Any tips for this weekend?

[chrisw]

I'm hoping to get a chance to hit the lake Saturday morning for a few hours for striped bass.

Expected conditions: post cold front, with water temps still above 50F, but lower than a couple days ago. Possible floating debris from heavy rain a couple of days ago. Water clarity will depend on proximity to inflows affected by the rain. Fish will likely be in relatively shallow water and widely scattered around almost the entire lake. 

Plan: Put in at mid-lake on the Roanoke side and troll artificial lures close to the banks, using different lures to reach different depths. Areas will be middle to backs of creeks like Beckys, Bettys, Crystal Cove, Halesford, etc. I may also intentionally troll past a couple of main lake points. Trolling will be with the outboard, as I don't have an electric trolling motor on my boat. I may bump in and out of gear to reduce speed, or just troll at 2mph. Lures may include trolling spoon, jighead with fluke, deep diving plug, and rattletrap.

If a large conglomeration of bait is found on sonar or by surface disturbance, I will stop and throw the cast net a few times, but I won't waste a lot of time looking for it. If a group of stripers is found, I may also stop and cast topwaters and flukes or jig spoons for them.

Does anyone have any other suggestions for me to try?

[hambone]

Well I’d say you got a pretty good game plan

[chrisw]

Thanks! Now I have to secure a kitchen pass so I can actually make it out. If I do make it out, I'll be sure to update afterwards.

[johnr]

Find bait, catch bait, cut bait, anchor down. 10’ of water, baits near the bank.

No trolling motor makes it tough and that’s what I’d do without a trolling motor.

[chrisw]

I failed to secure a kitchen pass this weekend, so I wasn't able to get out. I did see some people with success on facebook though, including one who was fishing flies from a kayak. This despite the high winds, dropping temperatures, and snow flurries.

[chrisw]

Alright, this weekend is looking better, finally. I'm looking at a half-day trip on Saturday morning starting around sunup on the Roanoke River side. I'm hopeful that the boys and I will catch our first self-caught striper this weekend, and maybe more than one. Any advice would be appreciated.

A lot has happened since my first post in this thread: spring has sprung and the fish are way more active (or at least there are more fisherman posting reports based on the traffic here and FB). Last weekend it seemed the stripers were biting everywhere, in every cove and on most points in the whole lake.

This weekend, being later in the season, I'm wondering if that will still be true, or do I need to make the 12-14 mile run to the Witcher Creek area or way up the Roanoke above Hardy, knowing that will use up precious fishing time for the dawn bite, or are there still enough scattered fish everywhere that I can fish the usual pre-spawn locations? From the How To section: (link) "By mid-April some pre-spawn stripers are converging on the major spawning site in Cedar Keys. At dawn/dusk and especially at night, hit shoreline points from Marker R2 to Cedar Keys with bucktail jigs, Rat-L-Traps or other mid/deep running crankbait lures. Spawning usually peaks on the full moon in May."

Similarly, is it worth it to take the time to catch live bait before starting to fish, knowing that pushes my fishing start time to later in the morning, or to start throwing and trolling lures right off? My history of cast-netting for shad is pretty poor so far, and I don't have a lot of confidence that I can quickly catch some.

[johnr]

There’s still fish everywhere. The water is still relatively cool for this time of the year. The stripers are likely starting to pull out of the creek backs and you’ll find more on the main channel now compared to a couple weeks ago.

100% I’d be after live bait. BIG live bait. Even if it means you don’t wet a line until 9am. The fish eat all day in the right places….

If no live bait, I’d be working up tight to the banks and casting bucktails, flukes, swamp monkeys and A-rigs.

Even though the fish are “everywhere” right now, location is key. They won’t be randomly hanging out along some stretch of shoreline, they’re still using structures and transition zones and swimming with the baitfishes, so they’re concentrated on the good stuff. It’s just that they’re on the good stuff from one end of the lake to the other.

[johnr]

By the way, If you start catching bait around 4am, you’ll have enough to start fishing at dawn. Ask me how I know.

[chrisw]

Apr 21, 2022 11:23:20 GMT -5 johnr said:

Even though the fish are “everywhere” right now, location is key. They won’t be randomly hanging out along some stretch of shoreline, they’re still using structures and transition zones and swimming with the baitfishes, so they’re concentrated on the good stuff.

Thanks John. So I think you mean I should focus more on main lake and secondary points, and less on the backs of creeks and tertiary points, correct? Steep points or gradual ones? And I assume most fish will be quite shallow, and may not make much of a mark on sonar as a result.

And yes, the thought has crossed my mind to get up at 3:30am and go catch some bait on other people's dock lights. But since my kids are homeschooled and usually get up after 9, I'll be doing well if I can get them up by 6.

[johnr]

I’d be looking in the front half of creeks first. Then the backs. Then main channel. The fish will be shallow and very close to the shoreline.

Points and shorelines with adjacent deep water will be best.

[chrisw]

Success! More details in a later post in the fishing reports section.