Thread: Lake Wateree Striper

Actually it was right around now when I used to troll a good bit...August/September. They are doing pretty well on Hartwell trolling right now. The fish tend to spread out suspended this time of year and are prime for trolling if you can get a lure to the depth they are holding. Not sure if Wateree has lots of snags to worry about or not. Hartwell is a flooded forest so you have to be careful to not get too deep with your lures.

In the dead of winter is another good time to troll. 2 years ago when we had several days in the teens, I was out on Murray catching them pretty good jigging but I was marking a ton of fish suspended in the channel that didn't want to eat. Then a couple days later I heard about people catching big numbers on umbrella rigs in the same area. Looking in my fishing log for that weekend the water temps were down to 45 degrees. Not sure what speed to try to troll for the winter. Call Captain Mack, he can tell you exactly how to do it.

I'll have to look him up!

What kind of leader and hook do you like for live shad on down lines? Also what weight sinker usually holds it down good?

I use a 1.5 oz egg sinker for down lining. For leader it depends on the lake and size of fish. In lakes like the far upper end of Clarks Hill or Russell where there is really nasty cover and the chance of hooking a 50 pounder I use 25 pound leader. On Murray or the lower end of Clarks Hill where there are virtually no trees and the fish are rarely more than 10 pounds, I use 12 pound Flourocarbon leader. I've gotten stripers in these areas up to 36 pounds on the 12 pound leader, just have to be patient and have a good drag. For years I used Kale style hooks for down rods but I found the fish swallowed the hook more than 50% of the time. I do 99% catch and release and it wasn't right letting that many fish go with a hook in their throat. I'm sure plenty made it but plenty went to waste I would think. I mostly striper fish with lures casting and jigging these days but when I do live bait fish, I have fallen in love with the Owner Mutu Circle Hook (the light wire one). 90% of the fish are hooked in the top of the mouth. Don't jerk the rod out of the rod holder with them if you get a hit like you do with a Kale Hook. Instead the fish will hook itself or if you just give the reel a couple of smooth turns with it still in the rod holder it will hook them very nicely. For most herring I use the #1 size. It will look very small, but it works like a champ. Here is a key tip: The hooks will foul hook very active herring. To help cut down on that, get a bag of clear "earring backers" from the jewelry counter at Walmart. Thread them onto the hook about midway up the shank to keep the hook from turning on the herring. They have a hole through the center and are agrivating to thread onto the hook so do it ahead of time.

Good deal I love those hooks. Buy #4s by the 50 for surf fishing. How long are the leaders, usually? I have some 14# fluoro I'll use up. I don't think Wateree stripers get much above 10 lbs either. I'll check out the earring backers!