C-land Night Bite Wolf Creek/Caney Fork

Guys, I am heading to Cumberland for some night time stripers Saturday 4/29 and Sunday 4/30. I will be in the Wolf Creek/Caney Fork area. Can anyone help me with some tips for this part of the lake. I was wondering about the middle of the creek vs the mouth of the creek, top water vs deep diver/suspending, color, and debris conditions. I am taking a largemouth fisherman who has never caught a striper before and am hoping to show him what all the fuss is about. Any help would be appreciated.
Thanks
Brian

Probably the mouth or the main lake by that time. Bluff walls. Throw your plug within 2 feet of the bank. Long parallel casts. Red Fin if they are on top (you'll hear them!) or sliver subsurface.

Andrew

You're finally going, huh? Momma let you out of the house? Who's the LM fisherman? Went to Cave Run yesterday for 4 hours and had one that went over 5 lbs and 5 other short fish. Dad got a huge musky to the boat but we couldn't land it 'cause it wouldn't fit in the net. It was every bit of 36". She eneded up taking one of my bandit cranks with her. Good luck at Cumberland and let me know how you do. Bill

Andrew

Thanks for the feedback. If anyone else has any information on the conditions for this end of the lake regarding the night bite, I would be interested in hearing them. I will be happy to report back on monday 5/1/06 on how we did.

Brian

Leeaving tomorrow, any last minute updates?

So we went Saturday and Sunday night. Saturday night we found a deep cove at the mouth of Wolf and Caney (water was very calm). We heard lots of ale wives and some blow ups. Ale wives started around 10 and blow ups started around 11:30 and ended around 4. We casted red fins and slivers picking up one stiper around 10 lb towards the back of the cove on a red fin around 12am. However we did limit out on tree fish. Sunday we went to the same cove for about 2 hours with some but little activity. So we moved to a steep bluff wall toward the mouth of Wolf. Thanks Andrew. This area had lots of activity. Probably 60-70 blow ups in a 3 hour period. Most coming around the points. We casted red fins and slivers mostly, picking up one 19 lb stiper on a red fin around 5 am. The bow ups ended shortly after 5am. While the activity was there, we could not seem to get them to bite our lure. Three times they smacked the lure but did not grab it. The conditions seemed perfect but I wish we would have tried some other lures. I was stuck on red fin.

What other lures would you try (Buzzbaits, Poppers, Jigs)? If you have a head lamp facing up at the shore will this affect the fishing? For the red fin what kind of speed would you reccomend? We were woking the bank like largemouth fishing with lots of cast, is this correct? Instead should we have listened and stalked the blow ups with few cast? We may try to go back Thursday night.

When i have been in an active group of stripers feeding on the surface, i have had good luck with large Chug-bugs. Seen some viscous strikes on them, try them next time you are in an active group of fish.

Try a large Zara Spook and really pop it. When the alewives are really active you have to draw their atention to the lure. You will get some amazing strikes.

You probably found some fish that were feeding just below the surface and splashing at the surface rather than feeding there. Stripers will do this quite regularly. The sliver would have probably cleaned up. The difference in the sound is a large POP, similar to a gun shot versus a loud commotion or splash. Last time I was down, the fish would move in in packs. I'd hook up with one while another would splash. Could have been many more down there at the same time as the one you hear on top. Point being, it's fun to get the top water bite, but it's more fun to get a sub-surface bite then nothing at all. Change up sometimes even if you get a bite or two on one bait. Could be another bait will work even better.

If you have a partner, throw different baits if you haven't found the honey bait. Change cadence on sub-surface baits. Last time, they liked the Sliver moving faster in an erratic stop and go. Other times, they like the sliver moved fast at first, then slowed down. The Sliver sinks, so sometimes you need to count it down at a one or two before you start the retrieve.

What size Red Fin? If they were slapping at it, might try another size to see if they will take that better. Like Duayne said, if you are not hearing the cannonball sound, try subsurface.

With a surface plug, I like a slow retrieve leaving a nice wake.

Concentrate on keeping the plug close to the bank. Land it within 2 feet of the bank and make parallel casts to the bank. Don't worry about trying to cast at the blowups. In most cases, the fish has hit the bait and moved out to deep water. Keep your plug in the zone and they'll find it if they are there and feeding.

Andrew

Yes, as Andrew said, a slow steady retrieve on the red fin. Fast enough to make a "V" wake but not so fast that the lure dives below the surface. The retrieve I spoke of was for the Sliver. Do not try to target the blasts, you will be like a dog chasing his tail all night long. If you find a good spot, where fish are blowing up regularly and it is calm, STOP and SIT. Cast to the same spot that has had several blow ups over and over. Get close to the bank and cast Par to it. Have a bucktail or fluke rigged and ready. If a Striper blows your bait up without a hookup, continue but have a buddy follow in right behind you with one of these baits. If you are alone, and you continue a few cranks without a followup, stop and cast the fluke or bucktail yourself.
Many times Stripers surface hit to stun more than devour. They will stun bait and wait for it to fall, where it is easier to eat. Following with a "stunned" type bait will get a soft bite, but hopefully a bite just the same. The bait is already stunned so there is no need to slam it again. The fish will simply swallow it.

As for the head lamp, leave it off until you hook a tree bass, need to retie, your work on your reel.

We were using 7 inch red fins. Looks like we will not make it down until next Thursday May 11th, Friday, and Saturday . I will let you all know how we did. I really appreciate all the feedback. Thank You. If anything new comes up between now and the 11th I would be interested in hearing the suggestions. Thanks again.
Brian