Stripers under the lights

Green means GO for spring stripers

Capt. Jon Mercer liked what he saw on graph and he tugged on his long, white beard, grunted a hearty laugh, and touched the side of his nose as he addressed the fishermen aboard his boat.

“We’ve got visitors, y’all, and I bet they’re hungry,” he said. “The food is on the table. Let ‘em eat.”

Just like the Santa Claus from our childhood who delivered presents of all sorts at the midnight hour, Capt. Jon Mercer also delivers gifts to fishermen at night. But his gifts are in the form of bountiful Santee Cooper striped bass. The gifts are even wrapped in a ‘Christmasy’ color when illuminated in the green glow of multiple LED lights surrounding the boat.

But this fishing guide doesn’t drive a sleigh with reindeer; he runs a big pontoon pushed by 150 horses.

For anglers on the boat that evening, Capt. Jon Mercer became “Santee Claus,” with big Santee Cooper stripers his gift to all on a very good night.

As Mercer predicted, multiple rod tips began twitching, indicative of forage panicked by the proximity of oversized predators. The high-powered LED lights made it easy to perceive even a slight, nervous thump of the blueback herring on the terminal end of the line.

One rig was thumped conspicuously, then an instant later was buried 3-eyes deep in the water, with the drag squealing from the reel. 

And the rookie striper angler holding the rod was squealing a bit, too, as she was hooked into all the striped bass she could handle. 

Fun and productive

This exciting situation quickly escalated with more rod tips buried in the water than anglers on the boat. Mercer was all over the boat netting fish and re-baiting rigs, but never in the way. He kept dropping rigs to the magic depth, all while checking the graph, and belly-laughing at the manic pace during this striper-catching melee.

That rookie’s first fish stretched past 27 inches on the ruler, but it wasn’t the only striper making the trip home. In fact, the three anglers in Mercer’s boat had a 3-person limit of nine, fat Santee Cooper stripers that fit within the slot-limit configuration on this twin-lake system. Plus at least another two dozen fun-fighting stripers were caught and released.

For these fishermen, it was Christmas in May.

Mercer said stripers at Santee Cooper get on a variety of patterns during the year, and he fishes by day most of the year with excellent results. But a highly productive pattern emerges during post-spawn when the stripers congregate in deep water.

Mercer, (910-734-3845; No Mercy Fishing with Capt. Jon) fishes out of Blacks Camp on the Diversion Canal. He said when the stripers return from the upriver spawning run, they’re in “see it-and-eat-it” mode. 

“Stripers are hungry in post-spawn. And that works well for fishermen,” he said. “I locate areas where forage and stripers are roaming, and that’s usually on deep water flats in Lake Moultrie. I use powerful, green, LED lights and set up with multiple lights on my pontoon boat to illuminate both sides so I can effectively fish eight rods. 

“The May and June timeframe, before the season closes for the summer, is ideal for this type of fishing because stripers are feeding heavily. And they congregate in specific, deep-water areas,” he said. “After spawning, their natural inclination is to go back to the ocean, but dams on lakes Marion and Moultrie block the exits. So stripers pile up in deep water near the dam.”

Mercer said stripers typically roam large distances searching for forage. So it’s difficult to pinpoint large concentrations of fish in a single area for extended periods.

But the pattern in May and June is one where forage concentrates into deep water, but in scattered schools. The stripers are not necessarily all in big schools either, but many stripers can be in a general area.

“That’s why these lights work so well at night,” Mercer said. “I use green lights because I think they’re better attractors of plankton. And that attracts baitfish to cluster under our boat. Forage attracts and holds stripers. The longer we stay, the more forage we have, and the more stripers move in under the boat. I can watch the graph fill up with baitfish and then see the stripers begin to load up. And then it’s game on.”

While Mercer fishes on Santee Cooper, he said this pattern also works on other lakes for stripers. The set-up strategy and rigging techniques are applicable anywhere stripers are found.

He gets on the water a couple of hours before dark to locate his best setup spot using his electronics. And he is rigged and ready before dark.

Sound it out

“I fish a lot and keep up with striper movements,” he said. “I hunt for areas where stripers are found by day, along with forage. The water doesn’t have to be extremely deep, but on Lake Moultrie I start my search in water 40 to 45 feet deep. But I may have to move shallower or deeper. And when graphing an area, I want to see stripers. Scattered pods of stripers are fine if they’re associated with pods of shad. That scenario is ideal for what I do.”

