By Josh Garrison
Wow. It’s May 1st and our stripers have still not spawned. Everything has been way behind this year but we are now talking six weeks behind! As of April 21st, water temperatures up the river were still holding around 54 degrees. Often times we would already have temperatures up in the 70’s. With these colder temperatures, look back at my March forecast and you will see most of the same stuff.
The majority of Nottely stripers are sitting mid-lake waiting on the larger females to make their run. Look for these easy to catch fish around major bends in the river channel as far upstream as you are finding good schools of bait. These fish are not schooling at all so the best way to target them is to spread things out and start pulling. Four to six planer boards with free-lines out the back are the way to go. The fish are still feeding on the surface so give them 20 to 30-feet behind the boards but keep the baits on top.
As the water continues to warm, expect the blue back herring to start their spawn as well. Over the last couple of years this has been a month long event. Look for small schools of herring all over the surface of the lake from Point 6 downstream. Then, find the areas with stripers feeding on the surface around them and target them the same way as mid lake. One issue you may run into during the spawn is if you put out a female herring, males may attempt to spawn with your bait. This can hurt your chances when the striper hits if he has too many herring to pick from.
I know I talk about them all the time but this is why… Redfins are such great lures this time of year that when “V” waked along the surface, the live herring will actually try to mate with it!. Keep the lure on top and moving just fast enough to wobble but not so fast as to make it dive under. The large “V” on the surface draws an arrow to an easy meal (with a couple of treble hooks) for the striper. The calendar is booking up fast but we still have a few days in May open and it looks like that will be the prime time for spawning fish. Give us a call to book a trip and remember Hughes General Store has everything you need to make your trip successful.
Josh Garrison
N. Georgia Premier Fishing Guide Service
wwww.fishgarrison.com
(706) 745-4802