Go Fishing Forum Message Boards

I went out today and the water temp ranged from 76-80 degrees. I saw a lot of baitfish on the sonar and saw several places where the stripers were busting bait on the top of the water. I was throwing a silver spoon, trying to catch them on the topwater. They didn't stay up long and I ended up getting one bite, but it got off just before I got it up to the boat. They were all small anyway. I could watch them tailing my spoon all the way up to the boat, and I didn't see anything over a couple of pounds. Maybe I need to slow down my retrieve a little so they can catch it.

When I wasn't chasing the action on the topwater, I was using cutbait (spot), running a tightline straight down in about 20-30 feet of water near underwater structure off of Swan Point, drifting down the structure with the current. I didn't get a single bite using that method. I also trolled with a chartreuse bucktail and a Rapala X-rap (silver and blue) 15 foot diver. I saw a lot of fish down there, but didn't hook a single thing trolling or drifting.

I clearly need to adjust my techniques and/or methods... I think my boat might be idling a littl fast for trolling. I may have to figure out how I can slow it down a bit. I thought the cut bait would do the trick, but no joy.

Any thoughts?