Which is better for catching striped bass? Lively shad, or precise boat positioning?

[roboman1314]

Hello!

I'm looking for some advice. I've been getting into striper fishing as of late but haven't had a whole lot of luck. I'm looking for some advice on what would be more of a help when it comes to striper fishing on Allatoona. What I'm running into right now is that good bait is hard to catch and harder to keep. Most of the shad that I do catch is small (2-4") and dies before I can get to a decent fishing spot which leads me to use different bait like small bluegill caught on a hook and line or sometimes I can get lucky and catch a couple spot tail minnows and use those as they both seem to be hardier baits but I know that shad are the preferred forage of the striped bass.

Now my other problem has to do with boat positioning, I have a 18' G3 Aluminum hull bass boat with a minn kota edge trolling motor, cable steer. This makes staying on fish fairly difficult especially if I'm fishing an offshore hump or drop off and there is any kind of wind or boat traffic. I've been eyeing a new Minn-Kota Ultrex with iPilot link as it can link up with my sonar unit and keep me where I want to be without me being tethered to the front of the boat the whole time.

So basically my question is what would be a bigger improvement when it comes to catching bass? Being able to keep my boat right on top of the fish and not drifting off all the time and having to constantly correct myself to stay on fish, or not being able to stay precisely where I want to be, but having lively shad in some decent numbers? I'm trying to decide whether to buy a bait tank, or save that money and put it towards a new trolling motor.

Any advice is appreciated!!

 

[Dustin Pate]

Bait tank first and foremost. It does you no good to find fish and not have the bait to catch them. I'd swing the trolling motor soon after. It is mighty handy to lock on a school and not have to worry about boat control.

 

[snapdog]

Lively bait, lively bait and only lively bait

 

[Jonboater]

3x on bait first. Make sure you have a round bait tank also.

 

[roboman1314]

Okay, thanks for the replies! I think I'll go by Striper Soup this afternoon and see if they can help me out.

 

[across the river]

If you are a half decent do-it-yourselfer on stuff, you can make a bait tank for a little of nothing. I fished out of a homemade one for years and it worked great.

 

[Batjack]

If you are a half decent do-it-yourselfer on stuff, you can make a bait tank for a little of nothing. I fished out of a homemade one for years and it worked great.

Yeah, between the "Depot" and that "pet shop" you can D.I.Y. a good starter tank. Not dish'n on the ones at "Soup" or any where else, but it sounds like your just get'n your feet wet and might not want to spend the money.

 

[j_seph]

Striper fishing best addition is a 2nd job

 

[westcobbdog]

Visit striper soup in acworth for bait, they open at 5 am I think.

 

[fishingga]

You can catch a bunch on dead bait. Sometimes better than live. Just saying.
Get a good production tank. They don't loose their value much and you can get rid of easy if its not for you. You will spend more than you think trying to get a DIY tank right.

 

[scottpriest]

I'd say lively bait since the striper are sight feeders. That being said I can completely understand the frustration staying on them. I fish out of an aluminum bass tracker pro 190. it was a constant fight. and anytime I had to re bait or land a fish I was having to go find the school or at least get back in position. I couldn't swing an Ultrex. So I found an old v2 powerdrive for sale, bought it for next to nothing, sold my Edge that was on my Tracker for 100.00 more than I paid for the powerdrive and added Ipilot to the Power drive. it was Very simple, and my total out of pocket to upgrade after selling my edge was about 300.00. Total game changer having spot lock when striper fishing. I can move around the boat, i'm not stuck at the front ect ect. this is a great inexpensive option to upgrade.

 

[baddave]

i would second the notion on i-pilot trolling motor .. check the classifieds

 

[Alex from GA]

Throw out a marker buoy and buy or build a decent bait tank like everyone else says.

 

[Teh Wicked]

Get an oxygen setup, DONT recirculate surface water if you are using herring as tat will literally kill them in seconds. Keep several plastic 2 liters bottle of frozen water handy to keep the live well water temps cool, sub 75 degree is prime. If you can adapt an oxygen stone into your livewell it would be quite effective since those bait tanks are pretty insulated. keep the water cool and the 02 pumping and they stay frisky.

 

[Teh Wicked]

also I second the marker float deal if your fishing offshore humps or whatever. Back before spot lock and GPS controlled trolling motors existed, this is how you mark deep spots and fish them consistently.

I actually have a SUre Marker bouy I won in a spearfishing tournament. Has a reel full of line with a weight, When you motor over the spot you toss it and the weight delopys to the bottom with a big yellow bouy on the surface. THen when you leave you just swing by and pick it up and crank up the line like a fishing reel. We used this to mark deep reefs and ldges while spearfishing.