Striper fishing is freshwater fishing at its absolute best. Striper school and feed like saltwater tuna or bluefish. You won’t get quite the size of a trophy saltwater catch but striper can get enormous and it is a completely unique experience.

The most common striper fishing technique is anchor or drift fishing with live shad. You find the fish around the thermocline or suspended under a school of baitfish and get after them. Your typical rig is going to be a fairly heavy rod with a casting reel, 20-30 lb. test, an egg sinker, a swivel, a 12-20 inch liter, and a larger single hook through the back of a 3″ - 6″ shad. Fish it straight up and down at the depth you mark the fish. Now the trick to live bait fishing with shad is first catching the shad and then keeping them alive.

You cannot buy shad as they die very easily so you have to catch them. And we introduce an entirely other skill you must master before you even get to the fishing. The casting net can be intimidating and scares some people away from the striper hunt as most places you cannot “get into the fish” without live shad. There are several techniques to throwing the casting net and I won’t go into them here but here is a link to a great tutorial.

Now that you have caught your bait you have to keep it alive. For this you need a bait tank. Notice that I did not say live well or minnow buck. You must have a large circular bait tank with a good aerator and filter. If you have anything else your baitfish will die within the hour and you will be striperless! With a good bait tank system and some Bait Saver (a granular substance that helps keep bait alive), you should be good to go.

Now that we have covered that there are a few other mainstream and rewarding techniques. The early morning top-water approach is one of the most exciting things you can do in the world of freshwater fishing. Tie on a big Pencil Popper and jerk that sucker across the top of the water and watch a huge striper knock that thing 3 feet in the air. You want to look for schools of baitfish hitting the top of the water. Baitfish running up from the bigger fish is always a good sign but it is easier to spot in the calmer waters of the morning. Cast into those baitfish and you should snag few good fish.

I recently read an article from an accomplished striper angler at Lake Ouachita (a known trophy striper lake) in which he said he was trolling C-10 redfins and a fake shad trailer on about a two-foot liter. There are several techniques like this that work but they are very dependent on the specifics of the lake so if you use them be sure you are doing it right.

In closing, watch for diving sea gulls, baitfish hitting the top of the water, and a swarm of boats chasing the ever-elusive striper across the lake. Good Luck!

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Tags: freshwater fishing, freshwater fishing lure, freshwater fishing tackle, lake ouachita