the bait they were chasing was smaller. 

I'm using the larger spoons, on spinning gear, and feathering the line out with my finger to keep it vertical. That allows a drop to 75 feet, which I only do on clear bottoms, in around 15-20 seconds. That makes a huge difference in picking up a second quickly. 

Like on downlines a single hit often results in another shortly thereafter, so the key is to have one person hooked up and the other dropping as they retrieve. I've yet to have a tangle happen in that case since other fish are going after the second spoon and the one that's hooked up is trying to run away from them, it seems. You may mark the first fish on the graph, you may not, but once that hook is set you get instant spaghetti on the screen with the others zooming in to check out what's going on.


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## j_seph

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> The 5" have a more aggressive curve to the body shape, so they don't like to drop as fast without fluttering out. I was trying that earlier in the season thinking the bait they were chasing was smaller.
> 
> I'm using the larger spoons, on spinning gear, and feathering the line out with my finger to keep it vertical. That allows a drop to 75 feet, which I only do on clear bottoms, in around 15-20 seconds. That makes a huge difference in picking up a second quickly.
> 
> Like on downlines a single hit often results in another shortly thereafter, so the key is to have one person hooked up and the other dropping as they retrieve. I've yet to have a tangle happen in that case since other fish are going after the second spoon and the one that's hooked up is trying to run away from them, it seems. You may mark the first fish on the graph, you may not, but once that hook is set you get instant spaghetti on the screen with the others zooming in to check out what's going on.


Hopefully I will try this on Hartwell Saturday and make it back to Lanier next week


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## StriperrHunterr

j_seph said:


> Hopefully I will try this on Hartwell Saturday and make it back to Lanier next week



Let me know when you get back, we'll see if we can link up. I'll give you a spoon 101 crash course.


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## j_seph

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> Let me know when you get back, we'll see if we can link up. I'll give you a spoon 101 crash course.


Sounds great, Thanks I got a small one from Worley Memorial day but he didn't show me no fish on the backside of the spoon


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## StriperrHunterr

j_seph said:


> Sounds great, Thanks I got a small one from Worley Memorial day but he didn't show me no fish on the backside of the spoon



If you can find one of the larger ones between now and then I'd recommend it. Even the smaller 2-3 year old fish are taking it down, so there's no need to downsize.


----------



## Scout'nStripers

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> The people I take provide their own gear. Plus, I've learned the way to get hung and get it loose in the vast majority of cases. Trees feel vastly different than striper do on this pattern.
> 
> I've not noticed degradation in the mylar yet, and I have well over 10-20 fish on the same ones from last year.
> 
> It's not so much fear, it's that I have confidence in this lure to produce, and have fished it side by side with other spoons in other colors and they just don't match up. When you hook up with 2 more fish than the guy behind you using something different you could say that it's luck. When you are on fish #7 to their 0 that starts to demonstrate that there may be something to yours that's not in theirs. Like you said, the best tackle advice comes from the fish's mouth, and my fish are saying that they like the BP spoon over any other. YMMV though.


Sounds like you have it all figured out. I must of missed some of your spooning reports from last year. I didn't think you caught that many. From what you're saying about other spoons not working that sounds like good info to pass along.
Just out of curiosity, what other spoons where you using that didn't match up to the BP spoon?


----------



## StriperrHunterr

Scout'nStripers said:


> Sounds like you have it all figured out. I must of missed some of your spooning reports from last year. I didn't think you caught that many. From what you're saying about other spoons not working that sounds like good info to pass along.
> Just out of curiosity, what other spoons where you using that didn't match up to the BP spoon?



I'd have to go look at them to see if they have markings. A lot of them were inherited so I'm not sure. 

I know I've tried the hammered hopkins and a few others in more casting styles, all around the 1-1.5 oz size. 

I didn't do many reports last year. I think I posted a thread the week I really got into them on the Parker, I'm not sure, but I definitely posted it to Facebook.


----------



## j_seph

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> If you can find one of the larger ones between now and then I'd recommend it. Even the smaller 2-3 year old fish are taking it down, so there's no need to downsize.


I already have 2 of each


----------



## StriperrHunterr

j_seph said:


> I already have 2 of each



If you get snagged, don't try to rip it out. Go slightly slack line and wiggle the tip enough just to get the line moving. The weight of the lure will often work it loose. 

Also, if you feel the rod just load up with weight, don't set the hook. If a striper hits you'll feel the difference. The loading up is just a tree or some other structure and setting the hook almost guarantees a lost lure. Wiggle it to get it out of the tree and you'll be surprised how many fish hit it as soon as it clears the snag.


----------



## j_seph

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> If you get snagged, don't try to rip it out. Go slightly slack line and wiggle the tip enough just to get the line moving. The weight of the lure will often work it loose.
> 
> Also, if you feel the rod just load up with weight, don't set the hook. If a striper hits you'll feel the difference. The loading up is just a tree or some other structure and setting the hook almost guarantees a lost lure. Wiggle it to get it out of the tree and you'll be surprised how many fish hit it as soon as it clears the snag.


You dropping into the trees or just at the tops based on graph?


----------



## StriperrHunterr

j_seph said:


> You dropping into the trees or just at the tops based on graph?



When there are trees around I'm dropping to around 3 feet into them. The fish I've caught seem to like that better, but I wouldn't recommend it starting out. Get used to what it looks like on your graph, make sure you can anticipate the delay in where it is to the return on your graph to keep it from going too deep, and also get used to how the hits feel. 

Knowing that will help you tell the difference between a fish and a snag, and keep you from setting a hook on a tree. 

But like I said, even if you do get hung up, and can get it loose, you're often rewarded with a hit shortly thereafter. I think the look like it's struggling, and then running away triggers a reaction strike.


----------



## j_seph

"If it will not come loose after shaking, take an old sparkplug and slide it down the line, and shake again. Most of the time the added weight will knock the lure loose"


----------



## StriperrHunterr

j_seph said:


> "If it will not come loose after shaking, take an old sparkplug and slide it down the line, and shake again. Most of the time the added weight will knock the lure loose"


Not a bad thought. Who said that?


----------



## j_seph

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> Not a bad thought. Who said that?


google search, my thoughts, a 1 pound chunk of lead or stainless, maybe 1/2 pound with a slot and a hole in it to drop down line like this attached to some mason twine


----------



## StriperrHunterr

j_seph said:


> google search, my thoughts, a 1 pound chunk of lead or stainless, maybe 1/2 pound with a slot and a hole in it to drop down line like this attached to some mason twine



That's a good idea. My concern would be nicking the line, so all edges would have to be rounded off.


----------



## Kestas69

I like using 200 instead 83. In this case less fish on the sonar but the ones I am seeing is under my boat and not to much to the side. DI is very helpful with tree tops because of narrow angle.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

Kestas69 said:


> I like using 200 instead 83. In this case less fish on the sonar but the ones I am seeing is under my boat and not to much to the side. DI is very helpful with tree tops because of narrow angle.



I use 200 myself.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

Ladies and gentlemen, we have points on the board. 

Wxr: Warm and sunny, mid 80's, with light winds out of the NW at 3-5mph. Water temp: 84 in the creek backs, 80 in the main channel and deeper waters. Clarity: 6+ feet, still with light stain. 

I got out with mattuga last night to make up for our cancellation last week due to weather. We got to a hump that I like to work because it's massive, and allows you to work one, move on to a couple others, and then cycle back, all without using the main motor. 

I started by showing him how I feather the line to keep the spoon vertical, marking a few fish here and there, along with a few scattered schools. On my 3rd drop the rod loads up, the reel is singing, and the fight is on. I knew this was a good fish. Much better than the 4-6lb schoolers from a few weeks ago. Matt grabs the net and we get her in the boat, the scale so we can weigh and measure, and my pliers for the scale sample. While I'm working the fish he's gathering video, which I hope to have soon since I didn't have the GoPro recording (a mistake I won't make again this season), and afterwards a photo before a torpedo release. Sadly in his excitement there was a finger over the viewfinder, so that one's gone. 

She came out to 10.5lbs and 29 1/2" long. I logged the fish, deposited the scales in the packets my friends at DNR had provided me, and went about resetting our position. 

About 45 minutes later Matt sends out the call of his own fish. Before I could get my line up and to the net he calls out that the fish is here. It's a 4-6lb in the 2-3 year old range, much like those I had taken on topwater a few weeks ago, and that many people are catching. We did get a couple pictures of this one, and she was released. We saw both fish drop to 20 feet and swim out of the cone, and even hung around long enough to make sure they didn't rise. 

I do have the seaqualizer, but didn't feel it was necessary due to still seeing some topwater activity. As the thermocline sets up I'll be using this to keep them alive, but it just doesn't seem necessary at this time. 

We fished the remainder of the evening, marking tons of schools with decent fish in them, talking sonar, tactics, presentation, and demonstrating how to get unsnagged in the event you find a tree or other structure, like rocks, on these humps. 

It was a great evening, with a new good friend, and we're right on the edge of this pattern opening up. I think with this weekend as hot as they're calling, with next week continuing the trend, that it will only get better as the days go on. 

As stated before, my guest's fish don't count towards my total, so the scoreboard stands at 10.5/1000.


----------



## Deleted member 35556

We fished humps yesterday, caught a couple decent ones on bluebacks.  Dropped the spoon a bunch and had a 20+lber follow it up to the boat, but no takers.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

jivarie said:


> We fished humps yesterday, caught a couple decent ones on bluebacks.  Dropped the spoon a bunch and had a 20+lber follow it up to the boat, but no takers.



If you don't mind my asking, where were you, roughly, and what was the water temp? I'm hoping with this heat we've got that we get more solidly in the 80s at the surface. 

And for those who say pics or my 10.5 didn't happen:


----------



## Deleted member 35556

We were within sight of the dam.  We idled around looking for some schools in deeper water, before shifting to the humps around 5pm with blue backs on flat lines and topwater lures.  The striper that followed us up was hanging around in 80ft of water.  It was a solid 20-30lb fish that swirled right at the boat.  I was watch my downline because it was getting bumped, didn't realize this fish came up until it was too late and I had pulled my spoon out of the water.  

Water temps were 82.5 most of the afternoon, there were no fish in deeper water for the most part.  I'd say they're  still hanging out in less than 50ft of water for 90% of the day.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

That's where we marked most of ours, too. Out in deeper water they weren't schooling, but the arches I did see were better. I'm probably gonna hang out in the deeper water for the trips this week to try to get into some better quality fish. Depends on how the guests feel and what we're marking.


----------



## Andy O

I had another great day with Mike and Lee Tuesday. Just caught one toad spot on the Ben Parker spoon. Lots of laughs and still learning every trip. Thanks Mike.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

Andy O said:


> I had another great day with Mike and Lee Tuesday. Just caught one toad spot on the Ben Parker spoon. Lots of laughs and still learning every trip. Thanks Mike.



Anytime. Did you cook that one up yet?


----------



## Andy O

Dinner tonight. She was almost full of very little, what I guess to be,  bluebacks.


----------



## GA native

How many pounds are you up to?


----------



## StriperrHunterr

GA native said:


> How many pounds are you up to?



I got out last night with my neighbor. Winds were a little more stout, boat traffic was much higher than in previous trips, but we did some damage. 

We ended up with 5, my neighbor catching 3 of them, all in the 4-6 lbs class. Mine were both 4.5 so that takes me up to 19.5/1000. One even hit while I was on the phone with my wife. 

I'll have some screenshots of the video, I still need to edit it, of our catches.


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## StriperrHunterr

I forgot to mention we did have one double. I was up on the back deck, my neighbor down in the bottom, when he hooks up with his first fish on the spoon. I jumped down to grab the net for him and after netting I saw 3 flashes below it so I dropped in. While he's getting his loose I hook up with another one. The images from that don't show much but you can see him working just off frame to get his unhooked, and you can see my shadow arched back with rod high in the air. That's all we got of that one. Clearly I need another camera to cover more of the boat. 

He did have one launch itself out of the water on a short strike, but due to the angle he was fishing and the gunwale in the way all you can see is the splash. Photo of that attached. 

Here are the pictures of the fish that came with the phone on, taken from my video. You can see that these smaller striper are taking the bait from behind. Every one of our catches had the treble entirely in their mouths.


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## Andy O

Sounds like things may be heating up, in more ways than one!


