The months of May and June can be a feast or famine period for striper and hybrid anglers
across the country.  No other time of the year are stripers scattered in so many different areas
on one body of water. Varied water temperatures will send certain schools of fish toward deep water while others will continue to congregate
around early spring hangouts. To some anglers this may spell bad news and hours of wasted time searching for a school of feeding stripers. To a person who does his homework and uses a few simple factors in his favor, this may be one of the most  productive periods during the year.
        The transition period is when water temperatures hover around the 70 degree mark and stripers can't seem to make up their minds on what depths to hold or what part of the lake to travel to next. In most lakes, some fish will travel up major rivers and feeder creeks on an early false spawning run. These fish will be reversing their paths and working their way back down toward the open body section of the lake. In other instances. many fish will be late spawning and move up in the feeder creeks and headwaters late in the season due to abnormally cool weather or currents. This may seem confusing. but these factors can be used to any angler's benefit when applied in the correct manner.
        These scattered fish are harder to find for novice fishermen. With this in mind, most anglers will be scattered as much as the fish. Some will give up and wait for the fish to school up on their summer holes while others will catch a few fish. but never hitting on the right pattern.
        There are basically two simple patterns to use for these stripers during the transition period. You can gamble and sit and wait for the fish to come to you. which often is productive. or you can move around constantly looking. searching. casting and observing any slight hint that will give the stripers away. I have never been one to sit and wait for anything. My mother used to tell me I couldn't sit still for five minutes at a time. I watch our two boys and I know exactly what she meant.
        With some knowledge of the lake and the general vicinity of the fish. I believe my odds are better  this time of year if I move around until I develop a quick pattern for each individual day. The stripers are on the move due to their excessive desire to feed and the need to fulfill their spawning activities. If you find a point or a structure that holds fish today. don't bet your last dollar that they will be there tomorrow. I have found that stripers often feed so intensely that the fish will actually run the bait fish completely away from a particular area. In most cases. both the baitfish and the stripers won't go far. but far enough for some people to be unable to relocate the school.
        When choosing a particular method. it pays to observe the rapidly changing water temperatures which may change four or five degrees in a weeks' time. In the early part of May, I prefer a topwater bait as the water temperature remains cool enough for the stripers to be in shallow water early in the morning and in late afternoon. I prefer the hunt and move approach which enables me to cover more ground when searching for a productive area. I will simply approach the point or hump quietly and fan cast the area with a dozen or so long quick casts. If a striper is in the area, you will
get his attention with the first cast if you position your cast in the strike zone. If you don't get any action, move on to the next point, and keep plugging until you develop a pattern.
        With the surface temperatures in the 60's, a freeline or balloon rig with live bait works much better than a down line. I feel larger fish will continue to show up around the mouths of major feeder creeks as long as schools of bait fish are present.
          Many anglers fail to observe the slowly rising water temperatures that will cut down on surface activity in the low light hours. As the water temperatures rise to the 70 degree mark, stripers will feed at a deeper level, This will happen gradually as the striper becomes less aggressive and will simply make a lazy boil as he checks out your surface lures. This is a time when most anglers run into trouble. When the fish won't strike the surface lures, most fishermen feel the stripers have moved to another section of the lake where deep summer holding areas are present.
        Ironically, most stripers are on the same structure they were on a few weeks before. The only difference is their feeding patterns are a little too deep to draw attention on the surface lures, but the stripers metabolism has not become quite active enough to use large live bait or weighted down lines. I have experimented with several different deep diving artificials and a few other methods, but the old faithful bucktail will produce more fish during the transition period. The bucktail will catch fish which are still feeding on small thread-fins and will get the attention of the stripers that are interested in big gizzards. Stripers can be caught on bucktails during the entire spring run, and when all other methods fail during this tough transition period. the bucktail will continue to produce fish.
        As long as the fish arc very aggressive on top and smash on topwater lure with no hesitation. I won't fool with the jigs. Toward the latter part of May. as the water warms, stripers will only swirl lazily at the lures, as I mentioned earlier. When this happens on a continuous basis. it is time to dig out the bucktails. In the late spring and early summer. I prefer a half ounce jig with a football shaped head. The length of the actual hair on the jig is very important. Hair at least four inches long will allow the bait to fall on a gradual incline which will always draw more strikes. I use a six-inch twister tail for a trailer during these periods. I like to cut half of the body off so the entire jig-trailer combination is six to seven inches long. I have tried several color combinations. but the white jig and white trailer combo seem to work best for me.
        While the fish will swirl a top water lure. I like to keep a jig tied on another rod that I can get to quickly. By using a the fast approach from one point to another and casting the top water lure across the structure, stripers are easy to visually locate on the surface. After you locate a good area as the fish swirl the top water lures, cast the bucktails directly in the same area.   Most anglers let the jigs go too deep before  beginning  their  retrieve. Remember, a striper will not travel down after a lure or bait, so it is important that you retrieve the jigs above their heads.
