Striper night bite at C-land

[voeller101]

Has anyone been catching any stripers at night on Cumberland? Used to have fun throwing a Little Mac or Sliver but haven't done it in a couple of years.

[JUSTINHALL]

Sorry but got no info on this, I have not heard of anyone fishing for them at night during the winter. They may or may not bite; I do know they are not biting just before dark in the common areas right now. A month ago I could catch them for about an hour before dark and just a little after dark. The last few times I tried the evening bite it was not happening at the surface, I was marking them down around 55 feet deep on bottom or at least close to the bottom. I checked just a few days ago actually, Saturday just before dark and nothing, but Sunday morning they were at the surface hitting.
Good luck if you do go I would be interested in knowing if it produced for you or not.

[JimDi]

We noticed that the stripers were deep in the evening and on the surface in the morning, as you mentioned. What time do you think these fish actually move shallower? It may be possible to get out a couple of hours before first light and catch them. I have heard of people fishing at nite during the winter(never tried it myself).

[Mean Morone]

My buddy and I used to look forward to fall every year so we could hit some stripers at night. The last time we fished it at night(couple of years ago) the bite was way off. We caught a few stripers on Gizz 4's but they were short fish. We aren't coming back until the big boys start cruising again. The bite is different. Most times you have to wait a couple of hours after sunset before the stripers will start biting. Sometimes they wont start until 1 a.m. You just never know. I used to really look forward to this kind of fishing, but I think we will give it a rest for a few years.

[Lowerider]

APB where you at? There's a few diehard winter time after dark buck tail chuckers on here.

[apb]

APB where you at? There's a few diehard winter time after dark buck tail chuckers on here.

Like MeanMorone, I used to love fishing nights in the winter on Cumberland. Used to be pretty consistant action. As long as you were not post cold front, bucktails and cranks on the red clay in the creeks produced stripers from Dec-April. Last winter I don't think I got out once. Very few weekends with ok weather, and had other stuff going on. Have not been on Cumberland since the end of May. Looking forward to 4-5 years after the dam issues are resolved the the lake has stablized.

Andrew

[bassmaster]

Two winters ago in December at night we were catching them on the flats across from Jamestown at night on DD22s. Fish were very nice running 15-20 pounds. A friend of mine used to fish it alot and has caught some 30+ pounders fishing at night in the winter. He isn't able to do it now but when I went with him 3-4 years ago we caught em on little macs on the flat mud/gravel banks mostly on the main lake but some in the creeks also (Beaver or Otter mostly). Haven't been in a couple years now and I realize that the bigger ones are very hard to find now but I hope this helps if you go give it a try. Please post a report if you do.
Thanks and Merry Christmas all,
Tim

[RGriffith]

It's been several years for me as well, but we too used to fish the Jamestown area at night and did pretty well. But like i said, it's been several years since i've been. I was actually looking at some old pics the other night, and had some pics in December of 2007 and i'm in a short sleeve shirt the next morning at the boat dock taking pics with one about 20 pounds if i remember right it only got down to about 48 degrees that night.. it's got me wanting to go really soon, I'm hoping to get to go during the Christmas break

[striperjoe]

Like MeanMorone, I used to love fishing nights in the winter on Cumberland. Used to be pretty consistant action. As long as you were not post cold front, bucktails and cranks on the red clay in the creeks produced stripers from Dec-April. Last winter I don't think I got out once. Very few weekends with ok weather, and had other stuff going on. Have not been on Cumberland since the end of May. Looking forward to 4-5 years after the dam issues are resolved the the lake has stablized.

Andrew

Hope I live that long Andrew. Sold our home there in July and got a thing going on at Lake Erie, Port Clinton Ohio. Needed a change.

[HURRICANEBOB]

Hope I live that long Andrew. Sold our home there in July and got a thing going on at Lake Erie, Port Clinton Ohio. Needed a change.

Striper,

If you're guiding up there, shoot an email to [email protected] with a link and or contact info. Wife and I sometimes do a Put in Bay Trip/Vacation, and we'd absolutely enjoy hooking up for an Erie fishing trip.

[JimDi]

When you fish for them at nite, is it OK to use black lights??

[Duayne]

You want to put as little light as possible on the water. Some try to get away with turning all boat lights off. I don't recommend this, but state it to show how deeply some feel about artificial light on the water. I have a special anchor light that only puts out light on the top half of the globe. Some people install paper plates just under the globe to limit light shining on the water. I'm not sure what spectrums stripers see, but I would think they have some ultra violet spectrum capacities.