----------



## StriperrHunterr

Got out yesterday with the wife to goof around and it was a mad house. I know weekends are bad anyway, but I was thinking that if we got out before the church crowds finished service and lunch we'd be okay. Boy was I wrong. 

The cooler weather has pushed the temps back to 78 in the main channel, as of 11 AM yesterday, and with the cooler night last night it's probably a degree or two below that now. I don't have high hopes for what that might do for the spoon bite, but maybe we'll see some light topwater action this week. 

We did mark a couple schools mainly on the windward side of the humps. Nothing incredible like I've seen with other guests, nor did we even get a bump, but it was a nice day to have her out and fishing. 

More to come this week.


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## StriperrHunterr

*Karma pays off...*

6/21/16 Evening
Wxr: Partly cloudy, temps in the upper 80s, winds out of the WSW at 5-10 with higher gusts. 
Water: 83 in the main channel, still a slight stain, visibility 4-6 feet. 

We started out from the ramp a little later than I wanted to, but apparently the universe wanted us to do that. Just outside of the no wake zone we see these two guys swimming their jet ski towards the ramp. Having been in an out of fuel situation like that, or in a situation where help would have been nice from any boat that passed by, we asked them if they needed help and they did. Spent a few minutes getting them a tow rope and back to their dock and we were off again. 

We check the humps I've been working for the last several trips and mark tons, I mean tons of fish. Between launch and our first hookup I would dare say that we marked well over 1000 fish. Either that or the same ones on each hump were playing in and out of my transducer ranges. We work for a good while with not so much as a sniff when I start jigging the spoon a few times before retrieval and that's when I come up with the first fish. A nice spot, pictured here, loaded down with a full belly. We didn't get a weight on it, but it was probably a hair over 2. 

We worked for a couple more hours, lots of streakers, lots of window shoppers, but no takers. That's when the sun dipped down behind the clouds and we lost our light. Typically when that happens the bite dies off, but we decide to hang out and finish the night, and boy are we glad we did. 

My buddy Patrick sounds the call of fish right around 8PM and I'm thinking it's a single digit, or just into the teen range, when I see the bend he's got in this rod, and knowing that I set the drag just shy of breaking strain and she's stripping it off like it's not even there. I'm using Berkeley Big Game rods rated for a 1-4ounce casting weight, and the spoon retrieve barely puts a curve in it. This fish has it nearly doubled. The screen loads up with streakers, literally hundreds of them, as he's fighting this fish but none want my spoon. I give up after the 2nd drop with no results to man the net, considering his fish stayed bull dogging us the whole time. After several tense minutes we get our first glance at her and this is the biggest striper head I've ever personally seen. She doesn't like the sight of the boat and beelines for the deep again and we're back to playing her out. I'm coaching him to keep constant pressure on and not to pump the rod and she comes back up. We get her in the net, get some pics, and a weight, and it's time for a quick release since she's been fighting for so long. She's right at 28 lbs on the AccuCull scale. We didn't get a length, and I'm kicking myself, we were in such a rush to get her back into the water. At first she didn't want to go, so we pick up the pace on the trolling motor, and she finally shakes free to fight another day. We watch her return to the depths on the fish finder, so we know she was a live release. 

15 minutes later, Patrick is calling it again, this time with less of a bend in the rod. This one wants to run him all over the boat and we chase it, keeping it out of the main motor and the trolling motor and get it up. A nice fish at 31 inches, and a hair over 11 lbs. 

I manage to pull a streaker out of this one, probably a little two pounder which I don't even deign to weigh in favor of getting Patrick pictures with his latest catch. 

All in all it was a fantastic night. 

I'm heading back out Thursday night this week with another guest, hopefully we'll stay in them. 

Good luck and tight lines to all. 

My tally stands at 19.5/1000.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

Oh, and the 11 was a male. He milted all over Patrick and the front deck.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

And a shot of how deep the bend in the rod gets even on the 11lber.


----------



## GA native

Dang, that's a good looking fish.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

GA native said:


> Dang, that's a good looking fish.



Thank you.


----------



## Andy O

Nice!!


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## StriperrHunterr

The pendulum swung the other direction on us last night. 

The fish were nosed into the mud and only some would even come up and sniff, despite me banging on the deck, but none would take. We had two half-hearted hits that missed the hook. 

Weather was gorgeous, if a little windy yesterday. Water temps were 83 in the main channel.


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## StriperrHunterr

The same pattern stuck around last night, but we're marking more bait. I had 3 fish come within 10 feet of the boat to take a whack at the spoon, but all 3 managed to miss the hook. These were in the 4-6lb class as well.


----------



## Burton

You need to join me on Hartwell.  The water temp was 87 on Monday.  We caught 25 fish in 90 minutes on the spoon.  Caught myself as well .  Thumb is healing up though and planning to go back tomorrow night.  That was only my third trip fishing this spoon.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

Burton said:


> You need to join me on Hartwell.  The water temp was 87 on Monday.  We caught 25 fish in 90 minutes on the spoon.  Caught myself as well .  Thumb is healing up though and planning to go back tomorrow night.  That was only my third trip fishing this spoon.



That's awesome, except for the hook. 

Our temps are right around 85 in the main channel. I have no problems finding the fish, I'm going to try to start counting how many I do mark in a night, but it's in the hundreds I know. It's getting them to turn on that's the trick right now. 

I do want to make a trip up to Hartwell this summer, I'll reach out to you when I do. I could stand to learn from someone experienced on it. My dad and I only fished Beaver Dam creek, or so he called it, when I was a teen, for crappie.


----------



## Burton

My striper experience is limited to 3 weeks in June and July.  This spoon may be expanding my window though.  Thanks for your posts, I'm hoping we can hook a fish like the 28 you had earlier.  Our tally in 3 trips is 37 fish with big fish 12-14 lbs (did not weigh).  The big one Monday was 11.5 on the scales.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

Burton said:


> My striper experience is limited to 3 weeks in June and July.  This spoon may be expanding my window though.  Thanks for your posts, I'm hoping we can hook a fish like the 28 you had earlier.  Our tally in 3 trips is 37 fish with big fish 12-14 lbs (did not weigh).  The big one Monday was 11.5 on the scales.



Why only those three weeks? 

You're welcome. I don't know about another 28, it seems I've cashed in a check for a lot of fish with that one. I've not hooked up since. 

I use the AccuCull scale for my weights. It's quick, and easy to do. Shoot, I'd take a week like the one you're having. That's close to 400 pounds right there.


----------



## Burton

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> Why only those three weeks?
> 
> You're welcome. I don't know about another 28, it seems I've cashed in a check for a lot of fish with that one. I've not hooked up since.
> 
> I use the AccuCull scale for my weights. It's quick, and easy to do. Shoot, I'd take a week like the one you're having. That's close to 400 pounds right there.



I never tried to stay on the fish.  I was just catching them as they were passing through a certain area.  I fish for other species to keep me busy after that bite dies out.

I would think our avg fish now is 6-7 lbs so our tally would be closer to 250.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

Burton said:


> I never tried to stay on the fish.  I was just catching them as they were passing through a certain area.  I fish for other species to keep me busy after that bite dies out.
> 
> I would think our avg fish now is 6-7 lbs so our tally would be closer to 250.



Gotcha. 

Still, I'd take 250 over 19.5.


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## StriperrHunterr

6/30/16 Evening. 
Wxr: Variable. Started sunny, temps in the upper 80s to low 90s with a light wind out of the east, ended with a thunderstorm and a downdraft from the rain that forced us off the spot. 
Water: 90 in the creek backs, 85 in the main channel, clarity improving to 8+ feet of visibility. 

Got out a little later than normal with a friend of mine and tried a new location that a new friend (thanks again) told me about yesterday. We scouted some humps around the 3 Sisters region in mid-lake, and found some scattered fish, and one pretty good school. Had one hit with no hookup in that school and moved on after several moments of not seeing them return. 

We found a long point that had some scattered on it and that's when we hooked up. My friend caught his first stripe, right in the 4.5lb range. A few minutes later I take a 10.5, followed shortly by a 4.5 myself. And that's when the clouds over Gainesville and Flowery Branch decided to make their appearance, with a strong wind preceding them. The wind went from 3-5 to 25 in a matter of seconds and had standing waves in the main channel, with rolling white caps to boot. We were pretty exposed over there, so I decided to take us to my favorite haunt where the banks would at least provide some cover, and I'd been marking fish for the last few trips. Seeing the ones up north turned on had me feeling like they might be on as well, and it would get us out of the wind and easier to control the boat. 

We make the run across the channel to the Islands bridge, getting drenched for the whole ride thanks to large waves causing spray, which would get picked up by the cross wind and into the boat it came. Got under the bridge and heading back to Lanier Park just in time for the rain to show up. That's when the lightning started and the bottom dropped out. We went back to the dock, lowered the rods and tied up to the dock and decided to wait it out. Either we'd recover the boat or we'd head back out when the small cell cleared. Completely drenched we waited in the bed of the truck, under my new tonneau cover, for the rain to pass. It finally did and the lightning/thunder passed. 

So we tried again, sticking close to the dock as the sun set and the clouds rebuilt. Ended up with nothing from the southern humps, with the fish being more scattered, but just as much on the bottom as they had been in recent trips, and that's when we called it. 

So the tally now stands at 34.5/1000 for me, with several guests catching their first, or largest, striper right beside me. I'd still call that a success seeing them fight those fish and being able to release them to be caught another day.


----------



## PopPop

I would rate the project a success at inception. A lofty goal, set upon with determination coupled with the gracious offer of fellowship to friends and strangers alike.
Salute!


----------



## StriperrHunterr

PopPop said:


> I would rate the project a success at inception. A lofty goal, set upon with determination coupled with the gracious offer of fellowship to friends and strangers alike.
> Salute!



High praise, sir. Thank you.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

7/5/16
Wxr: Partly to mostly cloudy, temp in upper 70s to low 80s, wind 15-25 and gusty. 
Water: 85 in both creek backs and the main channel, likely from the storms earlier in the day, good visibility over 8 feet. 

Got out with my buddy Dave tonight, who's never fished Lanier and doesn't spend much time on the water these days, though he grew up with it in central NY. 

Got him on his first striper last night after only a couple drops, in the 4lb cookie cutter class. 

We ended up using the wind to control the drift, going broadside to the waves and using it to take us down the humps and through the schools. They didn't want to play in the main cone last night, and seemed content to hang just on the edge of the cone or outside of it completely, but we ended up in them. 

Thanks again to the member who suggested I come up here to try these humps, because they were producing, at least for us. 3 other boats shadowing us for the evening and I didn't see them take a fish in the boat at all. It could be because I wasn't paying attention to them very much, considering we were in them pretty well. 

I got a pair of 10s and 4 4s, to go 36 lbs for the evening, where my guest ended up with a 10, a 13, and a 4 to go 27. We used the seaqualizer on the bigger fish and it works. It is a bit of a pain to leave the hump to find the deeper water for the release, but that's way better than watching them die in the hot zone. 

The ride from one set of humps to another resulted in a Lanier shower, much like Thursday did, with the wind calming down enough to make the run back to the ramp much more pleasant than the ride out. 

The tally stands at 70.5/1000 for me, and due to overwhelming suggestions I'll be tallying my guest's fish shortly, though it still won't count to my 1000. 

Thanks for reading and good luck to everyone. Please keep an injured boater in your thoughts and prayers, I heard on the news that someone was pulled under a boat while trying to climb a ladder and the operator accidentally put it in reverse while he was back there. Be safe, and be mindful of everything you do on the water.


----------



## j_seph

Help us out just a little bit more and get us some screenshots of what your seeing boss man. Never seen so much bait as I did Friday. It was enjoyable watching Blair get like 12 fish and 10 boats catch nothing Friday I have to say. We gave up and started bass fishing, he came by and called me stating: There is more up there, I am going to check this back here out and if not I will come back and catch them......................not fish for em, but catch them lol, Yes he's that darn good


----------



## elfiii

Good deal Mike. Looks like ya'll got into them good. Here's hoping you bust 100 by the end of the week.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

j_seph said:


> Help us out just a little bit more and get us some screenshots of what your seeing boss man. Never seen so much bait as I did Friday. It was enjoyable watching Blair get like 12 fish and 10 boats catch nothing Friday I have to say. We gave up and started bass fishing, he came by and called me stating: There is more up there, I am going to check this back here out and if not I will come back and catch them......................not fish for em, but catch them lol, Yes he's that darn good



Alright, keep in mind that these are not from last night, but I can show you the differences I look for when targeting these fish. I don't have any from last night because I changed head units a while back and I've yet to spend time to find the button that also screenshots when I drop a waypoint. Right now all I get are waypoints. 