Mercer uses the spot lock feature on his electric motor to hold the boat in position, but anchoring works fine. Just be sure the anchor ropes are positioned so no snagging issues occur.

He sets lights down the side of his boat every few feet to create a continuous green glow around the boat.

“This provides ample light, and I turn all the other lights off, except running lights. The lights in the water illuminate my rods and rod tips perfectly,” he said. “The bite of stripers at night is usually a bit different than the daytime bite. 

“I’m set up before dark, so it’s common to catch stripers before dark,” he said. “Daytime stripers annihilate the bait and bury the rod tip immediately. The night bite is more subtle, especially at first. They’ll mouth the bait and turn it to take it head first. Then they’ll take the bait and when they commit, the rod buries. And of course, the no-warning, aggressive bite can occur at night with hungry stripers.”

Mercer employs the assistance of a 4-HP Mercury outboard to help attract forage and stripers. He cranks the motor once he’s set and it runs throughout the trip.

“I’ve tried fishing without the kicker motor and to me, and many striper guides, the small motor has a positive impact by day or night,” he said. “It’s not required to catch stripers, but it helps. The sound creates vibration and turbulence that attracts forage. If you have the forage, stripers will come.”

Bait it up

Mercer’s favored bait is live blueback herring. His bait tank keeps them fresh and lively.

“Live bait is crucial, and blueback herring in the 4½- to 6-inch size are my favorite,” he said. “Big shiners in that size class work, as will white perch. But herring is the bait of choice.”

Mercer watches the depth of the fish on the graph and lowers the bait to the depth at, or just above, where the bulk of the fish are marked. Stripers usually stage in the 30 to 40 foot depth range. 

He checks and replaces baits after bites because stripers may kill and abandon it. Mercer keeps lively bait rigged because it vastly increases the catch rate. But sometimes before he can replace a dead bait, a big Santee Cooper catfish mauls it. These bonus blues are welcome, because Mercer also guides for catfish year-round.

Mercer said the striper population in the Santee Cooper lakes is as healthy as it’s been in a long time.

“I’m a big fan of the regulations that helped restore the great striper fishing,” he said. “The population is thriving, and for three anglers to catch a combined limit of keeper stripers, we’re probably going to catch and release 20 to 25 stripers outside the slot. We usually have steady action all evening.” 

Mercer said this fishing has the potential to get chaotic. 

“I’ve seen a huge wolfpack of stripers suddenly appear on the graph, and we’ll have multiple rigs loaded, sometimes all eight rods, with stripers. That’s controlled chaos. Having eight hooked at one time occurred once when fishing alone. By being patient, with a sprinkling of luck, I boated and released them all.”

If you’re looking for a wild, nocturnal adventure this spring with the opportunity to hook multiple, fat stripers, consider going “Green” at night with the lights at Santee Cooper. 

And for the record, Jon Mercer does volunteer as ‘Santa Claus’ at Christmas events around his home during the holiday season, when he takes a break from his real job as “Santee Claus” the rest of the year. 

Rigs and limits

Capt. Jon Mercer’s nocturnal striper rig mirrors what he uses when live bait striper fishing by day. He prefers the 7½-foot Shakespeare Striper rods, rigged with 20-pound test Berkley Big Game line, and employs the same line for his leader. He uses a 3/0 hook at the terminal end, not a circle hook, so setting the hook is part of this fun-fishing process. A 2-ounce weight gets the rig to the desired depth and keeps it where he wants it.

“It’s crucial to not use heavy tackle,” Mercer said. “But it needs to be adequate. We’ve caught a 72-pound blue catfish on this rig, so it’s adequate for stripers.”

The South Carolina Department of Natural Resources has established a slot-limit for Santee Cooper stripers. 

Each angler can keep a total of three stripers between 23 and 25 inches in length, and one of the three stripers per-person can be greater than 26 inches. 

This means anglers must measure for fish that may fall within the “no-fry” zone of 25 to 26 inches in length. Fish not meeting the slot-limit criteria must be released.

Striper fishing on Santee Cooper is closed from June 16 to Sept. 30. 

If striper fishing elsewhere in the Carolinas with green lights at night, check the regulations for the water you’re fishing for guidance.