Big trophy size stripers are not yor ordinary fish. Their wise years of surviving has sharpened their instincts, making them  a rewarding challenge to  pattern and catch on a  consistent basis.

         During my lO year career as a professional striper guide, I have learned one definite theory about a big trophy size striper. Their habits and characteristics are completely different from smaller, younger stripers which roam the same body of water. There are always unusual exceptions. For example, the elderly gentleman who was crappie fishing in a brush top with a small crappie fly and landed a 37 pounder, or someone has been on a big school of five to eight pounders and suddenly a 40 pounder inhales their lure and pulls the boat around for 20 minutes. These unusual catches do happen, but compared to the vast numbers of hours spent by many striper anglers in search of a trophy size fish, the unusual catches are rare. How many times have you heard about some local fisher-man or guide on a particuliar lake who catches the larger trophy fish with a regular pattern? Everyone blames the "Golden Spoon" luck theory for the angler's repeated success. With a little investigative searching and interviewing you will discover the countless hours of work that it takes to become a successful trophy size striper angler.
         I have related the characteristics of a big striper with the same traits of a big trophy whitetail buck. Neither has reached their trophy size standards or avoided the den walls of many well deserved sportsman by being dumb. Both have become loners as age continued to make them wiser.
         With the growth rate at two and a half to four pounds per year, a thirty pound fish would be between eight and eleven years old. During his lifespan he has learned the contours of the bottom just as the wise old buck knows the deep woods and just as you know your own kitchen. In most cases, the fish have been hooked on numerous occasions and by some lucky means escaped only to become a little more weary of the sharp point of a hook.
         It takes a special breed of person to dedicate his days to learning the tricky ways
of a big trophy size fish. It takes strength to move off a huge school of surface feeding small stripers in search of a big fish that seems to drive some anglers to an obsession.
        I have dedicated my entire career to searching for the special breed of "Big Stripers". I have been fortunate enough to take several hundred fish in the trophy size class, but the thoughts of a big striper striking a topwater lure or live bait sends an electrifying feeling down my spine.
         As with any style of fishing, it is a must to establish some sort of pattern to become successful on a regular basis. I have noticed one helpful characteristic that will improve your odds on a big fish. A big striper is a dominating creature of habit. In simple terms, he likes to rule a certain area without the intrusion of numbers of smaller fish, and he will generally show up at the same general area at the same time every day. This pattern will continue until a drastic change occurs. such as a severe storm, or the baitfish moves and leaves the feeding striper no reason to return to his dominating area. when you have discovered the presence of a big fish on a point or some type of structure, don't give up on him after one strike. Return to the same area the next day at the same time and you will probably see some sort of activity from the same fish. Experiment with different color lures, or maybe a change from topwater to a diving bait. I have seen several occasions when with a different approach from left to right or a change up of the angle you are presenting. your cast will sometimes provoke the fish into a vicious strike.
         I had a similar circumstance happen last April while fishing my home lake on Norris. Norris, of course is noted for the numbers of trophy fish it produces each year. I noticed a monstrous fish chasing a big gizzard shad across the surface on a sand bar not far from my house. As I worked a chrome colored Redfin across the point where the big fish had been feeding, he struck at the lure with one of the most explosive strikes I have ever witnessed. On most occasions with this type of nerve racking hits, if you can keep your control and simply let the lure lay still for a second with no movement. the feeding fish will instantly come back for a second try, this time usually taking the lure. But this was not the case with this big fish. He knocked the bait over four feet in the air and nothing else happened -- no swirl and no more feeding action. The next morning I went back to the same point at the same time. needless to say. nervous as a cat. On my first cast the big striper blew
a hole in the water as big as a truck bed and was gone. This went on for four days. The striper would strike the lure in no more than five casts. I had sharpened hooks and put 30 pound test line on in hope of catching this monster of a fish, but every day it was one strike and he was gone. On the fifth day I took a guide party out and headed for my honey hole, not mentioning anything to my customers about the big fish. I worked the point with a dozen or so casts but no strike. I thought to myself the big fish had finally gone. The fisherman in the center of my boat had not even tied on a lure as I was busily firing cast after cast at the point. As I positioned the boat so he could get in a cast, I noticed he had tied on a gray colored Redfin. I didn't say anything because I thought the big striper had left the area. On his first cast the monster struck the bait and was gone. I couldn't believe he had raised the fish after I had made so many perfectly positioned casts. The fellow in the back was throwing the same color bait I was, with no luck. On the next pass the fish made a tremendous boil under the gray Redfin. Seeing this I fished harder but nothing happened. I had spent a week after this one fish and wanted him very badly. As I made my last pass down the deep sandbar, the center man cast the gray Redfin across the point. The surface erupted and white water exploded in the air as the fish took the bait. After a 15 minute battle, I slid the net under a beautiful 45 pounder.
         This fish had stayed in the same general area for almost a week. He would show
up at the same time almost every morning. The mistake I had made was not changing to
