Trout for bait

[jimbaird]

I am interested in using trout for striper bait.Does anyone know where I might purchase some near Cherokee Lake? Do you use these the same way you use shad?I heard they are easier to keep during the summer months. Thanks, Jim

[holstonangler]

There is some for sale in elizabethton, about 2 hours from there. Most of the striper fisherman who used to use them around here went back to shad. Even when the sripers run up the rivers, their primary forage is the gizzard shad. I know because i've put the knife to a few of them. Don't get me wrong, I've seen trout fisherman reeling in 16-17'' trout and seen stripers take it away from them or have seen trout doing back flips down the river to escape the jaws of death, but from past experience, other baits are more economical to use and catch them as good or not better than the trout do. You may want to try and find some large shiners, they stay alive alot longer than shad and are alot cheaper than trout.