# cumberland striper



## 23rd century

Oct. 24,25, and 26 fished live shad,shiners and crank baits not a bite between beaver and the dam. Did not even see one netted


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## BMustang

That's a major bummer!!!


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## Carpman

I was there the week before. We used slide divers at 70 feet deep with doll flies. Trolled at 2.8 mph. All fish were in the main creek channel. We caught multiple striper and smallmouth every day. It is very hard to fish live bait when the water is so warm. Past few years going down there we stopped messing with it unless the water is in the 50's.

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## 23rd century

Are they the same as dipsy divers?. We walleye fish at Erie and a lot of the guys use them. We use true trips and stinger spoons straight behind the boat


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## Carpman

Same as dipsy's but they slide up and down the line. I have the lure 100' behind the diver because the striper are so finicky.


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## BMustang

Perhaps this is understated, but I speak from experience. 
It is my opinion that most striper fishermen make it much more difficult than it has to be. Live bait, Down riggers, Planer Boards, Dipsys, Balloons are all overkill in my opinion.
I have two Garcia-Ambassadour reels loaded with lead core line and baited with 1 oz hair jigs and clear yellow twister tail trailers.
I run them from 45' to 60' down and troll as though I'm trolling for walleye while watching my $100 Hummingbird unit for schools of fish, and modify my approach accordingly.
If I need to fish deeper, I use heavier hair jigs that I purchased at Great Slave Lake while fishing for lake trout, OR add one of those triangular lead in-line sinkers. Very fundamental.
I'm willing to bet that I catch as many stripers as the more "complex" fishermen when I find them. Not always huge, but plenty in the 15 pound range.

Now maybe in the dead of summer when they are down 100 feet, down-riggers might be necessary, but in the spring and the fall, my setup, fishing flat-line with lead core line produces fish.

I'm a firm believer that the striper guides make it appear more difficult than it really is, because if it was easy everyone would do it.
Find stripers in schools, present them with a target, and hang on.

The poster above calls stripers "finicky." They are actually anything but. Fish where they are and you will catch them. A hair jig is your most basic of fishing lures.


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## Carpman

They are finicky in the sense you can't put the lure next to the diver. They shy away from it. You would not know this because you use leadcore as your diving method. We are actually fishing the same way just different gear. 

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## 23rd century

I agree about simple because most of the fish we have ever caught are with shiners and a 1ounce sinker either straight behind the boat or planer board just so we can fish more lines. When we can't find them we will try everything😊


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## johnwells

The Striper are back in the creeks now. Water temp is around 53 degrees. caught a few the last couple of days trolling a-rigs in about 25 fow. 

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## 23rd century

way back? not sure what an a rig is


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## johnwells

yes way back. Alabama rig. 

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## johnwells

I went back to Cumberland last weekend and struck out bigtime. Trolled live bait most of the time and pulled alabama rigs some. I marked plenty of fish in the same areas that I caught them a few weeks ago but could not get them going, The water temperature was 10-11 degrees cooler at 41-42 degrees now.

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## 23rd century

johnwells said:


> I went back to Cumberland last weekend and struck out bigtime. Trolled live bait most of the time and pulled alabama rigs some. I marked plenty of fish in the same areas that I caught them a few weeks ago but could not get them going, The water temperature was 10-11 degrees cooler at 41-42 degrees now.
> 
> Sent from my hatch using Tapatalk


We were there last Jan 15th and went back till there was no water left in white oak creek and trolled out and caught 3 smaller keepers on shiners from the store in bronston. 15 degrees out when we started


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## johnwells

23rd century said:


> We were there last Jan 15th and went back till there was no water left in white oak creek and trolled out and caught 3 smaller keepers on shiners from the store in bronston. 15 degrees out when we started


That's where I caught fish a few weeks ago. Could not get them going last Saturday. I also fished Faubush for awhile. Marked a few but not as many as White Oak.

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## Ravbuck

I have caught many a limit pulling planer boards with shiners close to Alligator Marina in Wole Creek November-February. Varied the depths with 1 and 2oz lead sinkers with long fluorocarbon leaders trolled slowly. Seems like they fight harder when the water is colder. I head toward the back of the creek until I start seeing consistent bait on the finder. Did not make it down in 2020 but am looking forward to a trip this spring. Would love to try casting for them at night during the alewife spawn. I hear that is a blast.


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## Ravbuck

BMustang said:


> Perhaps this is understated, but I speak from experience.
> It is my opinion that most striper fishermen make it much more difficult than it has to be. Live bait, Down riggers, Planer Boards, Dipsys, Balloons are all overkill in my opinion.
> I have two Garcia-Ambassadour reels loaded with lead core line and baited with 1 oz hair jigs and clear yellow twister tail trailers.
> I run them from 45' to 60' down and troll as though I'm trolling for walleye while watching my $100 Hummingbird unit for schools of fish, and modify my approach accordingly.
> If I need to fish deeper, I use heavier hair jigs that I purchased at Great Slave Lake while fishing for lake trout, OR add one of those triangular lead in-line sinkers. Very fundamental.
> I'm willing to bet that I catch as many stripers as the more "complex" fishermen when I find them. Not always huge, but plenty in the 15 pound range.
> 
> Now maybe in the dead of summer when they are down 100 feet, down-riggers might be necessary, but in the spring and the fall, my setup, fishing flat-line with lead core line produces fish.
> 
> I'm a firm believer that the striper guides make it appear more difficult than it really is, because if it was easy everyone would do it.
> Find stripers in schools, present them with a target, and hang on.
> 
> The poster above calls stripers "finicky." They are actually anything but. Fish where they are and you will catch them. A hair jig is your most basic of fishing lures.


