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This time of year I generally do not fish the flats for stripers. Although lately I've seen some pics of people catching them up there on top water. I wanted to give it a shot. With a dentist appointment this morning, I didn't get on the water until around 10-10:30...top water was out of the question. Although I have some favorite fall spots, so I tried those. They seem to be barren of fish at other times of the year. Like I said, I don't usually fish for them this time of year but because of writing the book this year, I wanted to really focus stripers through all seasons to learn even more....it can be a lifelong thing and still not know all of it.
What I found was a school of 15" stripers in a couple specific locations in Ditch 1 (Get out your book for where that is) They were not focused like they normally are in the fall. These guys were moving around making it hard to stay on them, but it's a good sign that they will be all over the flats in a few weeks, bigger ones too. Once I found the school by trolling, the FF lit up like a Christmas tree and hooked 3 on consecutive drops, then they were gone. They were in about 10-13' of water.
I headed over to Ditch 2 (read your map) and followed it back and forth between the weeds with nothing. Sun was high at this point so not good timing to be looking for fish. That took me deep into some weeds. Wow they were thick! I could hardly get my kayak through the acres of weeks. This is what I usually fish in the summer with frogs. It's a blast up there. The grasses form pockets which are fun to just drift through and watch the fish below. Tons of 1-3" baitfish dart in and out of the weeds which filter all the water there, making it crystal clear to the bottom. I saw what looked like a large orange koi fish, perhaps some kind of carp. It stuck out like a sore thumb. I watched for awhile before I drifted on. I was bummed I forgot my frogs because I saw a GIGANTIC largemouth down there too. My heart was thumping. I moved along towards Ditch 3 which is where there's deeper water surrounded by more weeds. Looks like a great place to throw top water early morning. I circled back up Tydings Ditch and back to launch with no more fish other than the ones I caught earlier in the day.
The pics of the fish and rigs are posted on FB: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...6501279&type=1
What I found was a school of 15" stripers in a couple specific locations in Ditch 1 (Get out your book for where that is) They were not focused like they normally are in the fall. These guys were moving around making it hard to stay on them, but it's a good sign that they will be all over the flats in a few weeks, bigger ones too. Once I found the school by trolling, the FF lit up like a Christmas tree and hooked 3 on consecutive drops, then they were gone. They were in about 10-13' of water.
I headed over to Ditch 2 (read your map) and followed it back and forth between the weeds with nothing. Sun was high at this point so not good timing to be looking for fish. That took me deep into some weeds. Wow they were thick! I could hardly get my kayak through the acres of weeks. This is what I usually fish in the summer with frogs. It's a blast up there. The grasses form pockets which are fun to just drift through and watch the fish below. Tons of 1-3" baitfish dart in and out of the weeds which filter all the water there, making it crystal clear to the bottom. I saw what looked like a large orange koi fish, perhaps some kind of carp. It stuck out like a sore thumb. I watched for awhile before I drifted on. I was bummed I forgot my frogs because I saw a GIGANTIC largemouth down there too. My heart was thumping. I moved along towards Ditch 3 which is where there's deeper water surrounded by more weeds. Looks like a great place to throw top water early morning. I circled back up Tydings Ditch and back to launch with no more fish other than the ones I caught earlier in the day.
The pics of the fish and rigs are posted on FB: https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...6501279&type=1
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