In the first and last screenshot you can see the weaker red and purple returns. These are fish that are not in the prime area of your cone and are just at the edge. These are the 107ft and 44ft images. 

In 23.1 you can see the heavy yellow bands that signify a stronger return. These are fish, and decent ones, too. 

23.5 you can see a heavy bait ball that gives a yellow return but doesn't show arches, instead it shows dots. DI confirms this as bait. 

22.2 you can see the yellow returns again, with fish being confirmed on the DI. 

When I'm doing this type of fishing I'm looking primarily at my 2D. I use DI to confirm what I'm thinking I'm seeing and to differentiate structure from fish. That comes into play as the summer wears on and the striper move deeper and into the treetops themselves. 

I used 2D with that wide return window so that I can see my spoon on the fall, in real time, and close the bail to keep it up and out of the trees. When I see the darker returns, reds and purples, I'll go a little lighter with the tension I put on the line during the drop, allowing it to flutter a little further from the boat and drop a little more slowly. 

When I see the heavy returns I keep it as tight as I can get it and still have it dropping. It's a balancing act to keep that spoon straight up and down on the fall, but not slow it down so that it takes forever to get there, especially in deeper water. Sadly this is one of those things I can't tell you about, but that you just have to develop experience with in doing it. 

Looking at the 107ft shot this is really what I want to see. The fish aren't just cruising at depth, they're actively pursuing bait, or what I like to call streaking. Yeah, I watch Wicked Tuna, if you can't tell. These are the active fish and you can generally bank on pulling at least one of them out. When you get hooked up, if you can spare it, have a guest drop down right by you, obviously being careful to not cross. We did this last night and doubled up on our 10lbers because when one fish turns on like this, usually the rest of the school does as well and chases the hooked one down hoping that the bait it has in its mouth comes free and they get an easy meal. Having a couple boats in the same area can help keep the school active. They'll move from boat to boat as the spoons drop and you can really run up some numbers in short order. 

Now, on technique, I don't jig for the most part. If I see cruisers that want to hang out at a specific depth, like the ones in the 23.1 and 22.2 shots, I'll sometimes give it a pump while I'm reeling, or drop to the bottom, give 5 or so cranks and drop back down. There's no need to bring it to the surface when you're seeing them down that deep. You can get away with this easily on a clean bottom, but it's harder if you're in trees, unless you have the 2D set right and your spoon is in the cone. Doing this at any other time is begging for a snag. With that, a word on snags. Trees don't hit like striper. When a fish hits the spoon they're taking off on you, and there's no mistaking it. A tree just makes the rod load up. When you feel this, stop reeling and open the spool. Go completely slack line. Obviously this is easier when it's not windy, but you can do it on windy days, too. With the line completely slack, use huge motion on the rod tip, without setting the hook, to get the spoon to dance around in the tree. 9/10 you can get the weight of the spoon moving enough that it comes loose on its own. 

On gear, a good medium-heavy action rod, with a 6000 series spinning reel is my weapon of choice. I like spinning for two reasons. 1) It's hard to bird's nest a spinning rod if you're dropping and bottom out while not paying attention. 2) The stem of the reel gives really good positive grip so that you don't get a rod yanked out of your hands on a hit. I've nearly had that happen with a baitcaster, and it was the last time I've seriously used one. Since that one I've made a tether for another baitcaster, but it's a pain having a lanyard on you. I use 20lb Big Game line, and the drag is tightened very heavy. This allows you to put the brakes on a large fish and keep them out of the trees when it's time for that, and gives you the leverage to pull the fish up quick and get them released quickly. Light drag and screaming drag are fun, but they result in dead loss. 

I hope that helps. 

I hear ya on Mr. Blair. I strive to be as good as him one day.


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## StriperrHunterr

And a note on locations. You'll notice my GPS coordinates are blocked out. That's not because I believe in "holes" but because other people do, so much so that they'll chase numbers without looking at the patterns. 

If you want to catch summer striper in Lanier, look for humps and points that come up out of deep water. I set my depth highlight during the summer to be 40ft +/-10ft, because that gets you the bottom edge of the thermocline, typically 27-30 feet, and the real productive parts of the deeper hump, 40-50. That's not to say that you can't catch them deeper, or shallower, but just where your highest chances are. 

Even last night with water at 85 degrees I had one chase the spoon all the way to 7 feet and flash away on it. With water that warm they shouldn't be coming that shallow, and yet they are. 

If you can find a chain of humps, that's even better. Work the windy side if there is wind, and drift over the hump to the other side. If you can use the wind to push you down the chain that's the best. It will allow you to drop the trolling motor controls and focus on the fishing. 

As many fish as I mark, I'm still about 50/50 for seeing the fish that I catch. Meaning that around half of them never showed on the graph when I hooked up. Now, when I'm fighting and they're under the boat I will see the whole school light up the graph so thick that the unit will read them as bottom and change 40FOW to 15, for example, as they stay under. The same happens with big bait clouds that are all over the place right now. 

The striper are returning to their summer haunts, so they can be found pretty much anywhere on the lake right now, just look for the structure that I just talked about and scout it out. I don't usually drop on one fish, but if I see 3-5 I'll make a pass on them. Usually there are more around. 

I hope these answers help, if you have other questions, please don't hesitate to ask.


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## mattuga

This was the funnest style of fishing I've ever done.  Glad to see it is picking up!


----------



## j_seph

Great write up boss man. We do the jig thing on TN river for the cats and I know what ya mean when a big fish takes off unexpectedly. Nothing like a 40-50 pound blue cat loading up the rod while you have it in your hand


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## StriperrHunterr

Short report today. 
Wxr: Warm, sunny, windy as all get out. 
Water: Didn't pay attention to temp.

Managed 3 last night, all for my guest, including one that streaked up to nail it on the drop. That's the first time I've ever seen that. He got a 12, a 4, and a 2. And a heavily corroded Shakespeare combo. 

I skunked. Fish seemed more scattered last night than they have been in recent days.


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## StriperrHunterr

7/12/16
Wxr: Sunny, warm, light breeze
Water: 85 in the main channel, visibility high, 10+ feet. 

Got out with a friend who has a birthday this week to see what we could do. Checked the more northerly points I've been working the last couple of weeks and couldn't locate the fish we'd been seeing there over the last few trips. Checked some more locations between them and my southern haunts also to no avail. 

So we made it back to my favorite humps and that's where we found them. Stacked thick and streaking. They would chase the magnum spoon, often swiping at it and missing, until my buddy put on a 2oz hammered hopkins and that seemed to be the ticket to really turning them on. After he caught this 4-6lber on light gear they really turned on, including some surface activity. 

Slow and steady seemed to be the way they wanted it and I ended up with a pair of 6's and a 4 before a thunderhead forced us off the water a little early. We went with quick releases due to the thickness of the schools and the stressed condition they came into the boat, so no pictures were obtained of them. Problems with the USB port I've been using the GoPro on have me with no video to screen cap either. I'll be working on that tonight to see if I can get it resolved. 

The one positive of the night is that I found the button on my 859 to reenable the screenshots with waypoints that is turned off by factory default, so I have some really good images of the schools we found. As you can see I'm staying fairly solidly in my highlighted depth range, 40 +/-10, and following them shallower on the off chance they head up there. I will say though that catching them in that shallow depth is more challenging since they don't get as long to look at the bait. When they're up here and you can tell by the speed on the images, I'm running the TM a little faster, or just having come off plane. I'm dropping the bait as soon as I see them and then giving it a good 10 count on the bottom before I start my retrieve. That planes out the spoon and gives them a few more seconds to look at it, which seems to be the key up in the shallow depths. Slower retrieves also seem to work better up here rather than the turn and burn that some guys favor. 

Another member asked me why I've been targeting shallower water than his normal 60-70ft+ depths, and the answer is in the screenshots. I'm playing the odds. There may be bigger fish in the deeper water, but they're still more scattered. Up shallower you run into the schooling fish that are a few years old and in the 4-8lb range. Being able to put more of them in the boat, and more readily, means I put points on the board more quickly. It also means my guests have more fun since it's not dropping all night with 1 or 2 fish to show for it. If you have someone who has been wanting to try striper fishing, but doesn't have the patience for downlining or freelining give this a shot and check out the humps with access to deeper water. Scout around and you will run across a school like this eventually. Even downlining this would be a school that would have every rod in the boat going at once, multiple times in a day. 

Case in point, I'm taking my wife Friday morning, her previous personal best striper is a 1lber on a crappie minnow if you can believe that (mainly due to a narrow weather window and me not learning this pattern until late last summer) and I'm going to be looking for these schools again with her. Even on the heavy gear that I use, these fish fight hard and make it fun. 

I hope you guys are enjoying these posts, and the tally stands at 86.5/1000. I'm nearly 10% of the way there with the best days still ahead of us.


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## StriperrHunterr

Oh, and the button for taking screenshots is after you hit menu twice to get to the full menu, and it's under the far right tab. on my menu it's the only setting under that tab, though I can't remember the name of the feature itself right now. Make sure you have an SD card in there to make getting them out more easy.


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## Troutman3000

Have you had any luck targeting the deeper waters?  Seems to be bigger fish.


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## StriperrHunterr

Troutman3000 said:


> Have you had any luck targeting the deeper waters?  Seems to be bigger fish.



That's what I've heard as well. I did scout the deeper waters in all points I looked at last night and couldn't find anything really worth dropping on. I mark fish here and there, but they don't seem to be as thick as they are up shallower. I imagine that will change over the next few weeks. I'm still seeing surface activity, and got glimpses of decently sized striper doing it.


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## Troutman3000

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> That's what I've heard as well. I did scout the deeper waters in all points I looked at last night and couldn't find anything really worth dropping on. I mark fish here and there, but they don't seem to be as thick as they are up shallower. I imagine that will change over the next few weeks. I'm still seeing surface activity, and got glimpses of decently sized striper doing it.



10-4 

Has been some bruisers running in the 80-100 ft, most times only a 3-5 on the screen but the masses come out of no where once the spoon drops.


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## StriperrHunterr

Troutman3000 said:


> 10-4
> 
> Has been some bruisers running in the 80-100 ft, most times only a 3-5 on the screen but the masses come out of no where once the spoon drops.



The guest I have for Thursday works the deep water more often, I'll see if he can't lend some insight to any patterns they have out there.


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## StriperrHunterr

I did get out last night, water temps were 91 in the creek backs, 87 in the main channel, and the downdraft from a big storm over the north end of the lake made some 2-3ft rollers as soon as we hit the water, but we ended up with 5 total, 1 for myself right around 4lbs. My guests took the keepers home for a fish fry we're having on Friday. 

We did see some schooling going on in the deeper water, but not as much, and not as interested, as those up on the humps. 

I'm staying off the water for the rest of the week due to shoulder and elbow pain and will try to pick it back up next week.


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## StriperrHunterr

*Maybe it's the "back seat"...*

Got out last night with my friend who's been helping me with my deep water game in their boat so I don't have all the details. 

Water: ?? It was 87 in the main on Tuesday and we've been just as warm so I'm guessing it's pretty close to that. 
Clarity: 8ft+
Wxr: Partly to mostly cloudy, winds variable with gust upwards of 10-15. 

I thought we were going to get rained out by the way the radar looked on the way home, but I saw we'd get a window so I loaded up and went after the first cell nailed Duluth and headed south. I'm glad I did because the clouds never coalesced behind it like the radar showed they might and we got a full evening in. 

My friend focuses on the deeper water, where I'd been chasing the schools up in the shallower parts of the humps and we found them. Not like he saw Wednesday night, but enough to have some success. 

On my first drop I had 4 hits with no hookup, telling me they were swatting it again. 3rd drop and I'm on the board with a 5. After release we noticed that it threw up a couple of small threadfins that can plague a trip, because with bait that prevalent and that small it's often hard to get them to look at anything larger, or outside of the bait ball they're working, or so it was in previous years. 

