by Eric Crowley
Water temperature: 64 degrees, lake level: full, clarity: 8 feet.
The striper and hybrid bite is picking up with the cooler water temperatures, and we are starting to see fish moving into the shallow water chasing schooled up pods of baitfish. Look for fish moving into the back to the creeks and of the river in 30 to 50 feet of water.
Planer boards with live trout, shad or alewifes are a great choice. I like to fish my bait anywhere from 50 to 75 feet behind the board with no weight or a very small split shot. Pulling from the backs of the creeks out towards the main lake at 1 to 2 miles per hour has been the ticket. We’ve seen several nice hybrids in the 10 to 12-pound range, stripers up to 15-pounds and lots of green fish mixed in. This time of year, you don’t have to concentrate on the early morning bite with the cooler water temps, as the fish will eat early mid-day and right before dark.
The artificial bite is still good was Captain Mack’s umbrella rigs and Chipmunk jigs pulled 125 to 175 feet behind the boat. Working these artificials from two and a half to three and a half miles per hour has put a lot of fish in the boat in the last few weeks. Look for the shallow water bite to pretty much take over in the next month. Have fun and stay warm.