different colored baits to entice the striper into taking the lure.
         When looking for a dominating big fish, I don't always concentrate on structure
located near very deep water. I have caught numerous trophy size fish on secondary points in the back of feeder creeks in the spring, far away from the deep water of the river channel. I believe one reason for this is that the big stripers will sometimes seek refuge from boat traffic or heavy fishing pressure. Sometimes the off beat areas of a cove or an isolated underwater hump will produce the larger fish.
          Always try to think like a fish who is wise to artificial lures and noisy boat traffic.
When approaching a good area I use a rule which is simple and effective. I never disturb
the surface area of the water where I am going to fish. Never wash any waves up on the
point you are approaching. Sometimes I will stop a hundred yards out and go in on
the trolling motor. Never slam the trolling motor down into the holding bracket. If you
have ever thumped on the glass of an aquarium and watched the small fish run for their
lives, what do you think a wise old striper will do when he hears all the commotion?
          Underwater structure for a big striper will vary on different lakes. I like old runoff ditches running down into the lake in areas of 30 to 40 foot deep. Big solitary stripers will hold on either lip of the ditch or settle down toward the bottom of the ditch waiting on an easy meal. Big fish will stay very close to the deep water side of a hump or flat. This enables them to quickly escape any danger or disturbance and will also allow for an escape route to avoid schools of smaller fish which will provide out-numbered competition if a school of bait fish shows up.
        The theory about big lures/big fish is only true in some part. By using an extra large
lure it eliminates the possibility of a small fish. There again, on rare occasions, a seven pound striper will eat a foot long shad. In many cases one or two big stripers will be present among a hundred aggressive small fish. These fish are much faster than a big striper and will get a medium size bait before you can blink your eye. If a big fish is what you have on your mind, use big lures and big live bait to eliminate the bait-stealing smaller fish.
         I have found when live bait is the ticket for a big striper, the bait should, if at all possible, be caught in the lake you are fishing. Many anglers. especially out-of-town anglers, will transport live bait, either shad or herring, from their home lake or river. In many cases, particularly in the hot summer months. shad can only be caught in great numbers below the dams in the fast water. On an all day trip it will usually take four to six dozen baits to effectively keep a good lively shad on at all times, so most anglers will make sometimes a long drive to these areas to insure they have plenty of bait. Again, a big striper is very wise and will notice small differences in bait sizes and shapes. A gizzard shad that is caught from the clear water of a lake is usually fatter and has a lighter color than that of a river shad. As unimportant as this may seem, it will make a difference.
         I have developed a method on Norris that I have used on several other lakes that will work on any lake that has a population of big stripers. As I mentioned, the bait in the summer months can only be obtained below the power houses, which in my case is 180 miles round trip. These shad will catch fish, and everyone on the lake uses them because the big lake shad are almost impossible to catch. If I have a customer who is only interested in one trophy size fish and not numbers, I have a method I use to catch a few of the big lake shad around some areas of cooler water in the lake. I usually know the areas where the dominating trophy size fish are located. I always catch the big shad just before I intend to use them, so they are as strong and lively as possible. I know when I put the baits down it won't take long for one of them to get eaten up by an over size striper.
        Many times I have put six or eight rods down with river shad, and only one with a big lake shad, and the strike will always come on the lake shad. The lake shad have a golden color on their backs, where the river shad are a dark gray. The lake shad has a shorter, chunkier body than the same gizzards from the river. These small characteristics have a definite edge on a big fish.
         In the spring topwater season, a big fish will sometimes strike at a top water lure
with his tail, seemingly telling you he knows it is artificial. When this happens, and I know he is a fish in the trophy size class, I will put a big lake shad on a free line with no weight and run it 75 or 100 yards behind the boat. Be very quiet and let the boat drift across the area where you last saw the fish and 'Hold On To Your Hat". Many times the big striper will chase the big shad to the surface and explode with a heart-pounding strike as you watch the doomed shad trying to escape. When this happens, all the hard work and no sleep is forgotten.
         I use the seasonal migration patterns to my advantage every year. In the spring, all
stripers are supposed to be up in the headwaters or around the large feeder creeks. This is true in part, but all stripers don't move at the same time. Some of the larger fish will hold back there again, avoiding the intrusion of the boat traffic and many smaller fish. While most anglers will all be waiting in line to get in a cast at his favorite point, I will work the almost unfished areas around the big water or on smaller, not so popular feeder creeks. The summer and fall patterns work in the same manner. If a lake has a population of big fish, you can always find a few big fish somewhere in all areas of the lake during the entire year.
          A trophy size striper can have different weight variations in different lakes. In some lakes, a 20 pounder is a once in a lifetime fish, where other lakes will produce 30 pound fish quite frequently. Whichever weight pattern matches your lake, the older, wiser fish can be stubborn and seem to avoid your livewell. If you have a place dusted on your den wall for a striper in the trophy class, the tricks and methods I have learned from years of hard work and practice will cut long hours from that exciting moment when your first trophy fish is in the landing net.    *
 
 

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