        A 7-1/2 foot good quality, graphite rod with a medium heavy action is better for casting jigs. The long stiff rod will cast even a small jig a good distance. Stripers will strike the jigs very lightly, so all you may feel is a slight tap on the line. The name of the game, when using jigs this time of year, is reflex. A striper will take the lure and spit it back out before you can blink your eyes. As soon as you feel the tap, set the hook and hold on. Any good level wind or spinning reel will work with bucktails. The trick is line size. A jig will not develop a natural fall with a heavy line. A good quality 14-pound test is an excellent choice. With a half ounce jig and trailer combo, it will drop with just the right descent.
        After I make a cast toward the structure, I irnrnediately begin my retrieve with a slow sweeping motion of the rod. (Figure 1). The depth of the lure can be determined by allowing the lure to fall a few extra seconds before dropping the rod slowly reeling up the slack as you go. It is a must that contact with the lure is maintained. A striper will always strike a jig as it falls toward the bottom. In the months of May and June, I fish bucktail from 10 to 20 feet deep. Remember. most stripers will be on the same structure they were on earlier in the spring. but just a little deeper.
        As the water continues to warm and the fish completely ignore the topwater lures, which usually occurs in early June. the hunt and move approach continues to be effective. During the transition period. I feel more confident by picking out a certain area, say a couple of square miles and working it thoroughly before moving up or down the lake a great distance. Even though the fish are constantly on the move and scattered over the entire lake, a particular school of fish will remain in a general area until the hot weather forces them to migrate toward deeper cooler water much further away. Pick out an area and work every possible piece of structure where a fish might hold. If you get a strike or catch a fish on a point, return to the same point in an hour or so and you will probably catch another fish. Stripers run in large schools during this time of year and, often several fish can be caught off one point before the school is spooked.
        Last June, I was working a bucktail on a point which had always produced a few fish in the past. I hooked a fish which weighed about ten pounds. When I first saw him just under the surface in the clear water, I could not believe my eyes. There must have been a dozen fish swimming alongside the fish I had hooked. Some of the stripers were actually trying to take the lure away from the fish I had on my hook. Needless to say. using the bucktails for the next hour or so, I caught fish until I was tired of catching them. Since the stripers are scattered over the entire lake. it is hard to pinpoint one type of structure that will be more productive than another. I have always been partial to underwater humps with water depths of 20 feet or less on the high spot and deeper water around the base. underwater humps are harder to locate for most fishermen and usually get a lot less fishing pressure than points or above-water structures. As the water warms during transition periods. new algae growth on rock bottoms draws gizzard shad like magnets.
        When you are fishing a lake that has a heavy mud, gravel or sand bottom. an underwater hump with a shelf y rock bottom can often be a hot spot. The best time to locate these areas is in the winter during  low water levels.
        Once you have located a good underwater hump, don't make the mistake of pulling the boat up on the fish. Underwater structures with no landmarks can be very productive, especially if the wind is blowing. Watch your depth finder and position the boat in the area where the bottom begins the upward incline on the high spot. With a long cast with the bucktail, you should be able to work the top of the hump facing the open water areas (Figure 2). This is usually the best area. I have caught fish late in the day toward the end of May and in June on humps located in the upper headwaters of the lake and traveled to the lower end and caught a good fish from a similar hump 60 miles away.
        Night fishing with the Storm, Baby Mac picks up when the water warms. The clean gravel or sand banks with a gradual sloping incline seem to attract fish best. The stripers will be right up on the bank in water often less than three or four feet deep. The Baby Mac with its strawberry red color pattern seems to be the ticket during the transition periods. These lures run four to five feet down and should be cast as close to the bank as possible and retrieved with a steady medium motion. As with daytime fishing of the jigs, the stripers continue to be scattered in different areas. The advantage to this is that numerous places may hold a few fish instead of a few places holding a lot of fish. This factor enables any angler a chance to catch at least a few fish if he puts in a few hours of casting during the night.
        Night bait fishing picks up toward the last of June as the water temperatures rise and fish become more active and feed on larger bait. Free line and balloon rigs seem to have the advantage during the first part of the month when worked over shallow humps and points. As the water skiers begin their trial runs with temperatures rising, down rods become more effective. The thermocline will become a factor in the last half of the month and most fish will hold around 20 to 25 feet deep. As the water warms above the 70 degree mark, almost all striper and hybrids will hold in the area of the thermocline.
        The transition period for stripers depends on seasonal weather patterns in any part of the nation. No other time of the year can striper and hybrids be caught by using so many different methods.
 
 

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