We stick to points and humps that touch the main channel and work our way around the south end of the lake and on the more northerly points we did work I got a 10, a 10.5, a 7.5, and a 6.25 to round out the night. 

Me being the idiot I am I forgot the chest mount for the GoPro at home so it was a still picture night, when my gracious host could be bothered to take them between phone calls from his office. 

He managed a couple, including a 10 for himself, before we lost the light and the schools decided it was time to lay low for a while. After marking next to nothing for the last hour we chose to head on to the house ourselves. 

So with the 39.25 I got tonight the tally stands at 125.75/1000 for the season. It's not as high as I'd like it to be, but anyone who's done this for an entire season knows that the average quality goes way up as the season drags on with the better fish coming in the later summer. I think this may just be the knowledge I needed, and the quality of fish showing up, to really make a run for the finish line and just in time, too. My shoulders are really starting to feel the constant grind of dropping and burning to try to turn the schools I've seen on. 

Thanks for reading, and good luck and be safe out there.


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## StriperrHunterr

I say maybe it's the back seat because I outperformed my host last night, and my guests have outperformed me in mine pretty much all season. 

Just realized I forgot to explain the post title.


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## StriperrHunterr

Trip reports last weekend of July. 

Wxr: Hot.
Water Temps: mid 80s to near 90
Visibility: High. 

Saturday night I got out with a buddy of mine from Warner Robins. We haven't been able to fish together for a while because our schedules always seemed to conflict. 

The stars finally aligned and we were able to get out Saturday evening and Sunday morning. 

As you can imagine the traffic Saturday night, both at the ramp and on the water were an order of magnitude greater than they are on the weeknights. We were out from 6 to dark, only slightly later than "normal" and managed to find a few, but the schools just didn't seem to be there. 

I got a 9 on the scale that I would have said went 6 if we didn't weigh it. He got a 9 that looked like more, and a 2 that had eyes bigger than its stomach. That's when we lost the light and the bite died off. This seems to be consistent with this bite throughout the season. 

Sunday morning we were up for a predawn run and hitting the water just as the sun made the sky go from indigo to orange. We covered every confluence, confluence with hump, and anomaly in the channels we ran from the dam all the way to Brown's Bridge, and a little past. Up north of the bridge we marked a couple schools who would give the spoons chase but never really hit. He did have 2 hits over the course of the day, and for the handful of hours from 7 to 1 that was it. We marked fish, and tons of bait, but they all seemed to have lockjaw and that may have been a product of the boat traffic, especially towards the northern end by the time we got up there, but they didn't really seem to mind Saturday night, nor do they care on weeknights with tubers running and gunning all around me. 

So with the one I got this weekend I'm at 134.75, which is far shy of where I thought I'd be. With today being August 1 I'm starting to have doubts whether I'll hit my goal or not, and it won't be for lack of trying. 

One other note, just in case the group on the pontoon from Sunday sees this: If you see a fishing boat, obviously fishing, running circles around them until the wake nearly throws them out of the boat doesn't make you a comedian, despite how hard you laugh at us yourself, it makes you a dangerous jerk. When even your guests are asking you to give us space, space we were in when you showed up and decided to do this to try to force us off, which you did because I won't stay in dangerous situations no matter the number of fish I mark, you should probably listen. Especially when they see one of them slip and fall as a result of your idiocy.


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## Deleted member 35556

Had the same problem finding large schools on Sunday.  Checked from the CensoredCensoredCensoredCensored up to Flowery.  Finally settled on the timber in Six and caught a few dinks.  I had a bunch of window shoppers on the spoon in the channel.


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## StriperrHunterr

jivarie said:


> Had the same problem finding large schools on Sunday.  Checked from the CensoredCensoredCensoredCensored up to Flowery.  Finally settled on the timber in Six and caught a few dinks.  I had a bunch of window shoppers on the spoon in the channel.



Well, that's at least consistent. I hate to think I just lost them somewhere I didn't look. 

One other thing, the fish have pulled off the shallower aspects of the humps. I have one place, I call it 16 and that's where some of the screenshots from earlier in the thread have come from, and there may be one or two on it here or there, but nothing like the multitudes we would see run around even just a couple weeks ago.


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## StriperrHunterr

8/2/16 Evening
Wxr: Partly cloudy, mostly sunny, light winds
Water: Mid 80s after a thunderstorm earlier in the evening; clarity, excellent. 

Last night started with a bang. We checked the first spot of several that I like to look at when starting the evening off and found a school right out of the gate. 

We had one chase me to the boat, before my guest (which most of you will recognize) hooked up with his first that came unbuttoned after a few minutes on the hook and before we got a look at it. 

A few minutes later and he's on again without me so much as getting a bump. After working through the drag setting with him he starts to gain ground and a really nice girl comes into view. Into the net, up for some pics (28 to be exact thanks to the quickfire setting in his iPhone and a slimy finger from yours truly) a quick weight and back she goes to fight another day. We watched her go back down into the trees on the graph so we know she's out there for another day. 

This is when the school shuts down, so we head to the other spots to check, letting this one take a break. An hour of searching, dropping on the loose fish further north with nothing to show for it and we decide to head back to the starting point to finish the night. Along the way we see another boat scouting in the same ways we are, so I pull over and ask him if he's hunting striper, because multiple boats can often turn a school on. So he follows us to the spot, where the school seems to have dispersed since we left them. He scouts his area, working the spoon a little differently than what I do and he hooks up with a decent fish to come unbuttoned himself a few seconds later. When the schools get sluggish he'll cast the spoon out and let it flutter down before cranking on it, the sideways motion for him seems to get lethargic fish to turn on. I've done that on the shallow humps when a vertical presentation doesn't give them time to look at it, but I've not done it in the deep water. So I vary my retrieve, as does my guest, casting every so often mixed in with our normal power reel. We get no hookups on that, but I do pick one up right at sunset on the drop, snagged under the jaw because it picked it up on the drop, which is a first for me. 

Attached is a shot of the 15 that my friend got, his first striper ever, and some screenshots of the school in the deeper water. 

Randy, if you're reading this, it was really nice meeting you, I hope your boy had a good session at football practice, and if you see me out again flag me down and we'll see what damage we can do together.

Thanks for reading, and good luck everyone. With the 5 from last night that takes me to 139.75/1000, far short of where I thought I'd be by this time in the season. But, I have had the honor of putting some good friends on some of the best fish of their lives, including last night, so I'm not at all disappointed with those kinds of results.


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## Burton

That's a nice fish.  Our biggest is probably 14 lbs.  I've put the spoon aside for a while, but I'm hoping to try it again in the next two weeks.  I've fished with the spoon 7 times this year, and we have landed 56 fish - all on Hartwell.  Thanks for posting your technique and experiences.  I'm going to try and implement some of the info you've shared on my next trip.


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## StriperrHunterr

Evening 8/9/16
Wxr: Warm, partly cloudy, breezy, finished with rain at dark. 
Water: 88, slight stain but still good visibility. 

Got out last night with a friend from my old job who I've taken before. This week, with the weather, will be taking people who live closer to the lake in case of cancellations. I hate having people spend time in traffic, wasting fuel and their evening, coming all the way up to the house to be stormed out. Rain we'll deal with, but storms are an instant no-go unless it looks like it will clear in time to salvage some fishing. 

Anyway, back to last night. We got out around 545 and it was really nice. Not too much boat traffic, I imagine that's due to school starting back Monday here in Gwinnett, with a decent breeze. 

We checked one of my favorite spots outside of a south side park and found them loosely scattered with no hits between myself and another friend of mine I ran into on the water, so we decide to head north. 

Boy did we find them there. An active school streaking out of the trees and into bait balls, the first time I've seen that live on the graph, and I pick up a quick pair of 6 lbers, one of which came up to about 3 ft, right under the boat, and shot out from the back and nailed my spoon in the last foot of the retrieve and took off. I hate that I don't have more cameras running on board because that would have been an awesome shot. 

My buddy calls me, scouting a slightly different area saying he found another school a couple hundred yards away. He'd been hooking up on nearly every drop until we showed up and then it slowed down, at least as far as hookups. We had no shortage of hits but only one more taker, a 4 that got hooked in the eye socket and came loose as I tried to get it in the boat. 

That's when the whole lake seemed to go quiet with the schools all stopping their streaking no matter where we looked. 

I'll have pics from the GoPro in the near future as well as screen shots of the graph, I just don't have them right now and need to get busy on other tasks. I just wanted to drop the report for you. 

For guys looking for fish: look for the deeper edge of humps and points coming out of very deep water. The edges of the main river channel, especially where it joins creek in flows, or the confluence of multiple creeks. If the creek is 110ft, you want to be looking for the walls at the edge, 70-90 ft. There you'll find the bait from 15-60, depending on fish activity, with the striper shooting out of the trees to work it. You'll see the bait form up, the streaks occur, and the bait disperse. Rinse and repeat. A lot of our hits were coming as we brought it through the bait. 

I did have 2 actual break offs, one I'm sure was due to a tree at depth, the other because it brought me under the boat and chafed me off on my buddy's line who was snagged in a tree. Ordinarily I'd be able to heavy lift them with the tackle I use, but most of these hits came on the fall so paying attention to your drop, where your line is at, and the weight of the fall is critical. If you sense change, engage the reel and crank. If you hesitate they'll take you under the boat or into the trees. Watch your retrieve if you don't feel it, if the line starts going somewhere you didn't drop it, like ahead of the boat when your drift should have it out of the back, burn it in immediately. If I'd been paying that close attention last night I would have caught my first fish, one that got me on the drop and ran me into the trees by the time I engaged and got any tension on the line. It was a clean break of the line, too, so I know it wasn't a knot failure. 

Good luck out there, everyone.


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## StriperrHunterr

Oh, and the total with my 16 from last night is 155.75.


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## Browning Slayer

Sweet! Looking forward to the pics!!


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## joey1

Nice deal.  Love to go with you sometime. Live 5 min from lake.  Buford.  See ya


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## GA native

This has been a great read so far. And we are all rooting for ya to break a grand.


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## StriperrHunterr

Thanks guys. Joey, I did get your message, I'll be reaching out for next week.


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## EverGreen1231

I have enjoyed this thread thoroughly. Perhaps the stars will shine more brightly and the big ones will bite.


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## StriperrHunterr

*Doing all the things...*

This is a combined screenshot report, and fishing report from last night. 

Screenshots are a combination of 8/9, and 8/11. Picture of the fish is 8/11. I forgot the GoPro at home like a moron this morning so I still can't pull those pics yet. 

For those interested, the screen shot of the graph with 122ft depth and 144 COG is the one with the streaking fish that busted up the bait ball from the other night. You can see that before the streak the ball was nice and thick, then there's a fish charging out of mid depth, overshooting the bait by a few feet and then dropping back down. 

8/11/16 Evening
Wxr: Mid to Upper 80s, Humid, light winds 3-5 mph, muuuuuggy. 
Water: Also mid to upper 80s, good visibility, still debris in the water from the rains we've had. 

Started last night in the same spot I usually do. Why? Because it's holding fish. So why isn't my total rocketing up? Because only so much of the things you can do to catch a fish are in your control, hence the post title. You can see from the screenshots that I'm doing everything I can do, the fish are chasing the spoons, but they're not hooking up. 

Now, I have changed one thing and my catch average is climbing again. My financier, aka wife, was complaining about how expensive the spoons were when I lose them. I can't blame her and, while I still use them, I found some 3 ounce crocodile knock offs online that I'm now adding to the mix. I also changed them. They come with one side looking like the shattered glass pattern, but it wasn't enough to satiate my desires for massive amounts of flash. So while I was up at OBT to pick up the new Parker Spoon repair kits that they sell, snap ring and skirted trokar hooks, I asked him about the reflective tape he uses on his planer boards. He happened to have some tucked away so I wrapped all of the crocodile spoons I bought with that, then vacuum sealed them to cure, to minimize air bubbles and get a good pressure to place them. Combined with the skirted hook they look just like the average herring size you'd buy from the suppliers and it's paying dividends. 

The last two trips I've spent more time dropping them and that's what I've caught on. My guests stayed on the Parker as a control, and neither of them caught. 

