7-12-15 new guys need some help

[moodyholler]

Hey guys I've been trying my hand at striper fishing for about the last 2 months ... Trolling with umbrella rigs behind a gas motor... No luck.. Wondering if trolling motor is absolutely necessary... Used planers with rigs with no luck... All around Vista point and r12... I am wondering if I would have better luck with live bait and up past Bridgewater...lucking to catch any fish. Born and raised here both me and my buddy just recently got a boat and looking to get into fishing more... Avid saltwater fisherman..and hunters

[moodyholler]

Out at Vista now.. Should I get live bait and be drifting down lines now??

[R22]

There have been recent reports that indicate action near the mouth of Bull Run, around C2 (Craddock Creek)and from Bernard's up to Betty's and Becky's. If you have sonar, find a few fish, drop lightlines/downlines. Most fish have been in 30-40 feet of water over the weekend. Many of my catches over the weekend were at times when I never saw the fish on sonar or side/down scan.

[Gator]

U-rigs will work. Just got to go where the fish are. R22 gave you some great advice. Stick with it and it will come to you. It's fishing.

[johnr]

According to my experience, trolling faster results in more bites on artificials. When I am trolling spoons, 3 ways, bucktails, swimbaits, and u-rigs, I tend to troll around 4mph. I also troll in a slalom pattern so my baits are swimming rapidly, then fluttering as if they are injured, then rapidly swimming again.

When trolling, I am looking for a reaction bite. Fish react to things out of the ordinary..

[smlmike]

I troll my U-rigs with a gas motor. Always done alright for me. Try running a S pattern when steering. I troll at 2.5-2.8 mph mostly. TM are tuff to speed up quick when trees are lurking or low water.

[seajay]

I prefer live bait but you should be able to catch on u- rigs right now. Are you using line counter reels for your u-rigs? How much line are you putting out? When I run my rigs I just put the big motor in gear and drop the rig over the side while keeping pressure with my thumb on the spool and will put out 110-120 ft of line and put in the rod holders . If you don't have line counters pull out the line and mark it at 110 -120 ft with a rubber band, thread , or permanent marker.
Watch your sonar good and when you see trees that come up to within 20-25ft speed it up a little bit to pull the rig up over the trees and then back it back off to idle . If you don't have a u-rig retriever I suggest getting one. Money well spent. 

[stripercrazy]

All above replies are great advice. I would use at least 65lb braid , them rigs are not cheap. Try different baits on ur rigs.

[smlmike]

I also use 65# braid, but length of line out will determine your depth based on what your U-rig weighs and your speed also. There are formulas to determine your trolling depth online. Speed, line out, type of line, & rig weight all factor in.

[moodyholler]

Thanks for all the advice...had some bites today but nothing caught... Got a 55 lb thrust trolling motor that runs great from junkyard... But now I need to find a transom mount..any ideas??can't spend alot

[smlmike]

My formula: 65# braid + 65 LFT. of line out + 2.65 mph ( my boat in gear) = trolling depth of about 18'
That keeps me out of the trees most of the time! Wake and wind will be cause for adjustments in speed to raise or lower the rig.

[stripercrazy]

Run across a point an get the depth. Then put ur rig out an let out sum line and run across the same spot. Keep hitting same spot an let out sum line until u see it hitting bottom of the point. Remember where ur line counter was at that depth an speed u was running. You adjust up or down once u get a known setup. Also sum of the umbrella rigs you buy have the formulas printed on the package.

[Gator]

To be more specific, I use a 4 arm, 3oz rig with 3/4oz jig heads with 5" swimbaits. I have found that at 2.7-3.0 mph and 100'of 80lb braid out will put me at 25fow. I figure about 2.5' per 10' of line out. That being said, I was trolling Sunday at 70' of line out, which put me at approx. 17.5 fow and the fish I marked were coming from below 25 fow to hit them. When you are new to striper fishing you can cover a bunch of water with a u-rig. Use that time to learn the lake i.e all of the different features of the bottom, fish movement, trends on what are working. Put out two rigs with different colors (all green with white trailer or all white with a green trailer, etc) and switch to the one that is getting bit. Like Seajay mentioned...get a u-rig retriever if you don't already have one... it will save you a bunch of money. As far as location, this time of year I would not be fishing Vista. Head up lake toward Gills, Bull Run on the BW or go up to the "s" curves on the Roanoke arm. Take it for what it's worth. Plenty of damn good fishermen on this forum, I'm not one of them though.


If you are getting hits and not hooking up I would loosen my drag. I have found that if my drag is too "tight" I will miss a bunch of fish. After I get my line out I set the drag to just hold the rig without pulling the line out.

I wouldn't use a trolling motor to fish u-rigs. Use your big motor. Gator

[stripercrazy]

Good info gator, I also have a lot luck wit a u-rig that has all buck tails an a different color bucktail I'm the middle.

[Gator]

Jul 14, 2015 10:23:13 GMT -5 stripercrazy said:

Good info gator, I also have a lot luck wit a u-rig that has all buck tails an a different color bucktail I'm the middle.

I like the Capt. Mack's with the bucktails but I have a hard time finding them. I have even tried Sutton spoons for the trailer and had a hard time getting them tuned in but they worked too. Have also tried them on lead core.