During the course of each season many successful anglers develop their skills
                into a talent that produces excellent strings of stripers and hybrids on a continuing basis.
                Not all these fishermen are guides who are supposed to know every rock and crevice on
                the lake's bottom. Many are weekend anglers who have adapted to conditions that are
                anything but the standard methods of producing stripers and hybrids.
                                The secret of any successful angler is versatility. The kind of know how that comes
                from hard work and experience that instinctively directs an angler to different areas of the
                lake or to a quick change of methods or lures is a definite advantage.
                                Too many anglers fall into a single category in which they are labeled a "live bait man"
                or a "downrigger" or even a "nighttime fisherman". Individual fishermen may have periods
                when they are hot as an old tin roof as long as the fish don't move or change depths.
                When the worst occurs, they are faced with problems that are solved by simply giving up and
                going home.
                              To be a consistent producer, never overlook any method that has been proven in the past.
                The main topic on the list is to catch fish. No artificial lure fisherman should be ashamed to
                buy a bait tank and drown a few shad in the hot summer months.  In turn, a die-hard live
                bait man should always have  supply of bucktails and top water lures in his tackle box to
                meet any condition, because at no one time of the year will any given method always produce
                heavy strings of fish.
                             I have been on the losing bench several times in the spring, as an excellent top water
                fisherman would take more and larger fish than I would with the best looking shad on the lake.
                Changing seasonable weather conditions will alter surface conditions beyond a stripers
                comfort range. This will not only send a striper or hybrid to different depth ranges, but
                possibly to a different section of the lake.
                             With the continued advancements in electronics, if you have a good quality graph or
                video on your rig and it does not show fish, the fish are simply not there. Don't make the
                mistake of sitting on a dead hole waiting for a passing fish. This is a gamble that usually
                doesn't pay off.
                            Whether you are a newcomer or an old sunburned professional, never be too proud
                to ask questions and benefit from the good fortune and hard work of someone else. Most
                anglers will trade knowledge if a approached with a friendly attitude, because they have
                learned from experience that their own good fortune may last only a short while.  It never
                fails that rumors spread about a successful fisherman who has resorted to illegal means to
                gain fame and fortune. In most cases, these tales are untrue and the result of jealous people
                who are not willing to put in the long hours and hard work that it takes to become a top
                producer on a regular basis.
                            If your sights are set on catching stripers and hybrids throughout the entire year, it is
                essential that you learn at least the basics of several different styles of fishing and leave your
                stubborn pride at the dock. Educate yourself on your own home lake,  and spend more time
                concentrating your efforts on that one lake, instead of bouncing from one lake to another
                following fish tales and rumors that will only put a big goose egg on your score card.
                            Repeated success is no over-night accomplishment when dealing  with stripers and
                hybrids. With a winning attitude and the willingness to learn, this long road can be shortened

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