Still, having said that, looking at the screenshots you'll see that we're far from getting the school to go gang busters. There seems to be only one or two active fish in the school, or at least interested in chasing the spoon, despite seeing them run through the bait balls. That's the way it goes when fishing, you can put the perfect bait, with the perfect cast, and work it perfectly right in front of the fish you can see but it's still up to them to hit. We tried burning them in, casting them out and letting them flutter, burning those in, as well as slower cranks on both the drop and cast. We've tried jigging, crank and drop, dead stick, slow flutter back down once we hit the depth of the schools, literally everything I can think of. 

Last night wasn't just hard for me, when I got to one of my favorite spots there were already 7 boats working. Knowing that this can often keep a school active, we mosied up, being respectful to not wake, and to not crowd them, and found out that everyone was having the same problems. Granted I had already got my 2 for the night before we joined them, an 11 and a 6 for a total of 17, but they had shut down and moved on, apparently to these other boats, but they weren't catching either. That's the luck of the draw sometimes, and this year seems to be like that more than it's not. Last year if you'd mark 1 or 2, you'd hook up with one and the graph would light up with opportunistic fish streaking in from outside the cone, and from there you could pick up another couple. This year we're marking literal tons of fish every week, it seems, and we don't have the hookups to show for it. Maybe they want a live bait beside the spoon on a downline, maybe they're getting conditioned to the spoon and are taking more action on the trolling techniques, I really don't know. 

What I do know is that if I don't make my goal it won't be for lack of finding the fish, and the screeshots you've seen all season bear that out. 

We did head off earlier than normal last night, around 745, because we weren't even getting thumps despite being chased around the whole time by fish and I wasn't feeling 100%. 

I did meet a gentleman last night who's been reading this thread, it was great to meet you, and having the support of fishermen all over GA through this thread is both humbling and inspiring. 

Well, the fish quality seems to be going up, we're breaking 10 pretty regularly, and there's still plenty of season left. Last night's 17 takes me to 172.75, so we're only 80 10 lbers from making this goal a success, by the numbers anyway. I already consider it a success due to the lives that have been changed as a direct result of it. My friend's 28, his biggest fish by a large margin, elfiii's 15 first striper, a buddy of mine who used to think that lake fishing was a worm and cork and lots of boredom, and all of the new friends that I've made over the last few months are far more valuable than any arbitrary number, far more likely to last longer, and arguably what the whole purpose of fishing really is all about. 

Thanks for reading, good luck, and tight lines.


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## StriperrHunterr

Oh, and here's my 11 from last night.


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## StriperrHunterr

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> If you get snagged, don't try to rip it out. Go slightly slack line and wiggle the tip enough just to get the line moving. The weight of the lure will often work it loose.
> 
> Also, if you feel the rod just load up with weight, don't set the hook. If a striper hits you'll feel the difference. The loading up is just a tree or some other structure and setting the hook almost guarantees a lost lure. Wiggle it to get it out of the tree and you'll be surprised how many fish hit it as soon as it clears the snag.



I just got a PM concerned about snags and wanted to bring this back to the forefront. 

If you're using this technique, much like U-rigs, snags are a part of your life. Like I say to my guests, you've got to get in it (the trees) to win it. 

Unlike U-rigs, though, if you train yourself to feel the difference in the fish, as well as how to release them, you can get them back with a 9/10 success ratio. 

The key is not trying to hammer the hook home if you feel it just load up with weight. Striper that hit the spoon either pick it up on the drop, swat at it to shock it to swirl back on it, or slam it. I've not seen, nor have I heard of, them doing anything but those three. 

So, if you're cranking and you feel the rod just start to load up, STOP. Don't turn another crank. Open up the bail and let about 10 ft of line out. Then you have two choices that I've observed. One is a smaller motion, just designed to tighten the line enough just to get the spoon to raise and fall back down. If you're lightly hooked this will likely work for you. Do this a couple times and you should feel the weight of the spoon return. When it does start cranking again, being mindful that you may encounter another branch, or you may just draw the attention of a fish. I had this happen numerous times last year where a snag would quickly be followed with a hookup. 

The other option is to channel your best Harry Potter and work the rod tip all around, after having give then 10 feet or so of line, and is better for hooks that are really buried. You're trying to wallow out the hole where the hook entered the dead limb. Again, you'll eventually feel the weight return and be able to crank again. 

The last is to retrace your steps and go on the backside of your snag relative to the motion of your boat, and mainly happens on windy days or snags while you were moving. You've dropped into a tree and your boat motion has taken it past the tree. Work "up-current" of your snag and try the techniques above. 

If none of these works it's time to grip it and rip it. Sometimes you'll get it back, sometimes you won't. Sometimes you'll get a limb, or the rod, you snagged with it. 

I'll see if I can find a video of me freeing myself from a snag to post soon to illustrate this better. The guests I've had out have all taken to it like ducks on water once I've shown them how. 

I hope this helps you guys, and if you have questions like that, applicable to the technique that others probably have, please don't hesitate to ask.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

Another key that is important to mention here, is drag settings. You want your drag set just short of the breaking strain of the line. In the cases where a snag results in a hookup the striper knows two things, A), that it can get free by breaking you off, and B) right where the tree it just left is. 

You need to be able to put the brakes on them when they hit or you're going to lose a lot of fish to the trees, and a lot of spoons. This is the main reason I use 20lb big game line, and heavier gear. You can get away with bass gear, for the most part, but when that 17-20 comes along, hitting 3 feet off of the tree, you need to be able to turn her, and quick.


----------



## joey1

Braid is the way to go.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

joey1 said:


> Braid is the way to go.



What's your setup when using braid? I've had it spool lock itself, where the line's tension buries itself in the spool, on hits before so I'm curious what you're doing differently here. 

Lighter drag, thicker diameter/lb test?


----------



## joey1

Lighter drag, jigging rod,   40lb  braid. no leader.    Seems to work for me.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

joey1 said:


> Lighter drag, jigging rod,   40lb  braid. no leader.    Seems to work for me.



That 40lb, but in power pro, is what I had problems with on downlining and this. Any drag light enough to keep from spool locking was too light to get a good hook up, and anything tight enough to hook up buried itself in the spool. 

I'm glad you've got it to work for you, I imagine that braid is a good way to straighten out a split ring if you bury the hook to the point of not being otherwise recoverable.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

Quick post, you guys know the drill. Deep water, warm weather, 91 degrees above the thermocline. 

I put my guest on a 10+ last night, maybe he'll post his picture as I don't have it.

I got a 25, verified on the AccuCull, and 2 5's that take me to 207.75.

I hadn't considered leaving some in the holder as an attractant, thanks for that tip, Bill, I'll be giving that a shot tonight to see what I can do with it.


----------



## elfiii

It was an outstanding night and it looks like your luck has changed for the better. 300 lbs here he comes!


----------



## Dustin Pate

Dang, you'll let anybody on your boat!!! LOL You did make sure that the gentleman in the green shirt didn't have any outstanding warrants before boarding didn't you?


----------



## StriperrHunterr

Dustin Pate said:


> Dang, you'll let anybody on your boat!!! LOL You did make sure that the gentleman in the green shirt didn't have any outstanding warrants before boarding didn't you?



He just had to promise to keep all of his clothes on. 

And yeah, I pretty much, will let anyone on, so if you're up this way give me a shout.


----------



## elfiii

Dustin Pate said:


> Dang, you'll let anybody on your boat!!! LOL You did make sure that the gentleman in the green shirt didn't have any outstanding warrants before boarding didn't you?



He was slummin' last night.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

Out again last night with a previous guest. Got about 45 minutes before the storms started encroaching so we pulled off and had to wait it out because either we had to prep the boat for storage in the rain, or wait in the dry truck to see if we got a dry window with enough time to fish. 

Well, the latter happened and we lost an hour to the rain but had about another hour afterwards before we lost the light. 

I managed a 15 that I would have guessed was a 9, and managed to throw my accucull overboard as I was releasing. Don't ask me how, I have no idea how it happened, but I do know that they need to build those with internal flotation. 

I'll be heading up to OBT this afternoon to pick up another one as I have another trip tomorrow and my estimation skills are obviously erring on the side of caution. We didn't get a still picture of it, and my guest was running his GoPro since I didn't want to record over my fight with the 25 the night prior, so I'm waiting on him to get a still of that fish to me. 

Tally stands at 222.75, with another trip at least tomorrow. Hopefully we can find them as they've been more scattered, or at least in different areas, for the morning bite than they are in the afternoon. If someone knows of good areas (like steep ledges by the river channel) that they could point me to for the morning bite that would be appreciated. I'm not looking for GPS coords, but if you're going to be out and want another boat to help keep the schools alive, let me know that, too, please. 

Unless this week is a sign that quality and quantity are going way up at the end of the season, which I was expecting it to based on last year, but unless it stays that way I'm starting to have doubts that I'll hit my numerical goal.


----------



## ProAngler

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> That 40lb, but in power pro, is what I had problems with on downlining and this. Any drag light enough to keep from spool locking was too light to get a good hook up, and anything tight enough to hook up buried itself in the spool.
> 
> I'm glad you've got it to work for you, I imagine that braid is a good way to straighten out a split ring if you bury the hook to the point of not being otherwise recoverable.



When using a braid set up just make sure you spool in on really tight and you won't have that problem. If
You have the line  burning into the spool you should respool them under more tension. And I on not talking pinching the line with your fingers. Takes a lot more than that.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

ProAngler said:


> When using a braid set up just make sure you spool in on really tight and you won't have that problem. If
> You have the line  burning into the spool you should respool them under more tension. And I on not talking pinching the line with your fingers. Takes a lot more than that.



Thanks for the tip. I went back to using mono since it's also cheaper. 

For those wondering, I'll most likely not be on the water this week. My only shot would be tomorrow night and that's not looking so hot. 

We had to have some work done on the house to get it ready for market, still have some stuff moving out tonight to prep for staging, and then I head up to NC this weekend, so this is going to be an off week. 

Good luck to everyone out there, stay safe, stay dry, and get slimy.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

*All good things...*

...must eventually come to an end. While summer isn't quite ready to release us from the grips of the heat, and I'm sure the striper are more than willing to abide those who can get out, I'm afraid that I'm announcing the end of my little campaign. Officially anyway. 

I just have too much going on right now, with no end in sight, to really be able to count on continuing this for at least a few weeks. Our dog had surgery Friday and is at home and healing up well, but we still need to keep an eye on her. Then we have all the work being done to get the house ready for sale. I suspect that by the time we're done working on it, listing and showing it, and then finally moving the season will be over and we'll be ramping up the fall/winter bite. 

So, bearing that in mind, here are the results for both me and my guests, and somewhere I forgot to include a 4 in my total on the posts that I included in the stories. 

Me	   Guest
0	   4
10.5	   5
9	   15
0	   39
15	   4.5
36	   27
0	   18
16	   5
4	   16
39.25 10
9	   11
5	   15
16	   4
17	   0
35	  10
15	  0
=======
226.75 Me
183.5   Guests
=======
410.25 Total. 

As I sit and reflect on this, it's easy to get caught up in the numbers, and lack thereof. Barely breaking 22.5% of your goal for the year is disappointing, but then I remember the experiences. My friend with his 28 laughing like a schoolgirl for 30 minutes as the adrenaline wore off, elfiii and his first fish, my friend who didn't care for fishing until I turned him onto this, and all of the new friends that I've made during this experience are humbling. The shared experiences, whether from fish, or weather, or both, are ones that I'll keep with me for a long time. The main channel with no joke 3 foot rollers coming over the gunwale in my DLV, the storms that we saw rolling in, the last fiery breaths of the sun as it goes down for the night, the chop busting jokes, and the discussions all the way around are invaluable and I'm glad to have shared them with you all, guests and readers. 

Good luck to all, stay safe, and I'll catch you on the flip side, just in time for the Grand Winter...


