Lack of post?

[thumper]

Just curious why there have not been any posts here since last year? Doesn't anyone target mainly striper and wiper?

[Riverwhy]

I targeted stripers a bit last week on Lake Norfork.   New moon made it tough at night but did manage a seven pounder. (I know that is small for some guys but it was my personal best.)  Slow rolling a megabass on windblown points.

[Bill Butts]

Thumper, are you wanting to learn about Temperate Bass species on a specific fishery, or what is your primary interest? Do you fish with conventional gear or fly tackle, or both?

If you are looking for fishing reports, on Beaver or Norfork lakes (which have all 3 of the Temperate species), the AR Fish and Game (AGFC) has a very good weekly report that you can request to be emailed to you automatically. There are multiple reports on each fishery, and they are really pretty good.  Ditto for Greer's Ferry, which is of course a premier Hybrid Striper (I don't like the disrespectful term "wiper") and White Bass fishery. 

The Hybrid Striper and White Bass fishery of Truman Lake is phenomenal, particularly in the summer and early fall if there is a good volume of water flowing thru Truman Dam that creates a current in the main lake. Regular reports from marinas and guides up there are not easy to find, but it is a fishery well worth the effort to learn if 6-12# Hybrids get your attention and passion.

There are a number of Temperate fisheries in eastern OK, too, if you are interested in learning any of those. The Oklahoma Department of Wildlife Conservation also publishes and distributes a weekly fishing report via email, if you request it. If you would like a little more info on that region, I'd be glad to provide the names of some of the fisheries and available species for you.

[thumper]

Thanks for your replies.

A 7 lb. striper is a very nice fish. It took me a while to get past that myself with a personal best of 23 lbs. I was able to catch some nice ones with beaver fever guides on Beaver Lake a couple of weeks ago. I think the largest was around 10 lbs. or so, while using my thumper.

My pb for hybrid striper is 11 lbs. so far.

I have fished Texas waters for striper, hybrid striper, and sand (white) bass for years. I agree that the term "wiper" is hard for me to get used to. We call them hybrids here. I have heard the term from several people who live north of the Red River for a while and only use it in conversations with northern folks, so they know what species I am talking about. lol 

I am interested in striper , hybrids and big sand bass in other states. I prefer to catch a few large fish, rather than a bunch of little ones. Nothing I have found pulls like a hybrid. Big striper streak out a long ways and get tired, hybrids continue to pull steadily all the way to the boat. Like a fullback, the just bull their way to deeper water. They have heavy shoulders with a lot of meat for a good meal. Perfect for grilling.

I use conventional gear, baitcaster reels, with heavy enough line to turn a fish from trees and other structure, without breaking off very often. Most of the terminal tackle I use is artificial that cost $5. to $50. each. So I use heavier line to keep cost down. I also use live bait such as shad, shiners, etc. quite a bit.

 I have not learned or had a lot of interest in fly fishing. I have some friends who love to fly fish. I like to relax on a boat , float around or troll. We don't have many places that have trout down here unless they are stocked certain times of the year. And they don't last very long because they don't stock very many at a time. I know my friends also target other species though.

Each person has their own opinion and preferences about how they want to target different species, so I don't belittle anyone as long as it is #1, legal, and #2, enjoyable to them. If someone wants to target bigger fish with a snoopy rod, I say go for it, while at the same time hoping they have plenty of line and a loose drag, and plan to eat it afterwards.

Thanks for the info about the different resources available for different water bodies. I will check them out.

I guess my question was mainly trying to figure out where most people posted about their experiences for these species of fish. From what I have seen so far, it kind of gets mixed in with other species on the different water body threads. And not much then. lol Maybe we can get some interest here to make it easier to find available knowledge from some folks. From what I am learning about up there, a big portion of folks who target these fish do not want to share  for fear someone  or several someones will be on their "spot" when they go back for some more action. With the numbers of fish that are stocked each year, surely all the fish are not in the same spot but scattered in different areas throughout the lakes and rivers? Do all the lakes have a 3 fish limit like Beaver Lake? Is there that many people targeting them that the fish that are stocked are depleted so easily? Surely the AGFC does gill net surveys to determine how the fisheries are doing each year?

I don't mind sharing my knowledge to a certain degree publicly. I will share more, privately, with those who ask. There are usually enough areas on any given water body where someone can catch some fish. If someone needs some help to have a better day I will be more than happy to make that happen, so the sport continues through generations to come. With that said, there are several potlickers on any given water body, who do not put in the time or effort to find fish and techniques on their own, but wait for others to do the work for them.

 

 

 

[Riverwhy]

I am very glad we have you starting up this thread.  I do think a lot of the striper guys are pretty secretive because they believe the big stripers have been effected by increased pressure.  At the boat dock last week a group of striper trollers were lamenting the impact of the increased pressure.  Since I am new to the scene I don't have much perspective.

