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Name:	alahusker -	Reply
Subject:	Stripes
Date:	2/14/2009 11:10:19 PM

Stripernut/pontoonguy.. What's the deal?? After y'alls posts, got excited about stripe fishing.. I'm a year arounder on the lake, live on Pace Point and ain't a bad fisherman.. Today I pulled the bass boat to Alex City for black salties and launched on the Elkahatchie.. My buddy backed me and the boat in, and I remembered it was a good idea to put the plug in first (1st time in 15 years).. We pulled out, drained the bilge and headed to the bridge.. Lowrance said I found fish nearby , but the only fish to find saltie was a 2# spot.. cold, drizzly and breezy day but not a total loss.. Suggestions, or should I wait another month for the lake to rise and go back to minnows, jigs and crappie??

Name:	Pontoonfisher -	Reply
Subject:	Stripes
Date:	2/15/2009 7:45:41 AM

Are you sure the fish you were marking were stripe? On the fishfinder we use we can tell what are stripe and what are not. Last tuesday we marked stripe that were obviously not feeding. They were scattered around and we would see one or two at a time. Not one single hit in that area. Then we were able to find some schools of them that were agreesivley feeding. The fishfinder was absolutely stacked with fish. We could tell they were stripe by the size of the soundings on the fishfinder and the balls of bait they were chasing. The fact that the second school we found were busting shad 5 feet from the boat was a good indication too. If you don't see a substantial amount of bait or large fish in the area then I would not fish it. We always drive through an area and look for fish before we put our baits out. Sometimes we will move to 4 or 5 spots before we find fish. If you don't mark large fish in the area then you are wasting your time. Right now the fish seem to be holding in the 30 to 45 foot range at the mouths of the large creeks. It's like anything else. It just takes experience. Stripe are always on the move and it takes time to find them. If you really want to learn I would go with a guide at different times of the year to learn the techniques. That is how I learned alot about stripe fishing.

Name:	alahusker -	Reply
Subject:	Stripes
Date:	2/15/2009 4:11:48 PM

Thanks for an excellent response.. I need to update my electronics for a starter.. still using a Lowrance X75 and ain't great with interpertation. I can tell a ball of shad from a school of bigger fish, but that's about the limit.. Been with guides twice.. Way up the river with planer boards and shad in December.. did great. Down lining shad in the fall not far from here, near youngs island.. did ok.. I do well with schoolies, but have just not them up since early fall.. used to seem them year around from the deck looking toward the mouth of big sandy.. no birds/fish since late october.. Surprised you saw schooling fish up.. fished for the last 3 days and have not seen a ripple other than a loon... where were you, if i might ask.. Thanks again, hope to get on them soon but I still have enuff catfish and crappie in the freezer to get me thru spring..

Name:	Pontoonfisher -	Reply
Subject:	Stripes
Date:	2/16/2009 7:23:41 AM

This last trip was actully on Smith Lake. It sounds like your headed in the right direction. A better fishfinder will definatly help. We use a Humminbird 1197c SI. It is an absultely awesome fishfinder. The side sonar is amazing. Downside is the price. $3000.00. You will definatly want a fishfinder that can distinguish between spots and stripe. There are many times that we go out and just can't locate them, but when you do it makes all the time worth it. This last trip it tooks us 30 minutes to get six lines in the water because every time we put a line in the water a stripe nailed it.

Name:	stripernut -	Reply
Subject:	Stripes
Date:	2/16/2009 10:33:18 AM

Pontoonfisher,
I'm seriously thinking about getting the side sonar. I currently use the Lowrance 112 LCX, which is an awesome machine. Question - can you distinguish schools of stripes 200 ft to the side of the boat? You may not be able to answer this , but does the regular sonar signal on your unit show stripes as arcs and spaghetti like a Lowrance does (I have pics of this on my web site)? What I'm concerned about is switching units and having to spend a lot of time figuring out what a stripe signal looks like on the new machine. Thanks in advance for your help.
Wes

URL: http://www.lakemartinstripes.com

Name:	alahusker -	Reply
Subject:	Stripes
Date:	2/17/2009 9:10:51 AM

Guys,

I probably will not go the $3000 route, but certainly need better electronics.. Any suggestions re quality of display, ease of interpertation and $bucks$ would be appreciated..

Thanks,

Terry Burke

Name:	stripernut -	Reply
Subject:	Stripes
Date:	2/17/2009 9:38:46 AM

I would definitely get a color sonar/GPS combo with the ability to accept a Navionics chip. You should be able to get a machine with these characteristics for between $500 and $1000.
Wes

URL: http://www.lakemartinstripes.com

Name:	Lee Gantt -	Reply
Subject:	Stripes
Date:	2/17/2009 10:18:41 AM

I would agree that you definitely need a color sonar with gps capabilities to be consistently successful striper fishing. I have used just about all machines that you can imagine fishing with other people and in my opinion the lowrance cannot be beat. I currently run the lcx 112 and like it but it did take a little getting used to after running the lcx 110 for a couple of years. While this is the top of the line lowrance graph you could get the same results with a model like the lcx 27 which has been renamed this year but is the smaller color system. I have several friends that run that graph and love it! I would also recommend getting a 200kz skimmer transducer for the best performance out of your unit. The color lowrance after time will enable you to be able to distinguish between white, spotted and striped bass fairly easily by the color of the center of the arch on the graph better known as the swim blatter of the fish and the way in which the arcs are arranged on the graph. White bass will stack up with sharp vertical arches almost looking like christmas trees while spots will look very similar to stripers except the arches will appear to be thin pencil lines with very little color in the middle. With any graph it is going to take time to learn your system but with this kind of fishing it is highly important to know what you are looking at down there so you don't waste a bunch of time wondering why the "images" on your graph are not biting!

Name:	alahusker -	Reply
Subject:	Stripes
Date:	2/17/2009 10:49:36 AM

Thanks for the great info Guys.. Will get online and see what's out there.. The old X-75 has a been a good unit, in fact fished with then guide, Doug Patterson, 4 -5 years back and that was what he was running.. Guess the technology is like computers.. You gotta pitch what you are using every few years to stay up with the times..

Thanks again and as Wes says, 'tight lines.'

Terry Burke

Name:	alahusker -	Reply
Subject:	Stripes
Date:	2/18/2009 9:15:51 PM

Hate to keep bothering you with my electronics dilemma, but found the Lowrance 27 lcx, 200 mghz transducer and antenna for about $780.. new on ebay.. think that would work?? Transom mount OK?? (thru the hull stuff is kinda scary)

Trying to get a couple of guys to schedule a charter with Wes.. Long time Lake resident on Pace Point, own a couple of Stillwaters rental condos, know the Lake and am fair fisherman..

Do well with the easy stuff, crappie, spots and stripers when they are up.. Would like to learn some of the harder stuff, expecially patterns and electronics.

Black salties was a good primer and I thank you guys for that.. ..

Will be in touch..

Terry Burke

Name:	Lee Gantt -	Reply
Subject:	Stripes
Date:	2/19/2009 4:57:03 PM

Awesome unit for the price. I have a couple of friends that run that unit and I have fished with it many times. It has both the color screen and navigation capabilities for the navionics chip. You might wanna check and see that the gps reciever is included but that is a good price on a great unit.

Name:	alahusker -	Reply
Subject:	Stripes
Date:	2/19/2009 5:14:45 PM

Lee thanks.. will check.. thought the GPS was integrated, but will check it out.. come up to this end of the lake and we will fish.. Crappie fishing ain't fair.. we slay them..

Burke

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