Fresh water Winter striper fishing

[wjsmith82]

It isn't always possible to make it to the coast to fish, so I would like to ask some you more experienced inland fisherman for some Winter striper techniques. My house is 15 minutes from Jordan Lake, or 45 minutes from Kerr Lake. I also have a cabin 45 min. away from Smith Mnt. Lake. I hear all of these lakes have an outstanding striped bass fishery, and I would really like to give it a try. Any general techniques would really be appreciated. I am not asking for honey holes, just the basics. I am very familiar with Jordan, reasonably familiar with Smith Mnt and have no knowledge of Kerr. Any information would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Bill

[BentRod]

The winter fishing on Smith Mountain can be great. Or it can be terrible. Last winter, it was terrible. It got so cold, we had a big dieoff of threadfin shad and the stripers just sat back and ate falling shad. But this winter should be a lot better because of the die off last winter.

On SML, jigging on big schools is the primary technique of choice in Jan-Feb. Bait also does well when you're not on a school of fish or they won't hit a jig and trolling works also (lots of trees in the lake though). Basically, we follow the birds (seagulls) around and let them tell us where the fish are. When the birds are diving, we're casting flukes, bucktails, swimbaits, etc. or just jigging spoons straight below the boat if there's fish. When the birds aren't working, I look in the trees. That's typically where you'll find big schools of stripers hangin out at during the winter.

Jigging will usually start in about mid to late December and last through Feb. Usually jigging will get hot when the water temps get down in the mid 40s. Most of December though into Jan., we're usually still pulling bait with planers, floats, etc. and jiggin, casting when we can. Mid-Roanoke and Blackwater rivers will typically be where the fish are located.

Shoot me a PM, if you're coming up and I'll help ya out the best I can.