Schools of stripers

[medicineman]

With the general consensus being that the fish will be schooling up, and that jigging will be the preferred method to try to catch them, I wondered if anyone would be willing to post some screenshots of what exactly the schools look like on sonar ? I have marked fish that I am sure were stripers, but never in large schools. 

When jigging, is it best to jig above the school or is it better to drop the jig into or below the school and then retrieve it through the school ?

Thanks for the help !

[medicineman]

Never mind- I just found some old threads that were awesome !!!

[Shadslinger]

Just depends on what the fish want at that given time. All 3 techniques will produce fish. Just have to mix it up til you get on what's working that day.

[johnr]

Jigging through and above the school is preferred. Sometimes they want a vertical presentation and sometimes it's more of a horizontal presentation they want. I think as the water gets colder and the weaker bait starts to die, they will key in more on the vertical presentation. If you see birds working hard but aren't marking much, then likely you should be casting to shallower fish which are chasing bait.

Don't forget to look for fish holding tight to the bottom. They won't look like a school, rather it'll look like a thick bottom. These fish will eat!!

[johnr]

Oh, you don't have to mark a school to catch them jigging. One or two fish is enough if you can get the boat slowed and the jig down to them before you pass them up.

[medicineman]

Thanks guys ! I have to work the next 6 days, but then I will give it a try.

[mwardncsu]

Here a few pics of "schools" of winter-time stripers from today..... a lot of the time you'll see these smaller "pods" - other times it's game on!






This may have been bait - but looked sorta striper-ish