Been a slow week on fishing trips so I went out on my own Sunday afternoon to try my luck on getting some Beaver Lake stripers. I went about five miles south from the dam till I marked bait between Points 6 and 7, which is the Rocky Branch area.
About 4 p.m. the winds laidd down and it was on. I just had five bait rods out when three went down, one after another. I set the hook on one then grabbed the one pulling out the most drag as the 3rd popped loose. Got in the big one, then went for the 2nd one which already took out about 100 yards of line.
By the time I got him in my arms felt like rubber. With two fish in the floor and no time to even get in the live well I brought in the remaining three rods to find all were hit during the excitement. Got the two in the live well just in time to see fish busting the top again off the next flat, so put the troll motor on high and headed that way throwing a big Zara Spook. Hooked up and released two more stripers under 10 pounds, then decided to keep the third which was a little bigger at 14 pounds before losing the sun and heading home with my limit.
Water temp was running 68° and all bait rods were running 18 ft. behind balloons with no weights. I got about the same amount of meat out of these three fish that you would get from one deer and had a lot more fun.
Here at Holiday Island the cooler water is also putting walleye, crappie and bass in a good feeding mood with all three species being caught from here to Beavertown right off the edge of the flats, from the top to 12 ft. deep.
Minnows, jigs and crankbaits can get them throwing or trolling, along with throwing a top water bait when the water is smooth. I have a trip here at the Island Monday, but other then that my calendar’s pretty open with the afternoons being pretty good after these cool morning days.
If you have a boat, it’s way to soon to winterize it just because deer season is open. You can have a better day fishing now then in the heat of the summer and the fish aren’t running away as fast as a deer.
Well better go for now, good luck hunting whether for fish or game. My freezer is getting full with just a pole.
Robert Johnson, fishofexcellence.com, (479) 253-2258