of fishing would start about April 21st and last until July 1st....depending on the
water temperature.
The reason the fish “HIT” at that time of the year is because the alewives
(baitfish-like small shad) are spawning on the shore and points. This means a
large number of baitfish are in a concentrated area, and the stripers know when
and where to find them. Someone once asked me, “How many strikes do you
normally have in a night?” I didn’t know so, you guessed it: The next time out I
counted the strikes. It was 27! WOW! I thought that was great.
7 days before and 7 days after a new moon is what I call a dark night.
7 days before and 7 days after a full moon is what I call a lit night.
When we move into a period when the night is not a “dark night”, I do the same
thing, knowing that the baitfish continue to spawn, and the stripers continue to
need food… but now, I’m only getting about six strikes a night.
So now I have to think like a fish: I figure, on a dark night, it is harder for the fish
to see my boat, because:
• It’s a dark night.
• I have shaded my lights so that they do not reflect onto the water.
• I try not to move the boat.
• When my bait moves slowly on the
surface, it is more easily mistaken for
a baitfish, if it is a dark night.
If I’m a fish looking up to the water
surface on a lit night, I would find it
would be very easy to spot a boat. It
should look like a big black shadow,
and every time the trolling motor is
used, it is very easy to see the ripples
from it on the surface.
As an angler, I need to outsmart
my opponent. If I move my boat to
shallow water, it should be harder for
the fish to see my boat. Better yet, I’ll
move it to a point. There, the water
at the bottom is not lit as much as the
surface. I’ll cast a deep diving broken
back Rebel, hold my rod tip down for
the action, and retrieve the lure very
slowly to draw the strike. The lure will
hang at times on the side of the rocky
point. When that happens, I simply
“stop” winding, and give the line a
little slack. The lure will float out of
the snag, and now I can continue.
When the strike comes, it feels like
someone is trying to jerk the rod out of
my hands. What a great thrill!
By thinking that problem through,
I increased my “strike” rate from 6
to 17. (To be clear, that was not my
catch rate). Again, at about 2 a.m. the
fishing would stop like it was turned
off with a switch. I was catching
mostly stripers, but also some walleye
and some bass. I learned that the bass
hugged the banks tightly. Trying to
cast to them would cause a lot of
hangs on or near the shore (roots,
rocks, etc). That’s where they wait for
their food to come by.
So again, I switched tactics. I
positioned my boat close to the shore
and cast down the shoreline ahead
of me (not behind me), sometimes
bumping the rocks, and I caught some
very nice Bass. This also works well
It is important to know your opponent in any game or challenge. You might
consider likening fishing to a game of chess. If you are able to predict what
your adversary might do in a given situation, you can then develop a strategy
to overcome them with the right moves.
So it is with fishing. If you were a fish, what would you do? If you were cold,
you would seek a warmer area. If you were too warm, you would seek a
cooler area or shade. If you were hungry, you would look for food. Since fish
can’t go to McDonald’s or Hardee’s, you need to know where a fish might go
to find food. Typical “fish food” includes bugs, baitfish, crawfish, worms, etc.
Long ago, I started fishing for stripers at night. I would head out on a “dark”
night, and what a thrill it was. I learned to position my boat within casting
distance of a shore or point after dark. I would use a jointed minnow, and pull
it across the surface at a very slow rate so the lure would not dive. By holding
my rod tip down to the water surface, the lure had more action, and would
make a “V” on the water surface as it returned to the boat. Suddenly, without
warning, the water would explode, and the fight would be on.
That strike might even come right as the lure was at the boat. Needless to say,
this is not for the weak at heart.
I would start at night fall, and fish until they quit (about 2:00 AM). Most of the
strikes would come between mid-night and 2:00. I also learned that this type
Almanac
Fisherman’s
THINK
LIKE A FISH
by Bob King
Discover Smith Mountain Lake
Fall 2014
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