4-23 Report AM

[chrisw]

Time: 7:00am to Noon
Air temp: 52F to low 70s
Water temp: 62-63F
Weather: light NE wind, mostly clear skies, water was yellow with pollen
Location: Major creeks on Roanoke side between Halesford and the State Park

I got the boys up at 6am and we were all in the truck by 6:10. I had to stop to put some gas in the boat, and there was another boat ahead of us at the ramp, so we hit the no-wake bouys right around 7:00. Based on advice from the forum, I started out looking for bait. I looked in the backs of a few creeks and found some scattered schools in one, but wasn’t able to net any. Went to another creek around 8:30 and spent another hour. By 9:30, I had exactly 4 shad (alewives?) 3” long, one of which was dead from being gilled in the cast net.

At that point, I decided we were going to use what we had and make due with artificials. Went to a different creek and trolled about 2mph along the shoreline for a little over an hour. Saw very little on sonar, but did catch one small striper on a bucktail on a trailing line directly behind the boat.


Not long after that, it was time to head back to the ramp to get a son to his soccer game. On the way, he realized he didn’t have one of his soccer cleats. We were at the light across from the field when the game started, so he was late and un-shoed.

It was a successful trip since we caught one, but leas than satisfying given the effort versus the payback. Clearly, there’s still a lot I don’t know, starting with catching bait. Finding decent numbers of stripers to target is another area for improvement.

[bigun3]

  Awesome job Captain!!! You are on the right track. The first one is always the hardest.

[chrisw]

Training a new driver.


Not a lot to show for 2 and a half hours of cast netting.

[piper]

Darkness is your friend when chasing ales. If you were up after sunrise good luck. From my limited experience search deep in the back of creeks for gizzards, especially sun lit portions. Also it’s been a few years but Leesville is a Great Lake to learn on. Plenty of bait and stripes.

[chrisw]

Apr 23, 2022 18:17:11 GMT -5 bigun3 said:

  Awesome job Captain!!! You are on the right track. The first one is always the hardest.

Thanks for the encouragement. I need it. At least the boys seemed to have a good time. I tried to keep them busy as much as I could. I gave driving duties to one, and rigging duties to another. The others were hit or miss, and made for a crowded boat, but always plenty going on.

[chrisw]

Apr 23, 2022 18:56:52 GMT -5 piper said:

Darkness is your friend when chasing ales. If you were up after sunrise good luck. From my limited experience search deep in the back of creeks for gizzards, especially sun lit portions. Also it’s been a few years but Leesville is a Great Lake to learn on. Plenty of bait and stripes.

I wasn’t after alewives specifically, I was after anything I could legally use for bait. What I caught is what I caught. If I knew how to target large gizzards, I would have.

In one cove there were surface breaks pretty regularly, but very scattered. Not boils like stripers eating, but ripples like small fish surfacing. Would these have been gizzards? And how do you target them when they are so scattered?

[johnr]

Yes that’s probably gizzards. You just keep throwing the net. You can chase them with sonar, or your eyes. But either way, you keep throwing.

[mwardncsu]

Ales are easiest at the lights at night - so it makes for an early morning if your trailering in. Gizzards can be had most anytime of the day - just need to find them on sonar. Back portions of the creek and often much shallower than you’d think.

Backup plan to troll artificials was a smart move - some Alabama rigs behind planer boards can be a good option too. Just keep in mind SML has timber up to about 20’ so know your depths your gear is running


And yes, that first one is always the hardest!

[michiganstatespartan]

Great report! Keep up the good work.

[chrisw]

If I was to do it again (but of course by then, conditions will have changed), I would spend at least some of the time trolling in the backs of the creeks where I was marking bait. Sonar was showing that some, maybe about 1/4 or 1/5, of the bait balls had predators embedded. Most of the marks looked small, like maybe white perch, but size on sonar can be deceiving depending on depth and boat speed. By comparison, the lower creek regions I was trolling were a desert, for both bait and predators.

And thanks everyone for the encouragement. I’ll be back to try again, although my next two weekends are already booked up with other things. And before long the water will be warm enough that the kids will want to tube and ski instead of fish…

[31Airborne]

Nice work! Keep those young ones on the water. Memories in the making right there.

[choochoo]

If there was anything made for getting kids into fishing it’s the striper jigging that will be coming up here soon in the summer. No bait to fool with and you can really catch fish when you get the simple game figured out. The good thing about stripers is that they can be caught a variety of ways. I haven’t put a shad on a hook since I caught my first jigging fish almost 4 years ago, and I’ve been able to catch a good many fish, maybe a good good many. Nothing like having the rod in your hand when the fish hits!! Summer is a good time and if it gets hot, the kids can jump in. I have literally had to drag my daughter out of the water and stick a rod in her hand when fish appeared under her. We can help you get those kids jigging.

[bigun3]

  Chris, I really like your enthusiasm and eagerness to learn all you can about striper fishing, for you and your boys, Posting and joining on the site is a big plus... choo is right,  jigging is a blast, summer and winter.  I fish bait mostly, except in the winter. then its jigging time for me. Don't pass up late spring and summer fishing. That's the best time to teach the boys. The fish are schooled up and much easier to catch. Don't catch and release in the summer. Catch your limit and stop.  I don't tell a lot of folks, but my dock light is on 24/7 and mostly always has bait on it. The only thing I ask is if you see me on my dock around 5 in the morning or my boat is in the water, I'm getting ready to catch bait. Don't run in and start throwing without at least asking if I have already caught bait. Hence the reason I don't tell a lot of folks. I don't mind folks using my light as long as they are respectful, not all, but most are. Heck, you don't even have to throw your net. I usually keep my cage full when I'm there. I'll give you some bait. 

[chrisw]

Apr 24, 2022 14:14:45 GMT -5 bigun3 said:

  Chris, I really like your enthusiasm and eagerness to learn all you can about striper fishing, for you and your boys, Posting and joining on the site is a big plus... choo is right,  jigging is a blast, summer and winter.  I fish bait mostly, except in the winter. then its jigging time for me. Don't pass up late spring and summer fishing. That's the best time to teach the boys. The fish are schooled up and much easier to catch. Don't catch and release in the summer. Catch your limit and stop.  I don't tell a lot of folks, but my dock light is on 24/7 and mostly always has bait on it. The only thing I ask is if you see me on my dock around 5 in the morning or my boat is in the water, I'm getting ready to catch bait. Don't run in and start throwing without at least asking if I have already caught bait. Hence the reason I don't tell a lot of folks. I don't mind folks using my light as long as they are respectful, not all, but most are. Heck, you don't even have to throw your net. I usually keep my cage full when I'm there. I'll give you some bait. 

That’s very kind of you. I may send you a PM before my next trip.

[quackquackboom]

For me the hardest part of the learning curve wasnt finding bait it was having the right net(s) and knowing which net to use when. Do some reading in the cast net section. Learn to throw a 10 or 12 foot net.