I prefer the cast to the bank and then slow roll a stick bait back to the boat method.  The umbrella rig trollers and live bait drifters are certainly effective based on the pictures I see but I do not have a good trolling setup for the boat. I have a lot to learn.

The hybrid striper is the greatest fighting fish I have ever caught.  My personal best was an eight pounder hooked on a spook.  It felt like I had a submarine on the end of my line.

[thumper]

7 hours ago, Riverwhy said:

I am very glad we have you starting up this thread.  I do think a lot of the striper guys are pretty secretive because they believe the big stripers have been effected by increased pressure. 

The hybrid striper is the greatest fighting fish I have ever caught.  My personal best was an eight pounder hooked on a spook.  It felt like I had a submarine on the end of my line.

Very good analogy about the submarine!

Do the AGFC not keep up with how many fish are in a body of water? I know here Texas Parks and Wildlife(TPWD) do a gill net survey every year on most lakes. That way they can tell how well a fishery is doing on each species. Whether to decrease or increase stockings of certain species on each water body. I know we have lost a lot of fish in the floods we had last year, so TPWD should be re-stocking to catch up soon. I know it will take time for those fingerlings to reach a size that is preferable.

Surely AGFC realize there are other lakes in other states that will be happy to reap the income from non-residents who want to catch more fish? Or maybe they only stock a certain number of each year class to allow them to grow bigger? You know, that thing where they say "number of predators vs. amount of food". Too many predators equals smaller size predators.

And Arkansas has some really big striper! I know Arkansas has several first class striper and hybrid lakes. I don't understand the 3 fish limit though. I'm sure they have a sensible logic for it.

We have a group in east Dallas, who have formed a club, that raises money every year to "buy" an additional amount of hybrids from TPWD to stock Ray Hubbard Lake every spring. I don't know much about it, but I am helping out this year. I will be donating a thumper or 2 for 1 of their auctions they are having to raise money to purchase more hybrids.

I know very little about the lakes up that way, but hope to learn more in the future. We sometimes fish with different methods than you guys do up there, so I will probably be using some of your techniques down here, to see how well they work on our fish. I know my Bobo's Thumper works well on Beaver Lake! We caught 6 stripers, 4 lb. to 9 lbs. in 1 hour, using it.

[thumper]

I've been busy with the thumper building, so I haven't been on the forum lately.

I thought maybe some of you could post some pics of your recent striper, or hybrid striper.

How is the fishing up there? I hope it is better than here.

The fishing on my home lake, Lake Bridgeport, has not been very good for a while. It has been flooding pretty regularly, and continues to look like a chocolate milkshake. I won't complain, since the last 2 springs are the first times in several years it has not been in drought conditions, with only 1 boat ramp open to use. We were able to catch 1- 22" hybrid striper, 1 sand bass, and 2 channel cats last Sat. Slow, slow, slow. I will be so happy when the water clears some.

My grandkids are coming down in June to spend a couple of weeks with us, and they want to (and I quote) "fish every day".  I might have to find another lake to take them to catch fish.

[dan hufferd]

I really want to fish for these sometime soon, probably B Shoals, suggestions are welcome.

[rumrunner]

I fish for whites and hybrids on truman.agree this is a great post.I find it so not hard to find people to talk to about the fishing on truman.but definitely a lack of posts about it.my pb was 9 lbs.I believe it was from an original stocking of strippers in Truman when it first opened.I my sure they are all gone now.I have heard the white bass are doing good this year.

[thumper]

It has been a while since I have had time enough to get back on this site. I started getting calls from several people in Missouri, Kansas, Oklahoma, Arkansas, and South Carolina about my thumpers. I've been busy with a new vendor who is cutting out some of my parts, as well as assembly and shipping them out to folks.

My grandkids came down for a week back the first of June. We had one of the best visits with some fishing and thumper building. We only got to fish 3 days out of 5, but we had a ball spending time together. I was able to put them on some white bass pretty quick the first day. They caught about 40 fish in 2 hours. I decided we best go when I saw lightning in the west, so we loaded up before it reached us. Then they wanted to learn to fillet them. We had plenty to grill and eat that evening. The next day we went striper fishing at Possum KIngdom in the rain. We only caught about 10 small box fish, but still enjoyed our time together. Saturday their dad went with us and with all the traffic and recent rains the bite had slowed down a lot. We only caught a hand full of small fish that morning when we had to go home to get ready for an afternoon pool party and burgers and hot dogs.

I haven't fished a lot this summer yet. I have been dealing with some kidney stones as well as the thumper building stuff. Hopefully, I get them taken care of soon and can get on the water for some serious fishing. It is time to troll some of my big umbrella rigs for some big ol' striper and hybrids.

I have a buddy who wants to go to De Gray one day soon for some striper. Does any one here fish this lake? If so, I would appreciate any advice and help as I have never been there.

Tight lines!