Breaking Fish

[lund2]

I've been reading the recent reports, as well as reports from years past around this time, and i'm seeing a lot about schools coming up and breaking the surface. i've only had the chance to see this 2 or 3 times on sml. My question is, when you see that happen what is the most appropriate/effective(gas motor vs TM, how close can you get?) way to approach the school in order to cast to them. i dont want to be that guy that comes barreling into a school of breaking fish and sends them scattering while 5 other boats say some choice words about me. Thanks guys. I'm hoping the fish are hungry this weekend. 

[striperjohn]

There are a couple schools if thought on that.
1. Guys say don't spook them go in on the Tm. Now if you can thats good but most schools stay up for a very short time. Many folks just flat end up not getting there.
2. Then there's what I call "run and gun", I do that because thats how I was taught in Tennessee on Watts Bar and Santee Cooper on South Carolina. You will catch more fish this way. IMHO. But--- when you go in watch the direction the fish are moving and shutdown in front of them, but within casting distance. With luck they will come right to the boat. Of course be aware and don't swamp anyone, and always put safety first. If I am late to the school I go in and shut down further away and idle into casting range. If you drop your Tm and the school comes up 60-70 yards away you will be late getting there.
Most good striper topwater lures ( creek chub, atom, etc)are very heavy and sink, that allows you to make long casts to get to the fish. Big tip here, do not jerk the bait in or blast it across the water. Pop it just enough to keep it on top. It resembles a wounded shad and big stripers love cripples.
Now in crappy (striper weather) days they will come up and stay up longer. Last year me and a buddy caught 21 without moving the boat a foot. A couple of those were near 20lbs.
Once you get in them this way you will be ruined--just a warning. Lol!

[striperjohn]

One more tip, double up on your split rings on all your hooks. That gives the hook an almost 360 degree turning ability and makes it harder for a big fish to throw it at the boat. I make my own lures so I put a big barrel swivel coming off the lure to the hook. Has the same effect as double rings.

[Gator]

I use my big motor too. The few times that I have experienced them breaking I have not had much luck getting to them with my TM before they went down. John's advice is solid. IMHO

[lund2]

Hey John, Thanks a ton for helpful info. the idea of doubling the rings on my hooks sound very helpful and makes total sense. In regards to topwater lures, i know you said you make your own, but would you be able to shed some light on what seems to be attacting the most attention recently and in the past around this time? I've really started seriously fishing sml since about december this year so im really trying to get a feel for every different technique throughout the different seasons.

and i'm sure if i hook into a 15lb+ fish on my baitcasting rod, i will absolutely hooked....pun intended.

[johnr]

There are many options for topwaters. Most will get eaten in a frenzy, because well, the fish are in a frenzy to eat.

Find something that you can cast a mile that can either be walked like a dog on the surface or slow rolled with an exaggerated wiggle at slow retrieve speeds. In other words, something that can draw attention to itself.

I love spoons for frenzies! 1-2 ounce spoons ripped and dropped through and under a frenzy will catch many fish. Put a single hook on it and you are back in the game quick. And a two ounce spoon will fly foreverrrrrrrrrrrrr off a baitcaster.

[ghostcomanche©®]

May 6, 2016 11:47:42 GMT -5 lund2 said:

Hey John, Thanks a ton for helpful info. the idea of doubling the rings on my hooks sound very helpful and makes total sense. In regards to topwater lures, i know you said you make your own, but would you be able to shed some light on what seems to be attacting the most attention recently and in the past around this time? I've really started seriously fishing sml since about december this year so im really trying to get a feel for every different technique throughout the different seasons.

and i'm sure if i hook into a 15lb+ fish on my baitcasting rod, i will absolutely hooked....pun intended.

Another top producing topwater lure is the Cotton Cordell "Redfin".  It will cast a good long ways, has a great wobble, and Stripers love them.

When fishing it, just retrieve it fast enough to make it wobble on the surface, leaving a "V" wake, and making it click. The "V" wake, and clicking noise will help the Striper and even Bass hone in on the lure.
 
When a fish hits it, and you see a splash, don't set the hook immediately as this can actually pull the lure away from the fish.  Sometimes the fish will hit a lure, but not actually try to eat it.  In this case,just leave your lure in the water,and start retriving again. More times than not, the fish will come back and try it again. Wait until you feel the fish pull on your rod, then set the hook. This method is something you need to train yourself to do , and it will result in more good hook-ups. This is especially important when fishing at night and you can't see the strike real well.

The color I prefer is the solid chrome, or the chrome with a blue or black back.

If you want to fish the deeper part of the school, a deep running Red fin will get the job done also.  For the deep runners, a good color for this is the white body with a red head.

[striperjohn]

The Creek chub striper strike in white and their metallic color have been working for us on sml. I have seen times when they would hit just about anything, but most times I have found them to be very fickle and topwater works almost all times.

[striperseeker]

I have another take on how to approach a school of stripers blowing up on the surface. My approach comes from the old days on Smith Mountain Lake when feeding frenzies on top of the water was much more common. I remember that when someone ran their outboard into the blowup, the stripers would simply go deep. But if you drive your boat up to about 50-75 feet of the school, stop your outboard and finish the distance on your trolling motor, you could get right up next to the blowup without disturbing the fish.

I totally agree with Cotton Cordell Redfins. The really hard part was swimming them slowly in all the excitement. The stripers have pushed the school of shad up against the surface where the shad cannot escape. So the stripers are looking up to see where the shad are. A redfin run real slow just making a V looks just like a shad and it will usually get hit. Sometimes a striper will follow the redfin right up to the boat before hitting it. That is always a thrill.

[ghostcomanche©®]

I love the "short strikes", especially at night when your sleepy. They will definitly wake you up, and get the heart pumping.!

[striperjohn]

Hey lund2 I thought you were asking specifically about fish breaking during the day is that correct? Because night fishing is an entirely different issue, tactics, lures etc. My responses were based purely on daytime breakers.

[Red Bear]

ive only witnessed the striper breaking once in my years of going to SML. it was in september i think, maybe october, in bull run. me and my uncle were trolling single green sassy shad on jig heads on lead core line. when it happened he hit the throttle as we were using the big motor and didnt slow down until about 10 feet from where they broke. we started casting plugs to that spot, nothing hit them but seconds later our trolling rods loaded up and we had two fish on. one was my biggest to date from SML, and another smaller one under 20". we got those in and managed another fish under 20 inches. by then my uncles friend saw us and came motoring over, managed to get his umbrella rig tangled up in our lead core lines as well as snagged on a tree branch. i got the tangle undone and tossed him his rig back, after that we called it a day. it sure was a rush and a cool site to see though, not another boat was around either, we had the place to ourselves pretty much before his friend showed up who was further up blackwater, after he was the one who told us to go to bull run...

[flyrod]

For me BiM v. TM depends a lot on where I am. Last few days I have been able to find them breaking way back in a cove then the TM works just fine. If they are in more open water the big motor is the way to go. Found a couple of coves where schools come in do their thing and leave only to have another school cycle in with in 20 minutes or so. Shot some video this morning but have no clue how to post it. When all hell is breaking loose I have learned some things too. Don't use a net but use a boga or gripper instead. The net takes too much time to get back in the fray. Also Murphy's Law is at work when all hell is breaking loose.... If you equipment is going to foul up it will happen when the action is at it's peak.

[striperjohn]

Yep we lip em just like a bass unless it's in the 16lb range and bigger they get the net. One thing that can help you is filing down the barbs on your hooks. The barbs are the biggest problem when netting.