by Jake Bussolini
You might ask yourself, what exactly defines world class striper fishing? As a seasoned Lake Norman NC. angler, I have always defined striper fishing as five minutes of chaos, accompanied by fifty five minutes of boredom for every hour on the water. More than most species of fish, a successful striper fishing experience requires that the angler thoroughly understands the habits and changing behavior of the fish.
Lenoir City Tennessee has raised itself to the enviable position of being my now favorite striper fishing region. The many dams constructed by the TVA years ago have provided very favorable conditions for great fishing of all types, but the striper fishing is almost always outstanding. BUT to take advantage of the potential for a great catch, the angler or the guide must be skilled not only with the techniques to be used but more important, must understand the changing habits of the fish. A combination of both of these situations can produce several hours of exciting catches followed by only a few minutes of calm.
For years I have used the guide services of Bo Rice. He lives and breathes striper fishing in this region and he has a rare sense of understanding how the stripers think and behave as the water system above the dams is managed. When water is being released, the stripers move up close to the dams to gorge on the thousands of shad that rush into the well oxygenated water. When no water is being released, Rice understands the habits of the fish to move down stream as their food source moves there.
On my most recent trip to this area with two of my fishing partners, Peter Enyeart and Rich Doering, the area demonstrated what it means to be world class. In a four hour morning fish, the three of us boated more than 500 pounds of stripers, most in the twenty pound or greater range. We experienced three triple headers and several doubles.
The best catch was brought to the boat by Doering with a 35 pound monster caught casting a red fin lure. Most of the fish were caught trolling live Gizzard Shad. The enjoyment of fishing in this coo
l Clinch River water was increased by also catching a 30 inch musky, a four pound largemouth bass, one ten pound black drum and several blue catfish. But the world class status came with the number of stripers caught in such a short period of time. Rich Doering is shown here with his personal best 30 pounder.
Jake Bussolini is a freelance writer who has published several books about freshwater fishing. His books can be viewed at Books By Jake