Night jigging for summer stripers

[rdnkjp]

Has anyone ever tried jigging at night for stripers? If so did you have any luck? I usually fish from Halesford bridge to the S curves. Any advice on where to look for schools of stripers? Not looking for exact locations just a general idea. Mouth of Becky and Betty creeks or back in a ways? Main channel? I got a coworker hooked on stripers during the shad spawn and that is really the only time I striper fish. But would love to try other times of the year.

[Gator]

I have not tried jigging at night. Looking at the sonar at night kills my night vision. I do like to throw a bucktail at night though. Hit points and rip-rap. I've done well in late spring but when the water warms up and the lake gets busier I tend to stay away at night.

[rdnkjp]

Yeah I know it gets busy in the summer but I work 2nd shift and could go after work during the week. Thought it may not be as bad at nights as during the day. Thanks for the info.

[mwardncsu]

You could definitely find schools that you could jig on late day / just before dark and usually the traffic drops down a lot around 5-pm anyway.

It's a good question - don't really know what those fish do at night - do they stay schooled up, do they scatter & roam the points, etc..... Eventually they show up often in the creeks early morning so where the heck they spend the dark hours who knows....

[rdnkjp]

Thanks Mward. Maybe I can figure out a little bit of the puzzle. But don't hold your breath. As soon as I get my boat back I am gonna try. Will post results. Was just hoping someone could give some advice on where to start looking.

[drag4striper]

I realize this not jigging. But 20 odd years ago when I was younger man and could stay up. On darker nights I would use a Glow trap that could be charged by a small flashlight to glow pale green. This would last 4 to 6 casts before another charge would be needed. On bright nights I would use the non-glow rattle trap version. Changing to larger hooks is a must for striper. Bring more than one because rip rap etc. does a number on them after a while. I would find fairly deep water with steep drop off contours close to a creek or main channel points. Then would work the lure in a sweeping / stop and sink motion getting deeper on the way back to the boat. Sometimes the fish wanted it retrieved in a faster no drop motion. I have done well in the past using this method. Spoons and large spinner baits work as well. But that glow trap really worked the best. You will also get some bonus larger small mouth bass.

[primetime]

I have fished late night in the middle section of the Roanoke arm and I have not seen any schools of striper. The boat traffic is close to none at night during the weekday.

[Gator]

Jul 23, 2015 9:23:11 GMT -5 mwardncsu said:

 so where the heck they spend the dark hours who knows....

They turn into a stripper at 9 p.m. and hang out at the S turns. At 5 a.m. they turn back into stripers. In fact, if you time it right they will smell like cheap perfume and have glitter on them and one dollar bills in their fins when you catch them.   That's all I know about them. HEY BIGUN, Striperjohn, who has change?

[rdnkjp]

Sounds like the s curves is the place to be after dark. If I can't catch any stripers after dark I know where to head to. Thanks for that valuable info Gator.