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If the Stripers are on fire, hitting anything and everything that swims, that's one thing...but if it's like I think it is, which is slim pickens, tough fishin' and a man has to go down kickin' and scratchin' and fightin' just to get one or two fish then in my mind it ain't worth it. In my own personal opinion.
It's entirely possible, and maybe actually more probable, that if the guides are having trouble during the day then the stripers are doing something else. One very good option would be feeding in the late evening/night. So right now it would be worth a shot. I've seen many times during the winter that you couldn't hardly buy a bite until after the sun was going down then all heck would break loose. Stripers may not feed as much in the winter, but they will feed.
Sometimes its just finding out when...
yall crazy
Duayne is right, winter night fishing can be great. Just like any fishing, it can also be a bust.
The rest of you are acting like a bunch of Marys :p A whole lot less boats on the lake to deal with, you can usually park your rig reaaal close to the ramp, and do some good catching. Whats not to like? Just have to take a few extra precautions. I always pack an extra set of clothes, a couple extra layers, have a small stove, propane heater, some extra food and a couple cans of soup, and emergancy gear. Plus let someone else know that you are going. Yeah, if there is a winter storm warning or things are real ugly, stay home. Normal winter weather, go for it.
Andrew
Well said Andrew...."Meow"
Well actually I did go night fishing Sunday night at Cumberland. Left the house around Midnight and made it to Burnisde ramp around 3 after stopping at just about every Speedway on the way for another frozen Coke Slushie, (thanks Hens for getting me addicted to these things). Walked the bank and casted redfins, slivers and swim baits for an hour or so to nothing. Then went into town and found a place to get some breakfast before the real fun was to begin. Met JustinHall at the ramp at daylight. Let me tell you fellas this Man is setup for striper fishing. Big 22foot center console Triton, with 225 Merc, 8'GLoomis rods with shimano Katako or something like this fantastic reels on each, the man is set up. Good thing I did not take my boat for I would have launched and night fished and made it about 50 yards before destroying my boat. We needed a chainsaw to get out of burnside. He took me to his favorite creek and we idled around looking for birds and bait, then started casting big swim baits. he caught 1 a bit under 10lbs and that was all we caught for the day. Had plenty of birds and bait and stripers were rolling but not busting. he said it was very weird that they were not hitting. He had 6 on Sat that all went between 18 and 23lbs each. he pulled umbrella rigs, down rods and other stuff plus I casted until my arm fell off but that was it. I sure did learn a tremendous amount and am confident that I don't need to night fish for them this time of year, but I WILL just because I am dedicated like that. But I will wait for the lake to clear up some before trying. I am also confident that I can find the bait and know what to do when I do. Justin is a super nice guy that took me out, would not take a nickle for gas or other, plus gave me a custom boat cover for my boat, which was the initial reason for me going down there in the first place. I called him Sunday night to ask about the night fishing and he told me to leave my boat at home and he would take me out in his. What a nice guy he is and one heck of a Striper fisherman to boot. For all the jerks that you meet behind the keyboard, you come across people like him that would do anything for a fella. I know I am one like that and have met many more on this board and others like it just the same. I may get mad when people don't share info back with me when I have poured the info to them in advance then they "supposively" whack 60 more fish than I do the same 4 day period on the same lake where they had not gotten a bite in 3 years but when you ask what did they figure out they give you the cold shoulder, but met more people like Justin, Mike, Mike, Mark, Lee, Vaun, Ryan and those that I forgot that are real nice fellas. Thanks again Justin for a great day on the water and I owe you a Dale trip to throw the buggy whip around. Elnut
Sounds like you had a better trip than most of us since we were most likely snoozing lol
[QUOTE=bereabasser;350945]Sounds like you had a better trip than most of us since we were most likely snoozing lol[/QUOTE]
I SNOOZED last night after being up from Sunday morning at 7:30am to 11pm Monday night straight plus the drive down and back and all day on the water, I slept like a BABY!!
Elnuts:
Did you guys try any mid sized spoons (3/4 oz or so) fished sub surface? I do well with those when the fish are rolling on top over open water.
please dont eat smallmouth anymore......
[QUOTE=Duayne;350967]Elnuts:
Did you guys try any mid sized spoons (3/4 oz or so) fished sub surface? I do well with those when the fish are rolling on top over open water.[/QUOTE]
We did not try any spoons and I did what the man told me to do. Basically, except for my paid guide trips that I have been on it was one of the few times where I was in the boat where I was not the guide. Kind of nice for Justin to say we are going here, he even tied on my swimbait for me while I was parking the truck, here we are cast that way, let it sink for so many seconds then reel in. Bait was there, birds were there and fish were rolling on the surface not actually busting the surface but even then they should have hit what we were throwing. Justin flat out knows what he is doing and I never questioned any tactics that he tried. Even when the birds stopped working the shad he put down a couple of umbrella rigs and we trolled just trying to let me catch one. He even made a comment, "no way I can go back home and tell my wife that you did not catch even one". Tried his best and I appreciate his efforts, but that is why it is called Fishing. I learned a lot and plan on doing just what he showed me many more times this winter and do plan on actually putting in before dark and night fishing it as well. When the water stabilizes and all the floaters are gone plus it clears up, then I will be out there. People catch them at night on topwater and trolling all the time in spring and summer on the main lake so what is the difference in the winter up in the creeks. Should have the ramp to myself and creeks to myself as well. Love to night fish and do it a LOT by myself with no problems so I don't see anything wrong with it. I will figure these fish out as well.
I have been night fishing in Dec for years on Cumberland but did not go this year. All it takes is more clothes and low above 28. I get tired of busting the ice out of the rod eyes at about 28.
I have more luck on a Little Mac and jigs than anything else at night in the winter.
Watch out for that 3 am fog. Most times it is either go in before 3 or stay until sun-up.