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  Fishin' with Capt. Gus! ~ Spring Striper Fishing
May 18, 2008
Striper fishing has been very good to excellent this spring. As normal for this time of year, stripers are most active during the low light period from sunset until an hour or so after sunrise. Being nocturnal by nature, this is the time when individual fish and large schools roam the shallows in search of food.
Shallow clay banks, long gradual sloping points, and lighted boat dock areas seem to attract the most bait. The “linesiders” follow the bait. But, as soon as the sun brightens the morning sky, stripers will swim off the flats and dock areas into water twenty feet or deeper. Throughout the day, they cruise the edges of creek channels, deep ends and sides of points, and near underwater humps (islands).
During the evening, night and early morning, stripers will take both artificial and live baits fished just below the surface. Shad Raps, Rat L Traps, and Redfins are time proven winners at night. Live baits, pulled on flat lines or suspended off the bottom with floats or planer boards, are equally effective. Live baits vary with availability. Shad, herring, shiners and small bream are considered the best choices.
During the day, bucktails, deep diving lures and jigging spoons will tempt stripers found on a fish finder. Live baiting is best while drifting or slow trolling with baits suspended at various depths (five to ten foot intervals). A second option is to double anchor the boat (bow and stern), and use a combination of live and cut baits on the bottom. An added bonus to bottom fishing is the possibility of catching some big flathead and Arkansas blue catfish, which are often attracted to the smell of cut bait.
Lake Norman’s striper creel limit is four fish per angler per day, with a minimum size limit of sixteen inches, between October 1st and May 31st. There is no size limit between June 1st and Sept. 30th (the creel limit of four per angler remains in effect). During the summer, striper anglers are encouraged to keep the first four fish they catch, regardless of size. The mortality rate is extremely high among those released.
Upcoming Events:
“How to Throw a Cast Net and Keep Bait Alive” - Free seminar by Capt.’s Craig Price and Gus Gustafson - Gander Mountain, Exit 36, Mooresville, NC, Tuesday, May 20, 2008, 6:30 p.m. Call 704-658-0822 for additional information.
Boater Safety Class –“Night Boating and Anchoring on Lake Norman” - Gander Mountain, Exit 36, Mooresville, NC – Thursday, June 12, 2008, 6:00 p.m.-9:00 p.m. Registration fee is $25.00. For more information or to register, call Capt. Scot Spivey - 704-587-0325 or visit www.lmservice.org.
Tips from Capt. Gus:
When night fishing, use electrical tape to attach a flashlight to the shaft of your landing net. The light beam will shine on the fish being landed and will also make hook removal much easier.
The Hot Spots of the Week:
Stripers continue to please anglers in Reed, Rocky and Hicks Creeks. Live baits are catching the majority of five and six pounders. Bass fishing has been excellent throughout the day around docks and rock banks. Cat fishing has improved. Nice catches of five to ten pound blues and flatheads have been reported, while drifting live bait in water less than fifteen feet deep.
The water level is currently 1.7' below full pond and surface water temperature is in the seventies.
Captain Gus Gustafson of Lake Norman Ventures, Inc. is an outdoor columnist and a full time professional fishing guide on Lake Norman, NC. Visit his web site, Fishin' With Gus! at www.FishingWithGus.com or call 704-617-6812.
For additional information e-mail Gus at Gus@LakeNorman.com
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