Local angler Bruce Gronen from Lakeshore Drive off Mundell with a 17-pound striper he caught August 28 with his daughter Julianne Gronen, who booked the trip as a 50th anniversary gift. I asked why his better half was not with us and found out she didn’t like fishing and went shopping. Funny, fun people.
The bigger fish was 35 inches and about 22 pounds, caught both by Julianne and friend Ed Stoneman. She fought it for a bit then he fought it a bit, then after resting her arms a bit she finished it off by bringing it to the net. We went south to the Rocky Branch area and found bigger fish than we have been catching up here by the dam. We caught both fish late, with the sun high pushing close to noon, about 15 minutes apart. Both fish were caught on big shad 7 – 9 inches, down between 34 and 38 feet in water about 57 feet deep.
Water temp cooled a bit with that cold front but is back close to 85°, so get below the thermocline which is running about 28 feet. I’m ready to drop the weights and see big stripers run that bait on the top, but still have about three weeks to go. Usually mid-September we get a really good cold front that gets that water temp back in the 70s and the fall bite is on with stripers cruising closer to the shoreline and surface
The fall bite is like the spring bite but not as busy due to kids being back in school and the men start thinking deer. Stripers love the cold water and get pretty active feeding hard to fatten up for the spring spawn. If we get those bad ice storms that can drop the water temps below 46° then it’s winter for them, too. Some years we don’t even get that low so they stay active all winter, but for now go with 2 oz. weights and working spoons or trolling big deep divers. I keep a big spook tied on one rod for that top water bite if they decide to chase the bait to the top. Which we are seeing a little more of as the days get shorter and cooler.
Stripers are still being caught on spoons at night up against the dam. You need to hold the boat up against the buoys on our side, then throw 1 oz. spoons across the other side toward the dam. Let it go down 28 to 38 feet. Then just reel it in fast or drop it below the boat and jig it. Well that’s about it for this week.
Robert Johnson, fishofexcellence.com (479) 253-2258
P.S. Last week’s picture was of Kyle Basham from Allen, Texas, and he and his 17 lb. late night striper can be found on our website, eureka.news.