SnookySnacks
Member
Same disclaimers as last trip...no guru, no pro, not very good.
As with any successful striper trip on lanier, our first stop was Oakwood bait and tackle. Again a couple dozen herring, and this time we also opted for a couple larger shad. We got a little later start this week, not hitting the water till about 8:30. I got a call as we were leaving the dock saying that people were stacked up in the back of flat creek, marking fish but no one was catching. I tend to avoid the crowds, being I believe all that racket scares off the bite. I'd like to use flat creek as an example being as I don't really fish it. If we break flat creek down into 4 sections being the 1. "mouth" (where it meets the main lake to about balus),2. the "bay" (from the mouth to where you make the right to get into the "back of the creek") 3. "back of the creek" which is a different shape in every "creek" on Lanier, but in general I would say the last couple hundred yards or so. Finally the actual 4. "creek" that feeds into the lake. In general if you can't turn a 20' - 25' boat around.... Although these numbers and descriptions vary with the size of "creek" and person, it's a start.
Our day started in the back of another creek, south of browns bridge, with the same spread as last week. 2 down line @ 25 and 35, a free line and 2 planers with about 30' behind the boards. I like to keep it under 35' so when 1 board stalls in a turn the bait does not have enough line to reach the tree tops. It seems to me MOST trees start at about 40'. I also use heavier reels and rods. Personally I use avets (the mxl, 20lb set up)and crowder rods(7' 20-50lb). The cheaper foreign jobbi's will work, just make sure they are stout, as the planer alone puts up a fight at times. I mention this because using planers has a learning curve to it, although small it takes a little practice.
Today was quick to start as well, 2 down lines bowing down first. Schoolies(22-26"). Then a planer starts going in reverse..fast! Our first decent fish. A 2 stroker watched us get this one, so obviously we needed to be fished close to...time to go. It didn't take long and there were 4 boats surrounding us. We pack it up and run.
Next spot the wind is howling, I only used the trolling motor to keep us straight, as the wind was pushing us at a good trolling speed. We started at the mouth, exactly where we got em last week. Nothing, only marking a stray fish here and there. As we get to the back of the creek, the screen lights up and it's on, schoolies on downlines then a shad on a planer starts going the wrong way...another decent fish. We played with the schoolies and spots till about 4 and called it a day.
Another key to catching striper regularly (in my uneducated opinion) is good electronics, down imaging is a must at times. I won't start the 'ford and chevy' conversation. As long as you can differentiate tree tops, or a log, and fish sittin, it doesn't matter the brand. My first striper trip with my stepfather we tore em up, the trees that is. Never striper fishing before and an old sounder didn't work out well. Unfortunately fishing, or catching certain species consistently, has become quite costly, or perhaps that's a good thing?!
As with any successful striper trip on lanier, our first stop was Oakwood bait and tackle. Again a couple dozen herring, and this time we also opted for a couple larger shad. We got a little later start this week, not hitting the water till about 8:30. I got a call as we were leaving the dock saying that people were stacked up in the back of flat creek, marking fish but no one was catching. I tend to avoid the crowds, being I believe all that racket scares off the bite. I'd like to use flat creek as an example being as I don't really fish it. If we break flat creek down into 4 sections being the 1. "mouth" (where it meets the main lake to about balus),2. the "bay" (from the mouth to where you make the right to get into the "back of the creek") 3. "back of the creek" which is a different shape in every "creek" on Lanier, but in general I would say the last couple hundred yards or so. Finally the actual 4. "creek" that feeds into the lake. In general if you can't turn a 20' - 25' boat around.... Although these numbers and descriptions vary with the size of "creek" and person, it's a start.
Our day started in the back of another creek, south of browns bridge, with the same spread as last week. 2 down line @ 25 and 35, a free line and 2 planers with about 30' behind the boards. I like to keep it under 35' so when 1 board stalls in a turn the bait does not have enough line to reach the tree tops. It seems to me MOST trees start at about 40'. I also use heavier reels and rods. Personally I use avets (the mxl, 20lb set up)and crowder rods(7' 20-50lb). The cheaper foreign jobbi's will work, just make sure they are stout, as the planer alone puts up a fight at times. I mention this because using planers has a learning curve to it, although small it takes a little practice.
Today was quick to start as well, 2 down lines bowing down first. Schoolies(22-26"). Then a planer starts going in reverse..fast! Our first decent fish. A 2 stroker watched us get this one, so obviously we needed to be fished close to...time to go. It didn't take long and there were 4 boats surrounding us. We pack it up and run.
Next spot the wind is howling, I only used the trolling motor to keep us straight, as the wind was pushing us at a good trolling speed. We started at the mouth, exactly where we got em last week. Nothing, only marking a stray fish here and there. As we get to the back of the creek, the screen lights up and it's on, schoolies on downlines then a shad on a planer starts going the wrong way...another decent fish. We played with the schoolies and spots till about 4 and called it a day.
Another key to catching striper regularly (in my uneducated opinion) is good electronics, down imaging is a must at times. I won't start the 'ford and chevy' conversation. As long as you can differentiate tree tops, or a log, and fish sittin, it doesn't matter the brand. My first striper trip with my stepfather we tore em up, the trees that is. Never striper fishing before and an old sounder didn't work out well. Unfortunately fishing, or catching certain species consistently, has become quite costly, or perhaps that's a good thing?!