----------



## PopPop

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> ...must eventually come to an end. While summer isn't quite ready to release us from the grips of the heat, and I'm sure the striper are more than willing to abide those who can get out, I'm afraid that I'm announcing the end of my little campaign. Officially anyway.
> 
> I just have too much going on right now, with no end in sight, to really be able to count on continuing this for at least a few weeks. Our dog had surgery Friday and is at home and healing up well, but we still need to keep an eye on her. Then we have all the work being done to get the house ready for sale. I suspect that by the time we're done working on it, listing and showing it, and then finally moving the season will be over and we'll be ramping up the fall/winter bite.
> 
> So, bearing that in mind, here are the results for both me and my guests, and somewhere I forgot to include a 4 in my total on the posts that I included in the stories.
> 
> Me	   Guest
> 0	   4
> 10.5	   5
> 9	   15
> 0	   39
> 15	   4.5
> 36	   27
> 0	   18
> 16	   5
> 4	   16
> 39.25 10
> 9	   11
> 5	   15
> 16	   4
> 17	   0
> 35	  10
> 15	  0
> =======
> 226.75 Me
> 183.5   Guests
> =======
> 410.25 Total.
> 
> As I sit and reflect on this, it's easy to get caught up in the numbers, and lack thereof. Barely breaking 22.5% of your goal for the year is disappointing, but then I remember the experiences. My friend with his 28 laughing like a schoolgirl for 30 minutes as the adrenaline wore off, elfiii and his first fish, my friend who didn't care for fishing until I turned him onto this, and all of the new friends that I've made during this experience are humbling. The shared experiences, whether from fish, or weather, or both, are ones that I'll keep with me for a long time. The main channel with no joke 3 foot rollers coming over the gunwale in my DLV, the storms that we saw rolling in, the last fiery breaths of the sun as it goes down for the night, the chop busting jokes, and the discussions all the way around are invaluable and I'm glad to have shared them with you all, guests and readers.
> 
> Good luck to all, stay safe, and I'll catch you on the flip side, just in time for the Grand Winter...



Good Job SH. I believe your summary shows your true success, fishing has little to do with fish.


----------



## EverGreen1231

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> ...must eventually come to an end. While summer isn't quite ready to release us from the grips of the heat, and I'm sure the striper are more than willing to abide those who can get out, I'm afraid that I'm announcing the end of my little campaign. Officially anyway.
> 
> I just have too much going on right now, with no end in sight, to really be able to count on continuing this for at least a few weeks. Our dog had surgery Friday and is at home and healing up well, but we still need to keep an eye on her. Then we have all the work being done to get the house ready for sale. I suspect that by the time we're done working on it, listing and showing it, and then finally moving the season will be over and we'll be ramping up the fall/winter bite.
> 
> So, bearing that in mind, here are the results for both me and my guests, and somewhere I forgot to include a 4 in my total on the posts that I included in the stories.
> 
> Me	   Guest
> 0	   4
> 10.5	   5
> 9	   15
> 0	   39
> 15	   4.5
> 36	   27
> 0	   18
> 16	   5
> 4	   16
> 39.25 10
> 9	   11
> 5	   15
> 16	   4
> 17	   0
> 35	  10
> 15	  0
> =======
> 226.75 Me
> 183.5   Guests
> =======
> 410.25 Total.
> 
> As I sit and reflect on this, it's easy to get caught up in the numbers, and lack thereof. Barely breaking 22.5% of your goal for the year is disappointing, but then I remember the experiences. My friend with his 28 laughing like a schoolgirl for 30 minutes as the adrenaline wore off, elfiii and his first fish, my friend who didn't care for fishing until I turned him onto this, and all of the new friends that I've made during this experience are humbling. The shared experiences, whether from fish, or weather, or both, are ones that I'll keep with me for a long time. The main channel with no joke 3 foot rollers coming over the gunwale in my DLV, the storms that we saw rolling in, the last fiery breaths of the sun as it goes down for the night, the chop busting jokes, and the discussions all the way around are invaluable and I'm glad to have shared them with you all, guests and readers.
> 
> Good luck to all, stay safe, and I'll catch you on the flip side, just in time for the Grand Winter...





PopPop said:


> Good Job SH. I believe your summary shows your true success, fishing has little to do with fish.



"Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after." -Henry David Thoreau

It's been a pleasure to read and see. Thank you for sharing.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

PopPop said:


> Good Job SH. I believe your summary shows your true success, fishing has little to do with fish.



Thanks, Pop, I tend to agree with that sentiment, though it would have been nice to get closer, if not hit, my target for the season.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

EverGreen1231 said:


> "Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after." -Henry David Thoreau
> 
> It's been a pleasure to read and see. Thank you for sharing.



That is a great quote. Thank you all for the compliments.


----------



## Klag

My favorite thread I ever read on this forum. Thanks for all the info, pics and details! 

Looking forward to next years!


----------



## Andy O

It was indeed a pleasure to both read along, as well as experience this first hand. Thanks. Hope to get a chance to spend some more time with you on the water.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

Klag said:


> My favorite thread I ever read on this forum. Thanks for all the info, pics and details!
> 
> Looking forward to next years!





Andy O said:


> It was indeed a pleasure to both read along, as well as experience this first hand. Thanks. Hope to get a chance to spend some more time with you on the water.



Thanks guys, it was an experience to remember, that's for sure. I don't know yet if I'll pick this back up next year or not. I'll definitely be fishing, but the strain of this goal on my shoulders and my knees was not inconsiderable. Part of it depends on the house we end up in, and the storage access of the boat. As my guests can attest to, it's no small feat getting the boat in and out of the garage we currently have, and doing that multiple times a week put a lot of strain on my already compromised knees. 

I am looking forward to the fall and winter bites, especially the cooler weather and lower boat traffic, so I'm sure I'll be keeping the logs like I did on this but I don't know if I'll have a specific goal in mind, though it would be great to finally break the 30lb threshold.


----------



## elfiii

Regardless of the one grand goal a bad day on the water or in the woods beats a good day most other places. Many thanks for the opportunity and the tutelage. You opened up a whole new world of fishing for me and got me on the scoreboard in grand style. We had to work for it but that was the fun part.

For those who have never been on a charter with StripeRR my homeboy can flat mark fish and lots of them. The fact they hain't been a bitin' to get him over his one grand goal is the fish's fault not his. He knows his stripers cold in his sleep.

Glad I got to be there with you for your personal best. It was fun to watch you lose your cool and get the shakes and I got to net the fish and take the pic. I cut your head off because I was excited too!

Solid golden days bro. Solid gold!


----------



## StriperrHunterr

elfiii said:


> Regardless of the one grand goal a bad day on the water or in the woods beats a good day most other places. Many thanks for the opportunity and the tutelage. You opened up a whole new world of fishing for me and got me on the scoreboard in grand style. We had to work for it but that was the fun part.
> 
> For those who have never been on a charter with StripeRR my homeboy can flat mark fish and lots of them. The fact they hain't been a bitin' to get him over his one grand goal is the fish's fault not his. He knows his stripers cold in his sleep.
> 
> Glad I got to be there with you for your personal best. It was fun to watch you lose your cool and get the shakes and I got to net the fish and take the pic. I cut your head off because I was excited too!
> 
> Solid golden days bro. Solid gold!



You're very welcome, and it was a ton of fun but I want to clarify one point in this post. 

I am not, nor ever have been, a guide and I do not run "charters." I fish for fun, and occasionally the sun shines on the dog's orifice, but I am nowhere near the caliber of fisherman as those who do this professionally. I take guests out and we see what happens, I don't even take gas money. 

I have been extraordinarily lucky this season in racking up the sheer number of firsts and personal bests that I was fortunate to be a part of. I did get the wobbles when I saw that girl come into view. I've caught some decent fish in my career but the way she doubled that rod over and stripped drag like it wasn't even there was unlike anything I've experienced on the lake thus far. You may have cut off my head, but at least you didn't load the camera up with 28 pictures of the same fish and slime from the same like I did on yours.


----------



## elfiii

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> You may have cut off my head, but at least you didn't load the camera up with 28 pictures of the same fish and slime from the same like I did on yours.


----------



## Browning Slayer

Love this thread!!!

Keep it up bud! I'm not a Striper fisherman but man, you're making me want to change gears!

I can hear my wife now.. Now why do you need an additional 10 rod setups to the 20 you already have..


----------



## StriperrHunterr

Browning Slayer said:


> Love this thread!!!
> 
> Keep it up bud! I'm not a Striper fisherman but man, you're making me want to change gears!
> 
> I can hear my wife now.. Now why do you need an additional 10 rod setups to the 20 you already have..



Thanks for the kind words. If my ineptitude is making you want to change gears it couldn't be that hard of a sell anyway. 

I know that argument. Take her with you and let her manage the rods, especially for downlining or planer boards, having to count each one by hand. 10 minutes in you'll get the all clear to get them.


----------



## GONoob

I'm available anytime on weekends and weeknights after 6pm. I have my own gear and boat. Boat is getting maintenance done at the moment but she is a 25' deep V. Can trade you for offshore fishing trip! Tried to striper fish three times and skunked out lol. I just can't figure out Lanier or freshwater for that matter. I could definitely learn some from you.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

GONoob said:


> I'm available anytime on weekends and weeknights after 6pm. I have my own gear and boat. Boat is getting maintenance done at the moment but she is a 25' deep V. Can trade you for offshore fishing trip! Tried to striper fish three times and skunked out lol. I just can't figure out Lanier or freshwater for that matter. I could definitely learn some from you.



Thank you, sir. I would be most interested in the offshore trip, but I've hung up the spoon for the season. 

I've a bit too much on my plate right now to get out, but will keep you in mind for the upcoming seasons when I can get back out.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

New seats mounted up front to make this year even better.

Thanks to Browning Slayer for the help in getting them mounted. For those that went with me last year, or those who have fished with me at all, you know that even the current seats in the skiff weren't really set up for fishing so much as running operations. As such I could usually be counted on to be in agony with my knee condition even in the short times we were out after work. 

Adding these will make launching, recovering, and operating the trolling motor so much easier, and with the RAM mount I installed last year, the ability to spin the finder around to face front will keep us where we need to be. We'll be able to fish essentially back to back and with more stability, than standing on the back deck. I'll have to figure out the best position for mounting the camera(s), as you can see, maybe, that I have one mount on the deck ahead of the bow light already, but I don't know if that will have the angle or the best position for catching the whole of the front deck. Maybe one right over the back of the seat forward of the console, where the blue sleeve on the console is now, will work. 

Yes, there will be a second season and I'm hoping the earlier start of this warm weather will have the temps in place earlier in the season. 

Thanks for checking it out.


----------



## KKrueger

Nice. I hope to get out with you this summer.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

KKrueger said:


> Nice. I hope to get out with you this summer.



Thanks, I hope we can make that work.


----------



## j_seph

Did you mount a backing plate under the deck? If so how big


----------



## StriperrHunterr

j_seph said:


> Did you mount a backing plate under the deck? If so how big



I did not. Not yet anyway. I may do that in the near future, but based on initial testing it won't be needed. Those lids have next to no flex.


----------



## StriperrHunterr

Well folks, it may be that I'm all hopped up on hopium, but with water temps I observed last Friday of 72 and 73 I'm ready to make a call. 

The 2nd Annual One Grand Summer will be kicking off the week of May 1st, weather permitting and by that I mean thunderstorms. I already have a couple of guests in mind for those early trips that I didn't get a chance to fish with last year for varying reason, but will be looking to put together trips with new guests, and old alike, in fairly short order. I did lose my "master" list of all who expressed interest last year, so if this is something you'd like to do please feel free to PM me and I'll put your name in the hat. The way I book trips is when I decide I'm going I'll PM the group through here, and the first one or two to reply are those that get the slot, unless they've fished with me recently. I like to give as many people a chance to do this as I can. 

There will be a couple of changes this year, as well. Given that I've still not edited the videos down into something that someone would want to watch, and if anyone is good at that sort of thing I'll give you a director's credit for doing it, I'm going to be focusing more on the stills. I'll still have my GoPro running, but the heavy emphasis will be on still photography. 

The second thing that will change is that I will focus more heavily on the recording of data. Last year it was often just me and a guest and it was difficult to catch, measure, and release, all while controlling the trolling motor. This year I will be opening up more often to 2 guests at a time, with more of my time spent coaching, and operating the boat and recording data. That's not to say I won't fish, I'm an addict to this method after all, just that I wasn't happy with the sparse data collection I was able to do last year. 

Third, and as a result of the second change, I will be changing the rules on the goal. Many of you had asked why I was so obstinate about hitting the 1k goal on my own and should have combined results to more accurately reflect the truth. This year I will be doing that. The goal is for the boat to get to 1k lbs. 

