Stripers, hybrids schooling at surface over deep water
High-sky, bluebird days are beautiful, but they don’t necessarily equate to better fishing. Take stripers on Lake Hartwell, for instance. It seems the bite has been better on overcast days.
According to Steve Pietrykowski, of Fishki Business (864-353-3438), the easiest way to catch a few stripers or hybrid bass is to find fish on the surface.
“On those bluebird days, the fishing’s been tough lately,” Pietrykowski said. “They’re still some fish on the surface, and I’d suggest more overcast days rather than bluebird days.
“Artificial baits also seem to work the best right now. The fish are schooling, but they’re not staying up very long, so it’s hard to get live bait rigged up and cast out before they dive again in such a short amount of time.”
Pietrykowski said when you do get on the water, you should definitely watch the surface for those schooling fish.
“There are some fish in the deep water of the main channel, but they’re really spread out,” Pietrykowski said. “Depth-wise, those fish are in the 100 to 150 range, almost 100 feet down. You can catch them, but you have to find them right now. We’re in a transition time, but something to look forward to is in the next couple weeks the fish will be back in the rivers. We’re coming into a great time, but right now it’s kinda difficult.”
If you do locate a school of fish feeding on the surface, Pietrykowski suggests throwing something with a little weight so you can really get the distance on the cast.
“The fish are keyed in on the threadfins and smaller baits,” he said. “You can rip the bigger baits and won’t get a bite, but other schools will tear up the bigger baits. Rooster tails have been working well, and so have jigging spoons. Most of the fish you find on the surface are hybrids, and the fish I’ve been seeing on the surface are pretty good size.”
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