April is the peak time to catch Lake Murray’s biggest stripers
Lake Murray is a productive year-round striper fishery, and by changing tactics, striper fishermen make excellent catches throughout the year.
But as with all lakes and species, peak times for specific fish-catching opportunities exist. For big pre-spawn stripers, April is the time, and Lake Murray is the place.
Striper guide Mike Glover has been fishing the waters of Lake Murray for more than 30 years and has developed a unique pattern for consistently catching big stripers during the pre-spawn.
Per his handle, “Striper Mike” fishes exclusively for stripers, and this April pattern ranks among his favorite times of the year to fish.
“The spring pre-spawn fish develop unique patterns on Lake Murray, and I’ve figured out what they do and what they’ll bite,” he said. “April is the prime time, but based on water temperature and lake conditions, the pattern begins to develop in March but becomes more reliable by April. From my perspective, it’s the best time of the year to catch big stripers from Lake Murray consistently.”
Watch for herring
Glover said as it usually is with carnivorous fish species, the forage’s action triggers a specific response by the predator. In the case of pre-spawn stripers, the annual herring spawn triggers the bite.
“The herring spawn is not directly related to a time of year. When the water temperatures get around the 60-degree range, that’s when the herring spawn,” he said. “For calendar watchers, the late March and April period is prime time for this. But anglers need to check the water temperature, or they’ll miss the peak fishing some years.”
Glover said the key is fishing rocks, with riprap being an ideal situation for spawning herring. But not all rocks and riprap are created equal for the herring spawn and the big stripers feasting on them.
“Herring use the cracks and crevices of the rocks when they’re spawning. And on calm mornings, I can see white milkiness in the water along the rocks where they’re spawning,” Glover said. “That’s the key, to know they’re spawning. And when I see that, I know the forage is present. And the stripers take full advantage of this opportunity.”
Glover (803-609-0066; Capt. Mike’s Guide Service on Facebook) said the stripers patrol along the edges in shallow water, plucking off unwary herring. It’s not a couple of random stripers. It’s usually like a pack of wolves feeding up on easy prey. The pre-spawn stripers are typically large specimens and they’re foraging heavily.
He said the riprap, or area of rocks, doesn’t have to be in deep water to be productive.
“I find this situation literally throughout the lake. And some prime areas include riprap shorelines around docks and stretches of rocky shorelines,” he said. “The herring spawn in relatively shallow water. I have found that rocky or riprap points are prime places because a quick change from shallow water to deeper water is usually available. Plus, it’s a natural travel path for stripers to move shallow when they hunt for herring. But having deeper water nearby is always good for finding stripers along the rocks.”
7-inch flukes
Glover’s tactic is quite different from his standard go-to tactic most of the year.
“On most of my guide trips during the year, I’m a live bait fisherman first, but when fish are surface schooling, we’ll be casting topwater lures to those fish,” he said. “But fishing these pre-spawn stripers is unique in that once this pattern is locked in, I’m so confident that I usually don’t take live bait with me.”
Glover said he’s repeatedly tried live herring, presented in different manners, for these stripers, but it’s simply not very effective. It’s surprising, but it just doesn’t compare to his “fluke” technique.
“The stripers go wild for 7-inch flukes, with pearl being my favorite color,” he said. “Again, it’s not that simple, because casting accuracy is a key. The stripers patrol the edges, and they’re tight against the rocks. The cast must be very close to the rocks, and the retrieve begins immediately.
“I’ll maneuver the boat so I can cast at a 45-degree angle to the rocks, and typically, the bite occurs near the rocks after the lure enters the water and the retrieve begins,” he said. “A steady retrieve is required. The fluke is the key. If I don’t get a bite quickly, I crank it in and cast a little further down the target area.”
Glover said it’s essential to realize that these stripers are ever-moving. When he finishes fishing a productive area, he’ll likely return to the same areas later because other fish have moved in to feed.
“If it slows, I’ll move to another area, but the stripers have the potential to replenish that area repeatedly,” he said. “But on my next fishing trip, the herring spawn in this specific place may be over, and I’ll need to find another hotspot, but I’ll check it out. Like gamefish, not all herring spawn at the same time, so we have an extended time when this pattern excels. But hunting down the right targets is part of the daily process.”
Hooking big stripers is common using the fluke-along-the-rocks pattern, so don’t go cheap on tackle.
“They’re tackle testers for sure, and I use quality Penn spinning tackle, loaded with a main line of Berkeley Braid 20-pound test with a 15-pound test fluorocarbon leader,” he said. “The leader only needs to be one to two feet long, but fluorocarbon is a key to this process.”
Be prepared
Stripers hit with savage strikes on this pattern, he said.
“Their initial strike is jarring, and their fight is powerful and often occurs in shallow water,” he said. “In this scenario, it’s not uncommon to hook 10- to 15-pound, or larger, stripers.”
He said productive areas in one spring will usually produce again in ensuing years, although the time depends on water temperature.
Glover said when this pattern is not underway, spring fishing can still be excellent using the traditional live bait offering of blueback herring.
“Prior to this pattern and during the post-herring spawn, the basic pattern is the stripers will relate to pods of baitfish in open water,” he said. “We’ll use electronics to find the forage, then hunt down the schools of stripers foraging on them. Stripers gradually move up the lake during pre-spawn, so keep that in mind when searching for them.”
In this fishing pattern, Glover employs downlines with live blueback herring to the depth the fish are marked or slightly above. He’ll also use freelines behind the boat to check shallower in the water column.
“Plus, I’ll use planer boards to get baits well away from the boat and run them across points and humps while fishing deeper water with down lines.”
Glover said striper fishing is usually wide open throughout the spring at Lake Murray. When the herring-spawning striper bite occurs, it’s wild. Traditional live bait fishing can be productive, too, and occasional striper schooling may occur in April. So be prepared for any of these options.
“For excitement that’s off-the-charts crazy good, doing battle with huge stripers in shallow water by casting flukes when the herring spawn is underway is something any striper angler should experience,” Glover said.
Be prepared for multiple patterns for April stripers at Lake Murray. Just know that big stripers are active, and that’s certainly not a fluke.
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