So, if you have a smartphone or other camera, and can fish during the week from around 530 to dark, and have a valid fishing license, shoot me a message if you want to participate this year. 

It should be a blast.


----------



## Burton

Awesome you are doing this.  I will be following along, and I hope you get there.  I was just wondering how soon I could start this back on Hartwell.  If you want a free trip on Hartwell, contact me mid-June through mid-July and I will hook you up as an appreciation for the info you've shared.  We all appreciate it.


----------



## Browning Slayer

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> Well folks, it may be that I'm all hopped up on hopium, but with water temps I observed last Friday of 72 and 73 I'm ready to make a call.
> 
> The 2nd Annual One Grand Summer will be kicking off the week of May 1st, weather permitting and by that I mean thunderstorms. I already have a couple of guests in mind for those early trips that I didn't get a chance to fish with last year for varying reason, but will be looking to put together trips with new guests, and old alike, in fairly short order. I did lose my "master" list of all who expressed interest last year, so if this is something you'd like to do please feel free to PM me and I'll put your name in the hat. The way I book trips is when I decide I'm going I'll PM the group through here, and the first one or two to reply are those that get the slot, unless they've fished with me recently. I like to give as many people a chance to do this as I can.
> 
> There will be a couple of changes this year, as well. Given that I've still not edited the videos down into something that someone would want to watch, and if anyone is good at that sort of thing I'll give you a director's credit for doing it, I'm going to be focusing more on the stills. I'll still have my GoPro running, but the heavy emphasis will be on still photography.
> 
> The second thing that will change is that I will focus more heavily on the recording of data. Last year it was often just me and a guest and it was difficult to catch, measure, and release, all while controlling the trolling motor. This year I will be opening up more often to 2 guests at a time, with more of my time spent coaching, and operating the boat and recording data. That's not to say I won't fish, I'm an addict to this method after all, just that I wasn't happy with the sparse data collection I was able to do last year.
> 
> Third, and as a result of the second change, I will be changing the rules on the goal. Many of you had asked why I was so obstinate about hitting the 1k goal on my own and should have combined results to more accurately reflect the truth. This year I will be doing that. The goal is for the boat to get to 1k lbs.
> 
> So, if you have a smartphone or other camera, and can fish during the week from around 530 to dark, and have a valid fishing license, shoot me a message if you want to participate this year.
> 
> It should be a blast.




What a deal! You run the boat while can fish? 

And it's only fair to make the 1,000lbs good for the boat. You are the one showing folks how to do the spoon bite.

Looking forward to it!


----------



## StriperrHunterr

Burton said:


> Awesome you are doing this.  I will be following along, and I hope you get there.  I was just wondering how soon I could start this back on Hartwell.  If you want a free trip on Hartwell, contact me mid-June through mid-July and I will hook you up as an appreciation for the info you've shared.  We all appreciate it.



I'm looking to head up to Hartwell one weekend in May for an overnight crappie trip with at least Slayer on board. 

Based on the data from last year you can probably start this up the same time I am and do okay. The main difference with the lower water temps is that they'll be higher on the humps after they come down from the spawn run, and that can be difficult to pattern. The shallower water doesn't give them as long to look at the spoon as it does when they're out over the channel. 

Personally I'm going to be downsizing the spoon's weight earlier in the year, maybe like a 1 ounce Hopkins, or 2 if I can find them, so I can stand off the hump, cast over it, and bring it up over and down the near side. With the screenshots I got last year that should be the ticket and result in some really good numbers on quantity since they were stacked up on the humps. 

We're really close to 75 degree surface temps in Lanier right now and that's where it was when I was marking those schools. I just hope they're heading back down south right now and not still nosed into the rivers up north. If I can't mark them down here I'll keep working north until I find them, and change launch points if possible, to make the runs to them shorter. 



Browning Slayer said:


> What a deal! You run the boat while can fish?
> 
> And it's only fair to make the 1,000lbs good for the boat. You are the one showing folks how to do the spoon bite.
> 
> Looking forward to it!



Yeah, it just makes the most sense to me to focus a little more on running the boat and collecting the data than doing as much fishing. Plus, after having to take a couple trips off the schedule last year due to my elbow and shoulders, this will keep that strain from mounting up. Hopefully. 

And thinking about it further, this would allow me to more readily man the net, have a camera ready, as well as the seaqualizer to hopefully have more live release.


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## joey1

Put me on the list please


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## StriperrHunterr

You're added, Joey.


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## King.Of.Anglers.Jeremiah

So glad to see you're giving it another shot. Good luck!


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## StriperrHunterr

Jeremiahisbrown said:


> So glad to see you're giving it another shot. Good luck!



Thank you. I saw a long range forecast today that's calling for more rain and cooler temps, kind of like it is right now. I was hoping that the warming trend would stick around and get those water temps up some more to really gel the pattern, so it looks like we may be doing more of the casting aspect than I thought we would when we start, but that's the way the game goes I guess.


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## elfiii

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> Yeah, it just makes the most sense to me to focus a little more on running the boat and collecting the data than doing as much fishing. Plus, after having to take a couple trips off the schedule last year due to my elbow and shoulders, this will keep that strain from mounting up. Hopefully.
> 
> And thinking about it further, this would allow me to more readily man the net, have a camera ready, as well as the seaqualizer to hopefully have more live release.



Phooey. You need to focus on catching fish too.


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## Browning Slayer

elfiii said:


> Phooey. You need to focus on catching fish too.



Hey, leave the man alone.. If he wants to run the boat while I fish, I won't have a problem with that...


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## StriperrHunterr

elfiii said:


> Phooey. You need to focus on catching fish too.



I will be fishing, but the strain on my shoulder last year had me cancelling a couple trips. I'd rather not have a repeat of that this year. 



Browning Slayer said:


> Hey, leave the man alone.. If he wants to run the boat while I fish, I won't have a problem with that...



You and others.


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## Patriot44

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> You and Patriot44.


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## StriperrHunterr

Patriot44 said:


>



Yes, you're on the list.


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## Patriot44

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> Yes, you're on the list.


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## Browning Slayer

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> I will be fishing, but the strain on my shoulder last year had me cancelling a couple trips. I'd rather not have a repeat of that this year.
> 
> 
> 
> You and others.



My shoulder is working just fine.. I'll be happy to relieve that strain..


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## StriperrHunterr

Browning Slayer said:


> My shoulder is working just fine.. I'll be happy to relieve that strain..



That's what I'm counting on.


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## StriperrHunterr

*Hopium Addict*

If it wasn't already known, it should be considered confirmed as of last night that I'm hopelessly addicted to hopium. Last year I tried starting in the first week of May and had nothing to show for it. This week isn't shaping up any better. Well, as it relates to the numerical goal, anyway. 

Got out with Browning Slayer around 545 last night. The weather was gorgeous, except for an annoying breeze. We checked a few spots on the south end that I frequented last year during the first couple of weeks and they aren't there. Last year they were stacked up on top of the shallow humps and isolated flats, but this was a ghost town. We covered probably a mile of what should have been productive water and marked maybe 8-10 in the entire scout. We tried casting and dropping and they wouldn't even window shop. 

After a couple hours with nothing to show we changed over to try to hunt spots by working shakey heads and topwaters on more wind protected banks, also to no avail. 

That's when we decided to hit a spot I know of that's usually good for holding crappie to see if we could at least kick the skunk out of the boat. That finally happened right at sunset, but wasn't even a crappie. It was another 4ish pound channel cat on a crappie jig. 

Still, it was a beautiful night to be out on the lake. Air temps were very comfortable, with water temps in the main lake hovering around the 69 mark with 6 foot visibility. In the pockets and creek backs there was a slight stain in areas with temps getting as high as 73. 

The rest of this week is a wash with the weather forecast, and the weekend is out due to projects I need to finish around the house.


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## Deleted member 35556

The fish are North of the Bridge for whatever reason.  South of the bridge and back of the creeks are okay, but the further north you head the better it is right now.


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## StriperrHunterr

jivarie said:


> The fish are North of the Bridge for whatever reason.  South of the bridge and back of the creeks are okay, but the further north you head the better it is right now.



I forgot to mention that I was planning on heading north if we didn't find them, but with the wind the way it was I wasn't into the notion of a cold shower last night. 

Thanks for the info, as well.


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## StriperrHunterr

After the last trip I shifted gears for a little while waiting on the fish to come back down south a little bit and have been focusing on crappie when I do go out. 

My in-laws were in town this past week and weekend helping us with some projects around the house and just hanging out. In addition to the awesome rack of ribs I made Sunday night to show our appreciation, I took my FiL out yesterday for a half day to see what we could do. 

Well, we found them. With all of our fish coming in less than 10 FoW on jigs cast and vertically works around brush. He loves the Gliss line now as well, remarking that as often as we'd snagged that we would have run out of jigs if we had been using traditional lines. 

Water was 73-75, with a heavier stain in the creek backs. 73 was observed in the deeper section of one of the main lake creeks so we're getting closer to the striper being in the right places to start up my Grand Summer again. I have to put the boat in for its periodic service, so when that gets done we'll be back on the water and scouting hard. 

We finished with 83 fish, including one spot that might have been 6" long that nailed his jig as he cranked out to cast again, the rest were crappie with the majority being hand size, and the one pictured being the biggest of the day. 

Crappie fishing is still on fire and all you need to do is find shallow brush either freestanding or resting on the bank, the steeper the bank the better, and turn them on with a single catch. We had cast to one spot I know to have held them in the past with jigs about 10 or so times, when I put a minnow on a float out. It got slammed after a few seconds and that turned the school on. When they'd go back to rest I'd put another minnow out to restart them. If you have a kid you want to turn on to fishing, look for the structure I described and give them a rod they can cast loaded with this Gliss line and a 1/24 ounce jig. They'll get snagged, but that's what you need to do to get in the cover with the fish. They'll be in fish in short order and it'll be a day to remember.


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## Browning Slayer

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> After the last trip I shifted gears for a little while waiting on the fish to come back down south a little bit and have been focusing on crappie when I do go out.
> 
> My in-laws were in town this past week and weekend helping us with some projects around the house and just hanging out. In addition to the awesome rack of ribs I made Sunday night to show our appreciation, I took my FiL out yesterday for a half day to see what we could do.
> 
> Well, we found them. With all of our fish coming in less than 10 FoW on jigs cast and vertically works around brush. He loves the Gliss line now as well, remarking that as often as we'd snagged that we would have run out of jigs if we had been using traditional lines.
> 
> Water was 73-75, with a heavier stain in the creek backs. 73 was observed in the deeper section of one of the main lake creeks so we're getting closer to the striper being in the right places to start up my Grand Summer again. I have to put the boat in for its periodic service, so when that gets done we'll be back on the water and scouting hard.
> 
> We finished with 83 fish, including one spot that might have been 6" long that nailed his jig as he cranked out to cast again, the rest were crappie with the majority being hand size, and the one pictured being the biggest of the day.
> 
> Crappie fishing is still on fire and all you need to do is find shallow brush either freestanding or resting on the bank, the steeper the bank the better, and turn them on with a single catch. We had cast to one spot I know to have held them in the past with jigs about 10 or so times, when I put a minnow on a float out. It got slammed after a few seconds and that turned the school on. When they'd go back to rest I'd put another minnow out to restart them. If you have a kid you want to turn on to fishing, look for the structure I described and give them a rod they can cast loaded with this Gliss line and a 1/24 ounce jig. They'll get snagged, but that's what you need to do to get in the cover with the fish. They'll be in fish in short order and it'll be a day to remember.



Sweet! I'm still cleaning up all my stuff from Florida. We got home around 3 yesterday and I'm not even 1/4 the way thru it..


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## StriperrHunterr

Browning Slayer said:


> Sweet! I'm still cleaning up all my stuff from Florida. We got home around 3 yesterday and I'm not even 1/4 the way thru it..



Sounds about right.


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## StriperrHunterr

Well, the first trip of the second season is in the books and it isn't good. The weather and the company were good, even surface activity from spots was good, but we only managed two hits from them with none boated and not even window shoppers from the striper we did, most likely, locate. I ran the south end of the lake from the dam to the Sisters and, while there were tons of schooling spots everywhere we stopped, there just weren't the numbers of striper I was hoping for and, as I said a moment ago, they just weren't feeling active. 

