Cold water striper trip 6/26-6/27
Jun 28, 2020 14:26:19 GMT -5
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Post by BentRod on Jun 28, 2020 14:26:19 GMT -5
Mward and I made a trip to some colder water for stripers. We pulled out Thursday evening about 5pm with the Early Riser in tow. Stopped at a nearby lake for some shad, but managed to hit a log and break a bolt on my trolling motor after one throw of the net. So we pulled back out and fixed the trolling motor and then decided we were better off to just head on to our destination before it got too late.
Day 1:
We hit the water about 7am and found shad right away (at the ramp). We netted about 60 6-7” Shad and started fishing right in the same spot. Not too long into the pull, we found fish and circled that one spot until noon. We caught 10 or 11 fish I think, 4 over 20lbs with several mid to high teens too. We pulled out at noon to get lunch, gas, and more bait. We then headed to another ramp to fish a different location. Had some trailer difficulties on that ramp and ended up back at the place we started the day about 3pm. The water had jumped up 10degrees since the morning. We scouted for a couple hours, but we didn’t feel good about fishing that spot any longer, so pulled back out and went to another location. Got to the other spot about 6:30pm (Mward helped helped a guy change a trailer flat with his impact wrench he brought at the ramp so that held us up but helped in the Karma department). We found some 60deg water to fish immediately. Within 20-30min, all hell broke loose with monster stripers blowing up and crushing every bait we had out. We missed two (a common theme for us over the two days with big bait - we missed a lot for some reason even though the fish would absolutely bury a huge bait) and I grabbed a third rod that got hammered and it ended up running me clear across the river channel on the bottom. After a good fight, Mward netted a 38lber for me. We then proceeded to miss another 4 runs before pulling the boat back out a touch before dark.
Day 2:
Day 2 started about like Day 1. Easy bait and we were fishing. Only problem was the trash and grass in the water was insane. Made it impossible to fish. Luckily about 9am or so, the wind picked up enough that we could semi manage to fish the area we did the previous day. The fish were not as active, but we did pick up two fish in the mid teens. Pulled out at 11am and ate lunch at a local marina. After that we were off for more big bait and the same cold water we hit the previous evening. We tried a different ramp and watched a guy launch his pontoon out into the lake with no one on it and then almost put his f250 into the lake too on a slick ramp. I said I’ll pass and we headed back up to the ramp we used the night before. Ran down river a bit, marked one fish and turned on it and put big bait out. We didn’t get the second bait out before the first one was buried and peeling for the middle. Mward couldn’t slow it down and with 50+lbers in the lake, I turned the boat and we chased it down. Ended up only being a 28lber but it put up a great fight. We circled that spot for another hour or two and missed another 2-3 fish there. After that, we had a couple of hours of pulling with no action. Moved up to our spot from the night before at about 6pm and all hell broke loose again. We had out 7 rods - Mward missed two, I missed two, I hooked up and my fish started screaming across the river. Mward then slammed the hook on a monster that hit the float line we had reeled up right behind the boat and unfortunately the 30lb leader/line snapped. I worked mine back and was battling to keep it out of a fallen tree and look over and mward is hooked up with the one remaining rod out and it’s screaming back out under my line. We eventually got both fish back in and were surprised they were only low to mid 20s class. They whipped us both. After that, we reset and managed to catch two more in the low to mid 20s class (as well as miss about 5 more) before it was time to pack up and head home. All in all it was a great trip with good company, lots of nice fish boated, and lots of learning on some new water.
When the dining room is closed and the boat/trailer won’t fit through the drive-thru! Ha!
Day 1:
We hit the water about 7am and found shad right away (at the ramp). We netted about 60 6-7” Shad and started fishing right in the same spot. Not too long into the pull, we found fish and circled that one spot until noon. We caught 10 or 11 fish I think, 4 over 20lbs with several mid to high teens too. We pulled out at noon to get lunch, gas, and more bait. We then headed to another ramp to fish a different location. Had some trailer difficulties on that ramp and ended up back at the place we started the day about 3pm. The water had jumped up 10degrees since the morning. We scouted for a couple hours, but we didn’t feel good about fishing that spot any longer, so pulled back out and went to another location. Got to the other spot about 6:30pm (Mward helped helped a guy change a trailer flat with his impact wrench he brought at the ramp so that held us up but helped in the Karma department). We found some 60deg water to fish immediately. Within 20-30min, all hell broke loose with monster stripers blowing up and crushing every bait we had out. We missed two (a common theme for us over the two days with big bait - we missed a lot for some reason even though the fish would absolutely bury a huge bait) and I grabbed a third rod that got hammered and it ended up running me clear across the river channel on the bottom. After a good fight, Mward netted a 38lber for me. We then proceeded to miss another 4 runs before pulling the boat back out a touch before dark.
Day 2:
Day 2 started about like Day 1. Easy bait and we were fishing. Only problem was the trash and grass in the water was insane. Made it impossible to fish. Luckily about 9am or so, the wind picked up enough that we could semi manage to fish the area we did the previous day. The fish were not as active, but we did pick up two fish in the mid teens. Pulled out at 11am and ate lunch at a local marina. After that we were off for more big bait and the same cold water we hit the previous evening. We tried a different ramp and watched a guy launch his pontoon out into the lake with no one on it and then almost put his f250 into the lake too on a slick ramp. I said I’ll pass and we headed back up to the ramp we used the night before. Ran down river a bit, marked one fish and turned on it and put big bait out. We didn’t get the second bait out before the first one was buried and peeling for the middle. Mward couldn’t slow it down and with 50+lbers in the lake, I turned the boat and we chased it down. Ended up only being a 28lber but it put up a great fight. We circled that spot for another hour or two and missed another 2-3 fish there. After that, we had a couple of hours of pulling with no action. Moved up to our spot from the night before at about 6pm and all hell broke loose again. We had out 7 rods - Mward missed two, I missed two, I hooked up and my fish started screaming across the river. Mward then slammed the hook on a monster that hit the float line we had reeled up right behind the boat and unfortunately the 30lb leader/line snapped. I worked mine back and was battling to keep it out of a fallen tree and look over and mward is hooked up with the one remaining rod out and it’s screaming back out under my line. We eventually got both fish back in and were surprised they were only low to mid 20s class. They whipped us both. After that, we reset and managed to catch two more in the low to mid 20s class (as well as miss about 5 more) before it was time to pack up and head home. All in all it was a great trip with good company, lots of nice fish boated, and lots of learning on some new water.
When the dining room is closed and the boat/trailer won’t fit through the drive-thru! Ha!
