10-11-2011, 06:23 PM
If you have a boat....any big cove near the wash starts going off just before sunrise. I use a large chrome crocodile spoon, buck tail or spinnow. Wait for the boils (dont have to wait long if your early) and stay moving from boil to boil. No exaggeration when we hit the lake early (still dark when we pull out of boulder harbor) we kill it....for hours. Usually about 8:30 to 10 it will just die off but we normally pull in 30 or so strippers...all small (1 to 2 lbs), nothing to brag about but not lacking in quantity. THE TRICK IS TO MOVE AROUND. The strippers are chasing shad, stay on them. The times we have stayed camped out in an area for more then 30 min our catch rate goes waaaay down. Here is a map of my favorite spot to catch them consistently, this is just one of many.
Keys to success....
1) Find the boils, be on the water before the sun breaks!
2) Stay at casting distance....dont drive over the boil. We are always successful if we use the stealth approach (trolling motor)
3) vary your retrieve. If slow and steady isnt working try burning it in, jigging, ect....
4) switch up lures (top water versus spoon/jig) If my zara spook isnt working i default to a croc spoon or other lure that looks like a shad
5) Vary your depth. dont be afraid to let it drop below the boil, what you see on the surface is just the tip of the iceberg.
6) If i am in a boil and after several casts dont have any fish...i change my lure.
7) I have two or more poles rigged differently so i dont waste time restringing a lure, just switch poles. Sometimes you only get a few minutes on a boil.
8) When it starts to slow up a little move to the cove entrance...remember the strippers are pushing the shad, usually to deeper water.
Those are just a few of the techniques i have learned this last year and have had great success. I only fish from 4 am to 10 am on Mead, at least in summer.
[signature]
Keys to success....
1) Find the boils, be on the water before the sun breaks!
2) Stay at casting distance....dont drive over the boil. We are always successful if we use the stealth approach (trolling motor)
3) vary your retrieve. If slow and steady isnt working try burning it in, jigging, ect....
4) switch up lures (top water versus spoon/jig) If my zara spook isnt working i default to a croc spoon or other lure that looks like a shad
5) Vary your depth. dont be afraid to let it drop below the boil, what you see on the surface is just the tip of the iceberg.
6) If i am in a boil and after several casts dont have any fish...i change my lure.
7) I have two or more poles rigged differently so i dont waste time restringing a lure, just switch poles. Sometimes you only get a few minutes on a boil.
8) When it starts to slow up a little move to the cove entrance...remember the strippers are pushing the shad, usually to deeper water.
Those are just a few of the techniques i have learned this last year and have had great success. I only fish from 4 am to 10 am on Mead, at least in summer.
[signature]