Water temp was 82 in the main body of water, 4-6ft visibility, and a 3-5 mph breeze.


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## j_seph

I have heard reports of Stripers having worms in their gills. Could this be part of problem?


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## Coenen

j_seph said:


> I have heard reports of Stripers having worms in their gills. Could this be part of problem?


[_ALLEGEDLY_] parasitic copepods (AKA Gill Maggots) don't have any significant effect on the fish's day to day life, and are only a mortality risk when the fish are extremely stressed. Allegedly. I hope that's true, because it's been a minute since I caught a striper out of Lanier that wasn't lousy with them.


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## StriperrHunterr

j_seph said:


> I have heard reports of Stripers having worms in their gills. Could this be part of problem?



I've heard the same thing, but like Coenen says the experts don't seem to be concerned about it. 



Coenen said:


> [_ALLEGEDLY_] parasitic copepods (AKA Gill Maggots) don't have any significant effect on the fish's day to day life, and are only a mortality risk when the fish are extremely stressed. Allegedly. I hope that's true, because it's been a minute since I caught a striper out of Lanier that wasn't lousy with them.



Though I will say that I find it hard to believe an infestation like that couldn't eventually cause problems from inability to oxygenate. It could, and bear in mind I'm no expert, be an explanation for their lethargy now that the water isn't as healthy for them as it is in the cooler months.


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## Coenen

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> I've heard the same thing, but like Coenen says the experts don't seem to be concerned about it.


Allegedly. Much like there's not much real data on summer time mortality, I wonder how much real data there is on the effect of gill maggots on a fishery. My big concern, beyond infestations increasing overall mortality, would be if they have a significant effect growth rates, or life span.

No one seems worried, but then again the cat's out of the bag, and there's not much to be gained by telling everybody that the sky is falling.


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## j_seph

How many quality like high teens, 20's and 30 pound fish have you seen caught this year? Worley and I were talking and it just seems way down on quality sized fish compared to last year and lots of small fish.


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## StriperrHunterr

j_seph said:


> How many quality like high teens, 20's and 30 pound fish have you seen caught this year? Worley and I were talking and it just seems way down on quality sized fish compared to last year and lots of small fish.



Personally, 0. I also haven't been fishing as much as in recent years for them. I stuck to crappie this spring with only OWL and one other trip as an outlier. 

I was talking with Jerseycat about that at OWL and he had some good information from reliable sources that the reason we're seeing the gap is the high water we had a couple years back messed up the bait spawn so there was less to feed on, causing a void in the striper population. I don't remember the exact source, but I do remember taking it as reliable information because of who it was and it making sense with the observed conditions. Of course that's also taking into account that Lanier is a put and take fishery for striper and if the harvest continues while other parts of the population can't eat enough to survive, or are a dead release, it can quickly lead to holes in the size chart. 

Based on last night we've no shortage of bait now, though.


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## Coenen

j_seph said:


> How many quality like high teens, 20's and 30 pound fish have you seen caught this year? Worley and I were talking and it just seems way down on quality sized fish compared to last year and lots of small fish.


Very few. I fished a lot over the winter, and caught fish just about every time out. Most fish were 24-26", like they were stamped out in a machine. I caught a few that were probably a year class behind, 16-20" and a couple that were bigger, with the biggest that I measured being about 28". My average fish was that "2-footer" though.

I saw one guy catch one that he measured out at 30" and heard tell of just a couple 40" fish caught during "prime time" this spring.

I haven't heard anything that I'd consider reliable about why the top end of the population curve has fallen off so drastically, though. It's definitely much more of a numbers fishery these days though.


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## StriperrHunterr

Got out last night with Browning Slayer to see if we could locate some fish and do some more scouting. Surface temps had come up to 83.5/84, and there was significantly more boat traffic. Still unable to locate solid schools of fish from the Sisters southward so we chased the surfacing spots and managed 2 at about a pound and a half, missed another 3 or 4 that were absolute tanks, and actually did catch a striper. It may have been 1.25lbs, and it didn't come on the spoon so it won't count to the total. 

All fish came on a Sebile, in herring or shad patterns, and the two big misses were on a double fluke rig fished weightlessly. 

Those fish, and there are smaller striper mixed in with them, with much larger striper, guessing based on seeing the fish fully break the water to be around 10lbs, all were very aggressively targeting loose pods of bait. To capitalize on this burn your smaller baits across the top of the water, you don't need any finesse. Just make noise with a small profile and hang on. I used the medium light rod I had loaded up with the 18lb Gliss from crappie season to get the Sebile out there while still having enough strength to put some brakes on if needed. 

It's high octane fishing when they're around. Rocky and sandy points and humps from 10-30FoW are the trick, with the bigger striper being out over the 30-50FoW areas. If you get in an area where you see them busting stay moving, but slowly. They're moving quick and even a cast 50 feet off of the bust can trigger a hit if you work it loudly enough. Don't chase the busts you see because they're moving so fast they'll show up where you just were by the time you get there. 

Good luck, be safe.


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## Dustin Pate

Here is a flyer from the DNR about the parasites. We have been advised to keep a look out on West Point. So far I have yet to see any. 

In regards to age class, we are also seeing the same at West Point. For some reason our 8-15 lb fish have not shown up this year in numbers like the past couple years. We've got tons of smaller fish and we had some larger fish caught in the spring.


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## StriperrHunterr

Dustin Pate said:


> Here is a flyer from the DNR about the parasites. We have been advised to keep a look out on West Point. So far I have yet to see any.
> 
> In regards to age class, we are also seeing the same at West Point. For some reason our 8-15 lb fish have not shown up this year in numbers like the past couple years. We've got tons of smaller fish and we had some larger fish caught in the spring.



Good info, Dustin. Hopefully all anglers participate and report infestations accordingly.


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## jgoins

We have been out every weekend since mid April and have caught a lot of fish, everyone of them under 8lbs, can't believe we can't find any teenagers. Even the guides are not catching many of the bigger fish


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## ProAngler

*Scary*

Hope this does not become a major issue,'I noticed it for the first time this year and the fish were loaded up. Not pleaseant to look at


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## StriperrHunterr

I am closing down this project for this year. After talking with my ortho last week I'm looking at another round of operations on my knees and I'll need to get the first one done ASAP if I have any hope of getting the second one done before the end of the year and being in shape enough to make our Christmas trip without being freshly operated on. 

Between now and the first surgery I will still be fishing but will not be tracking the numbers as strenuously as I normally would have been. 

For those that expressed interest and are on "the list" I will still be messaging to take you out, but jump on it quickly when you can. 

Thanks to everyone for the support, and here's to hoping that the 3rd season at this goes more smoothly.


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## PopPop

StripeRR HunteRR said:


> I am closing down this project for this year. After talking with my ortho last week I'm looking at another round of operations on my knees and I'll need to get the first one done ASAP if I have any hope of getting the second one done before the end of the year and being in shape enough to make our Christmas trip without being freshly operated on.
> 
> Between now and the first surgery I will still be fishing but will not be tracking the numbers as strenuously as I normally would have been.
> 
> For those that expressed interest and are on "the list" I will still be messaging to take you out, but jump on it quickly when you can.
> 
> Thanks to everyone for the support, and here's to hoping that the 3rd season at this goes more smoothly.



Best wishes for excellent results.


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## StriperrHunterr

PopPop said:


> Best wishes for excellent results.



Thanks, Pop. This one will be different than all the others, provided we can get insurance to buy off on it, so it has like a 70/30 of providing me real relief. How long that relief will last is another matter.


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## KKrueger

I hope it all goes smooth.  Best of luck and speedy recovery.


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## StriperrHunterr

KKrueger said:


> I hope it all goes smooth.  Best of luck and speedy recovery.



Thank you.


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## StriperrHunterr

Even though the official project is closed for the year, I'm still fishing until I have word from my doc as to what's going to happen. 

Got out with Coenen last night for some evening fun. 

Water temps were 86 and clarity was remarkable. We got out about 6PM and went to one of my favorite south end spots to scout for striper and found a half acre of fish just going nuts on top chasing bait. Since I stopped the project I was just fishing for fun, so I broke out the Sebile while Coenen threw anything else I had trying to mimic the success of the Sebile to no avail. I ended up with around 6 spots, including a new personal best at 4.25lbs, with at least that many coming unbuttoned due to non-committal hits. They'd swipe it more often than not and going dead stick on them when you saw it was the key to a real hookup. 

That action died as the sun broke under the remnants of the storm clouds when I noticed some other topwater activity well behind me, what I thought was on top of another main channel hump. I was wrong. This was a hump that topped out in the high 60 to mid 70 foot range, with close access to deeper water with a sharper wall and that's where things got interesting. 

While we are waiting for the topwater fish to come up again, knowing I'm in the right area, I'm watching the graph when 1, then 4, then innumerable fish show up on the graph. We start banging on the deck to get their attention while dropping spoons. On the second drop I miss a solid, and I mean solid hit. On the 4th I hook up and it's on. This one behaved much differently than other fish I'd caught doing this in looser schools. I could tell this one was being chased by his school mates because he was laterally all over the place, at depth still, but wasn't as focused on bird dogging me into the trees to break off. That's when Coenen says he's hooked up and the possibility of a double makes us giddy. Until we realize that as I pull up he's pulled down and vice versa. I can still feel the fish so we know it's at least crossed our lines. Coenen goes slack line and I'm able to bring the fish to board with his help on the net. Sure enough we're tangled. A quick unhook and appreciation, no pic or weight taken though I'd have to guess either 7 or 8 based on how it felt, and back in the water he goes, angrily swimming off leaving us to undo his mess. 

A few minutes later Coenen sounds off he's hooked up, I can see the rod pump a few times, and it comes unbuttoned. 

All in all it was a great night, with great company as always with jokes being told, and fish being caught. 

The screen shots of this school are something I've never seen in person in my life. I hope you all enjoy.


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## TroyBoy30

add ya a heading sensor. it will fix that donut


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## StriperrHunterr

TroyBoy30 said:


> add ya a heading sensor. it will fix that donut



I've thought about something like that, as well as remoting my GPS to over the transducer, but that's well down the line. Right now I use triangulation off reference points on the banks and islands and I can get pretty close. It's not been so much of an issue that it's hampered me in any real way, so far. But thanks for the advice. 

If things fall into place I will probably look at adding another finder up front.


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## TroyBoy30

I may have an extra one laying around. I'll see if I can find it


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## Nitram4891

Went out with Striperr Hunterr on tuesday night and had a great time.  Man knows how to put some bend in a rod, that's for sure.  We started by looking around for an active school of striper and after some looking were met a with a surprise guest.  We were fishing spoons down deep when Striperr Hunterr told me to stop my drop and start burning it as he saw one on the graph going for it.  Sure enough not two reel cranks and I was hooked up with something taking line from my 20lb set drag.  Got the fish to the boat and it was a huge spot but unfortunately, she shook the spoon 2 feet from the net.  I didn't get her in the boat but I'll never forget seeing that fish broadside in the water, it was a goodun for sure.  After that excitement we only found "window shoppers" until we got to a point and the top water spot action was on.  Nothing like seeing fish chase a fluke and swipe at it 3 or 4 times over a 60 foot retrieve all the way to the boat.  Gets your heart pumping for sure!  We caught a few this way including my first boated Lanier fish! When the action turned off we went back looking for stripes and ended up finding a decent school working some bait.  It didn't take long and I was hooked up on a fish, as I was bringing him to the boat our other buddy hooked up on one too. “Cookie cutter” fish as SH called them but that’s the biggest striper I’ve ever caught.  Thanks for the opportunity Striperr Hunterr,  cant beat fighting stripers  and watching a nice sunset over the lake on a school night!


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## StriperrHunterr

You're always welcome in the boat, it was a great time.


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## Teh Wicked

I have yet to experience a day like that on Lanier...My best so far is a 4 striper day out of Little Ridge, ironically it was the first time I took my Kayak out fishing for striper.


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## StriperrHunterr

Teh Wicked said:


> I have yet to experience a day like that on Lanier...My best so far is a 4 striper day out of Little Ridge, ironically it was the first time I took my Kayak out fishing for striper.



That's the way it is when striper fishing. Especially for us recreational anglers. Unless you can keep on them day to day they'll move around on you and you have to spend a lot of time re-locating them.


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