About Me

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Raleigh, NC
Born in Richmond, Virginia, grew up in Kernersville, North Carolina, and now reside in Raleigh. I attribute most of my fishing prowess to my father, who took me fishing often as a child. We would regularly do float trips on the James River in Virginia, which is where I learned to love canoeing and river fishing. Unfortunately, my father has passed, but he lives on through my passion for chasing fish from my canoes. I intend to pass this love for fishing and the outdoors onto my children and can't wait to share these experiences with them. I currently have 4 canoes: Customized Old Town Guide 119, Customized Mohawk 16 Royalex, Coleman Scanoe, and 12' Indian River Solo.

Sunday, August 7, 2011

Back for More Striper!

I was torn between chasing smallmouth or going back to the river I fished a month ago to see if the striper were still around.

I probably should have gone for the smallies as I haven't caught many this year.  However, it's tough to argue with success. 

Conditions
Ambient:  95 F (HOT!)
Water Temp: 88 F
Water was very clear with ~10 ft visibility

The shallow areas of the river exposed to sunlight were covered in hydrilla.  I started off in a small channel looking to snag a largemouth.  With the superclear water I decided to throw a buzzbait with my spinning reel and 10 lb braid because I could throw it very far and not spook the fish.  I only caught 2 (including the one below) this way and headed back to the main river.


I then headed to the striper zone to see if they were still there from my last trip.  I pulled up in the area and 3 guys in a john boat were fishing where I wanted to anchor up.  There were also 4 or 5 people fishing from the opposite bank.  The boat left shortly after I pulled into the area and I went to work.  I caught 2 striper here on a Bomber Walkie Talkie right in front of the spectators.  I didn't see anyone else catching fish.



I floated downstream into a deep area with current.  I started bombing casts out into the open and caught 4 more striper including these guys. 


Paddled back to the put-in area as the sun was setting and went back to the buzzer.  Caught a few largemouth around some shallow rocky areas before a T-storm moved in and drove me out.


It was a good afternoon/evening of fishing and I managed to avoid getting struck by lightning.

-Jeff

3 comments:

Feather Chucker said...

Nice fish, glad to see you got out.

Neil Joyce said...

you are a beast. I am glad that I have the fever, but dang I don't have much time to get out and fish! Looking forward to the trip we are setting up at the Sept.

Mack said...

Nice!.....wish i could get out.....Great job..Mack