This is a very interesting approach BMustang. By constantly moving you have a better chance of locating schools. When schooled, if you can get one to bite, the second pole usually goes down soon after. I am going to give this a try. I tried pulling umbrellas once and did not enjoy it for some reason.

I think the guides use the most effective technique they know of that will put fish in the boat constantly and quickly. People are paying a lot of money to catch fish and the captains feel a lot of pressure to produce. There is a chain of communication between groups of Captains and they know where active schools are located. Alewives are Striper candy, if you put one of those near a striper they cannot resist. If the fish are schooled they can catch their limit in no time. Many a day they will have a 6 fish limit, return to the dock and have them cleaned by 9:30 but it is a lot of work catching bait in the middle of the night and keeping them fresh and lively in the summer months. I used to fish with a guide who did nothing but bottom fish Carolina style with live bait. Fished clay banks and points. Caught lots of stripers, smallmouths, catfish, and every now and then a walleye. He used to say that when the tip of the pole hits the water, you have a bite.


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## 23rd century

Ravbuck said:


> I have caught many a limit pulling planer boards with shiners close to Alligator Marina in Wole Creek November-February. Varied the depths with 1 and 2oz lead sinkers with long fluorocarbon leaders trolled slowly. Seems like they fight harder when the water is colder. I head toward the back of the creek until I start seeing consistent bait on the finder. Did not make it down in 2020 but am looking forward to a trip this spring. Would love to try casting for them at night during the alewife spawn. I hear that is a blast.


Yes during full moon in june and july my ex boss used to fish the cliff walls cast red fins parallel to the wall. My crew are beer drinkers so we do not manage to fish at night. I am trying to get them to go February so we will go to the back of beaver and otter


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## johnwells

Ravbuck said:


> This is a very interesting approach BMustang. By constantly moving you have a better chance of locating schools. When schooled, if you can get one to bite, the second pole usually goes down soon after. I am going to give this a try. I tried pulling umbrellas once and did not enjoy it for some reason.
> 
> I think the guides use the most effective technique they know of that will put fish in the boat constantly and quickly. People are paying a lot of money to catch fish and the captains feel a lot of pressure to produce. There is a chain of communication between groups of Captains and they know where active schools are located. Alewives are Striper candy, if you put one of those near a striper they cannot resist. If the fish are schooled they can catch their limit in no time. Many a day they will have a 6 fish limit, return to the dock and have them cleaned by 9:30 but it is a lot of work catching bait in the middle of the night and keeping them fresh and lively in the summer months. I used to fish with a guide who did nothing but bottom fish Carolina style with live bait. Fished clay banks and points. Caught lots of stripers, smallmouths, catfish, and every now and then a walleye. He used to say that when the tip of the pole hits the water, you have a bite.


I agree with not liking the big umbrella rig fishing much. It is a last resort for me. Most of the time I take shiners with me from Hamilton Wholesale bait in case I can not find alewives. The shiners do not compare to alewives as bait but will still catch fish. When the water temperature gets around 65 degrees in the late spring and the fish/bait have moved back onto the main lake I have two lead core set ups, a couple of slide divers, and two down riggers that I will run. The inline Church planer boards can handle 10 colors of lead core so it makes a nice spread with the divers and riggers.

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## johnwells

23rd century said:


> Yes during full moon in june and july my ex boss used to fish the cliff walls cast red fins parallel to the wall. My crew are beer drinkers so we do not manage to fish at night. I am trying to get them to go February so we will go to the back of beaver and otter


I have caught several fish in the back of Beaver in February and March. There is an area back there called five fingers that can be really good. I have not fished Otter very much, we used to fish the mouth in the fall when the jumps would be going on. 

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## Ravbuck

Tons of stripers have been taken out of Otter Creek. It is one of the favorite creeks at that end of the lake in the spring for guides. I also get shiners from Hamilton bait as an insurance policy in case I cannot catch bait at the lake. Numerous tImes I have been back at the dock with my fish cleaned before the first guide boat using shiners. They are a lot easier to keep and aggressive stripers do not hesitate to eat them.


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## 23rd century

Ravbuck said:


> Tons of stripers have been taken out of Otter Creek. It is one of the favorite creeks at that end of the lake in the spring for guides. I also get shiners from Hamilton bait as an insurance policy in case I cannot catch bait at the lake. Numerous tImes I have been back at the dock with my fish cleaned before the first guide boat using shiners. They are a lot easier to keep and aggressive stripers do not hesitate to eat them.


In October I put a flood light on the side of the boat overnight in a slip at Beaver Marina and when I snuck up about 4 in the morning I discovered I had created a bass feeder. Threw the net in and got bass and shad.


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## Ravbuck

I know the feeling. The largest crappie that I ever caught in my life was with a throw net at Grider Hill. I almost cried as I threw it back.


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## 23rd century

went again this past weekend. lake had raised 17 ft. in 10 days. very muddy full of drift. fished beaver otter pitman. skunked again with shiners and shad. going back april 1st


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## Ravbuck

Those water conditions can make striper fishing very difficult especially if you are pulling planer boards. I am thinking of going to Tennessee in early April to fish the Clinch River for some larger fish. You do not want to eat them but man are they fun to catch.


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