Striper Fishing

Striper Fishing


Striper's also known as Striped Bass, or Rock-fish are great fish that offer some great and fun fishing experiences. They can be found in body's of water across the United State's, whether it be a River, Lake, or ocean. Yeah, that's right Striper's live in Saltwater and Freshwater. Striper's found in Saltwater usually are much larger then those found in most freshwater body's of water. However in the spring the Striper's swim into many rivers’ to spawn, during this period it is possible to catch Striper's in the freshwater river just as big as those found in the ocean. The male's usually come into the river's first, they are smaller then the females. They swim around eating and just wait for the female's to swim in the river. Then they usually spawn. Striper's found in lake's were stocked by humans, San-tee Reservoir in South Carolina was one of the first lake's to be stocked with Striper's. Well when they were stocked fisherman soon discovered the awesome fishery they created. And soon after Striper's were being stocked in lakes all across the country.





Bait's to use for Striper's:

Striper's can be caught many, many different ways! You can use Artificial Bait's or Natural Bait.....The choice is up to you, and you should base your choice of bait on the fishing condition's for the day and what type of area you are fishing at.

When fishing with natural bait, like live fish, or cut fish of some kind, there are many different rig's you can use. There's the slip bobber rig, which is an excellent technique for targeting suspended Striper's. Then there's the free-line technique which is just using a very small weight or no weight at all, then there's just bottom rigging for them. For bottom rigging I normally use a Carolina Rig with at least an 18-inch leader. Like I said, the rig you use and the bait you use is your choice and should be decided on the day of fishing and what the conditions are like.

If you're fishing with artificial bait's then you have to decide which lure to use. I know for sure that the best overall artificial bait for Striper's is a Buck-tail jig. Using a buck-tail Jig is pretty simple to be honest. Cast out and do steady upward swoops with your rod while reeling at a steady speed also. When you get a hit do a small hook set and don't force the fish in, they have soft mouths. I'm not too familiar with other types of artificial lure fishing for Striper's.





Places to fish for Striper's in a Lake:

Striper's will follow a lot of the same patterns as Blue Cats in a lake, in fact I have caught a countless number of Striper's while fishing for Blue Cats with cut bait and live bait. Striper's will normally follow whatever the main forage of bait fish is in the lake around. Often you will see a "Feeding Frenzy" in which the Striper's are "Busting" the bait fish on top of the water. This is a very exciting thing to see and can make some great fishing. If you're fishing the feeding frenzy make sure to cast along the outside edges of the feeding fish and don't cast right in the middle of them as this normally will scare the fish and you wont get any bites. Working the outside edges of it will produce a lot more bites and fish. How deep to fish for the Striper's depends on the time of year and conditions for the day. Most Striper anglers like to fish at Dams, which is often some of the best Striper fishing. In the spring Striper's run up to dam's as they would if they were spawning in a natural river. You can cast into the boiling water's and swirling current of the dam and the Striper's will usually be there. A few other type's of structure for Striper's are thing's like Main Lake channel edges, Creek Channel edges, bridges, anywhere with concentrated current and a lot of bait. A fish finder can greatly work in your advantage when fishing for Striper's. Normally you will see a lot of small bait fish with bigger fish right under them and a lot of times those are Striper's.





Places to fish for Striper's in a river:

Fishing for Striper's in a river is a lot simpler then fishing for them in a lake. The very best of all is the Dam's on a river, the Striper's swim all the way up to the dam usually to spawn. And they will get in a massive school and stay in a constant feeding frenzy striking at almost everything. Also you can catch Striper's in any hole's up and down the river, sometimes they just can be caught anywhere on the river. Just like in the lake, try to find the bait. The main problem with Striper's in a river is that you don't have much space to let a Striper run, so normally they will try to get you hung up. You have to try to stop them from swimming into tree's and other underwater obstructions.

Rod's and Reel's to use for Striper's:

What type of rod's and reels you use depends on how you're fishing for the Striper's. If fishing with lures then use something that cast great and holds a good amount of at least 17lb test line. I recommend a Abu Garcia Ambassadors 6500 with a Medium action rod for Lure fishing or fishing with live bait. If bottom fishing or Slip Bobber fishing you probably want to go with something a little bigger like a Abu Ambassador 7000 on a MH action rod, for example. And you should put at least 20lb test line on it. It's not very complicated, just decide how big of gear you use on the fishing condition's and how big of Striper's are hitting.

Good info Mike...