Doug Schopman and I decided to striper fish before Sundays Super
Bowl. We loaded up and headed south out of Catonsville at 12:00pm. We were
worried about ice on the water on the way to the ramp, but when we arrived the
water was moving, with no ice in sight.
We located some fish in approximately 45 to 55 feet of water and started drifting over them while vertical jigging soft plastic baits, again and again, with no hits. The water was somewhat dingy so we decided to fish a 6” thick body, twister tail, in white, and to change the technique.
We were fishing ebb current with good moving water and more fish started showing up on the sonar unit. On the first drift with the larger bait on, I started moving the bait very slowly, with the rod tip moving horizontally instead of vertically. Fish on…and again…and again…until we left the water. In fact, we left active fish since we didn't want to miss the kick off. We headed home by 4:15pm. We fished for approximately 3 hours and landed 14 nice stripers, ranging from 18 to 26 inches. All the fish were fat and provided an excellent fight on light spinning tackle.
Most Productive Lure: Gulp, 6”, Fat Body, Twister Tail in White fished on a 1-ounce white and orange jighead.
Most Productive Technique: This technique is very productive during the colder months when the stripers don’t want to chase bait. Horizontal Jigging – Cast the lure out and make sure it’s on the bottom. Place the rod tip just above the water, and with a tight line, start moving the rod horizontally very slowly while keeping the lure on the bottom. There will be no problem for you to feel when the fish takes the bait.
Fishing Tip: Color does make a difference. Doug was fishing the same lure in chartreuse and I was out catching him on a 4 to 1 basis. Once he changed from chartreuse to white, we were busting them together.
We located some fish in approximately 45 to 55 feet of water and started drifting over them while vertical jigging soft plastic baits, again and again, with no hits. The water was somewhat dingy so we decided to fish a 6” thick body, twister tail, in white, and to change the technique.
We were fishing ebb current with good moving water and more fish started showing up on the sonar unit. On the first drift with the larger bait on, I started moving the bait very slowly, with the rod tip moving horizontally instead of vertically. Fish on…and again…and again…until we left the water. In fact, we left active fish since we didn't want to miss the kick off. We headed home by 4:15pm. We fished for approximately 3 hours and landed 14 nice stripers, ranging from 18 to 26 inches. All the fish were fat and provided an excellent fight on light spinning tackle.
Most Productive Lure: Gulp, 6”, Fat Body, Twister Tail in White fished on a 1-ounce white and orange jighead.
Most Productive Technique: This technique is very productive during the colder months when the stripers don’t want to chase bait. Horizontal Jigging – Cast the lure out and make sure it’s on the bottom. Place the rod tip just above the water, and with a tight line, start moving the rod horizontally very slowly while keeping the lure on the bottom. There will be no problem for you to feel when the fish takes the bait.
Fishing Tip: Color does make a difference. Doug was fishing the same lure in chartreuse and I was out catching him on a 4 to 1 basis. Once he changed from chartreuse to white, we were busting them together.
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