A Couple Of Questions On Stripers...

[kjackson]

I haven't done much fishing for stripers and have a couple of questions. I know that live shad are a preferred bait, but that seems like a lot of work if they can be caught some other way. I did a search and couldn't really find anything about scent being a plus and wondered if scented lures (like a big, white grub) might work better than those without scent. Has anyone tried adding scent to jigs or bucktails?

The second thing I've been thinking about is using some of my salmon flashers as attractors ahead of a spoon or big, white grub. I've got more flashers than I should have moved last year, and have been thinking about running one off a downrigger. Has anyone done that and had success?

[Quillback]

Don't know if you get the AR Democrat Gazette, but the Sunday paper had a striper article where the writer fished Lake Ouchita. They had success trolling (off a downrigger) a horsehead bucktail jig (white) with a grub type trailer on the jig. White was the color of choice.

I've always thought the flashers might work, with a big salmon fly or a squid. I've got about 10 of them (flashers) from my salmon trolling days. Another salmon lure that I think might work are Silver Horde plugs - trolled off a downrigger sans flasher.

Heck I bet a cut plug herring behind a dodger would work also.

[Feathers and Fins]

There is a reason I have downriggers on my boat

Bucktail jigs, grubs and large spoons work very well as do plugged Herring and Sardines as well as Ballyhoo. They are a pain to get up here though unless you have a way to get them in from the coast.

Scents are really needless when you are talking stripers and trolling as you are looking for the aggreesive feeding bite more than anything.

Shad are at times a pain no doubt about it but Hook Line Sinker in Rogers normally has good Striper Minnows that work as a good back-up.

[kjackson]

Thanks for the input, guys. Any and all help is appreciated.

QB-- I have a bunch of salmon gear that didn't sell in the yard sale: flashers, dodgers, flies, hoochies, divers, Buzz Bombs and even a couple of J-Plugs. I've been thinking hard about the in-lines simply because they pull so easy. And I've been waiting for the fish to concentrate a bit more than I've seen around the dam to bring out the jigging spoons and really go after them.

Yeah, I did see the article, and that is what got me thinking about using an attractor plus a grub or jig behind it.

F&F--One reason I'm not that interested in live bait is that I'm too lazy to drive to Rogers to buy it. I have thought of trying a sabiki rig to catch larger shad and then using them as cut plugs. If I could get a fair bunch of them, I'm thinking they could be cured and frozen. I could get interested in that. In the meantime, I've got downriggers on my boat, a raft of different large (and not so large) lures and some time at the end of the week to see if I can find the buggers.

I also appreciate the info you've posted on the site and the help you've given me an others. I'm starting to get my gear dialed in and arranged. I'm trying to avoid getting sucked into bass fishing until after I get some of the trolling stuff nailed down. I do love to chase bass, but stripers, whites and walleyes are the challenge right now. Being new to the area, it's hard to pick the where/when/what answer. I want to fish for everything everywhere, but I really need to be a bit more focussed.

[Feathers and Fins]

Shhhh Sabiki are evil you don't want people finding out about them lol.

Right now Dam area to point 5 would be where I am looking for numbers of stripers, bigger ones are around Rocky Branch. Take that with a grain of salt though as this year is a strange one and the weather could have them roaming more. Trolling in 33 to 42 fow is most productive Jplugs trolled that deep will definitely get attention as will many other salmon styles. Sounds like your familiar with big jig working, run a 6oz head on a cod size grub tail it does work for them.

Walleye are much more predictable lol.

[Mitch f]

I tied a bunch of striper jigs with Enrico Puglisi fibers instead of buck tail and the translucency of the fibers worked well on Ouachita. I used two tone gray/white and seemed to get more hits than regular buck tail

[Feathers and Fins]

Shameless as it is I still buy one bucktail style jig from the same place, ever since I discovered them in FL they have been my staple http://www.redtailhawklures.com/ From Snook to Cobia ive hung a lot of fish on them. Little more pricey than a standard bucktail but works.

[kjackson]

Unfortunately, I left all my halibut leadheads and grubs with my boat mechanic buddy back in Washington. However, there are ways of getting around the lack of a leadhead...

I'm thinking Thursday I'll head out and see if I can't find something to catch in Beaver. I'll probably run at least one downrigger with a flasher and spoon and then I dunno. I may also throw on the second rigger and run a big plug and follow all that with a leadcore rod. If I make a thermos of coffee and bake some cookies, I might be able to last the day. On the other hand, I may just throw in a spoon rod and chase bait balls and forget about food if trolling is too slow.