First kayak striper fishing trip.

[Bear44]

What kind of tackle are you using?

12 to 25lb Ugly Sticks with 6500C Ambassador reels for the flat lines, a Diawa Accudepth 27LC count down reel for the drop line and a Shimono Calcutta 400 on a 8 to 20lb Ugly Stick for casting. The live bait rods have 20lb line with a seven foot long 17lb test fluorocarbon leaders and #1 Gamakatsu Octopus hooks. The casting rod has 17lb Trilene Big Game mono. I had a Zara Super Spook in Ghost set for casting, but never saw any surface activity. That lure is great for stripers on the surface and in combination with the Calcutta bait caster will cast about a mile or so.

The right planer boards are important. I had typical ones from Bass Pro and they didn't work with a damn because we were going to slow. Walt set me up with one of his Waterbugz boards and it worked great. I stopped by Hammonds on the way home and got a set of my own.

 

[Bear44]

What color is the 5gal bucket?

White. It's one of the "Off Shore" buckets from Bass Pro.

 

[Patryn]

What kind of tackle are you using?

I didn't see who you addressed with question, if it was to me, I'm using shino stick and reel, 10lb p-line 100% fc with medium hook and red/black worms and green pumpkin worms. Got 6 spots and 3 large mouth Monday morning around area 15a-17a

time frame was 7:45-10:00 water was 67-70 degrees and all were caught 10-15 ft from shoreline

 

[Bear44]

ya, near the damn is where i hooked into her. weightless chartreuse/white 4in senko worm with a 5/0 wide gap hook, love that color lol. ive been meaning to try that smaller lake in the yak sometime, i bank fished it alot before i got my yak and didnt catch doodly squat lol. maybe better in the yak though.

im gonna hit it early either Tuesday or Wednesday morning, they should be starting on the top water bite any day now.

so fun scaring the big ass carp behind the bridge in a kayak haha, get right up on them before they notice you.

It's been several years since I fished either lake, but always had better luck in the smaller lake when I got motivated enough to carry a canoe in. It seems to consistently have better water quality, too. If I remember correctly, the grass flats are to far from shore to cast to them from there.

 

[Bass Akwards]

I didn't see who you addressed with question, if it was to me, I'm using shino stick and reel, 10lb p-line 100% fc with medium hook and red/black worms and green pumpkin worms. Got 6 spots and 3 large mouth Monday morning around area 15a-17a

time frame was 7:45-10:00 water was 67-70 degrees and all were caught 10-15 ft from shoreline

Sorry I was referring to Bear, or striper fishing. White is perfect for the live bait bucket. Reason being, when you put you bait trout, shad or herring, in a white tank your bait will be brighter in appearance which makes the bait stick out like a sore thumb in the water. If your tank is dark, like inside of a bass boat live well your bait will darken giving a dark sick look. Although stripers are eating machines they are very picky about what they eat. If your bait is stressed (red nose or dark) 95% of the time they will pass on your offerings.
I see that you are using 17lbs FC and #1 hook, if you will change you line down to a 10lb FC (we have caught many 25lbs+ on it) and your hook down to a red #4 octopus or circle, I will guarantee more hook ups. When I first started out fishing for linesides, what the fish really wanted to see and what I thought they wanted to see where complete opposites. Less is more, I thought a huge hook for huge fish, it all about matching your hook to the size of your bait not the size of the fish. Bait is what they hunt for all day, If it doesn't look right they move on to the next.

 

[Bear44]

Sorry I was referring to Bear, or striper fishing. White is perfect for the live bait bucket. Reason being, when you put you bait trout, shad or herring, in a white tank your bait will be brighter in appearance which makes the bait stick out like a sore thumb in the water. If your tank is dark, like inside of a bass boat live well your bait will darken giving a dark sick look. Although stripers are eating machines they are very picky about what they eat. If your bait is stressed (red nose or dark) 95% of the time they will pass on your offerings.
I see that you are using 17lbs FC and #1 hook, if you will change you line down to a 10lb FC (we have caught many 25lbs+ on it) and your hook down to a red #4 octopus or circle, I will guarantee more hook ups. When I first started out fishing for linesides, what the fish really wanted to see and what I thought they wanted to see where complete opposites. Less is more, I thought a huge hook for huge fish, it all about matching your hook to the size of your bait not the size of the fish. Bait is what they hunt for all day, If it doesn't look right they move on to the next.

I'll give this a try on one of my rods to see what happens. I don't know what Allatoona is like, but on Lanier there are huge areas that have tall trees still standing under the water about 20 to 50 feet deep. A big striper will almost invariably dive for those trees and the theory is that the tackle has to be stout enough to turn him.

 

[Bass Akwards]

Lanier is definitely challenging with all the trees. If I see trees on the graph I move, flat creek would be a good area for you.

 

[Bear44]

Fishing update:

Went out again today by myself and landed a 9lb striper. My first striper from a kayak. WOOHOO! I had two other strikes, one never got the hook and the other broke my line. My bad on the broken line. It was the same rod I caught the 9lber on and he tour up my leader. I never checked it. Stupid mistake that won't happen again. There were some aggressive surface feeders, but they were scattered, random individual fish and by the time I got the spook out there they had moved on. Good day and can't wait to get out there again.

 

[kayaker]

When you get some kayak time in and then have the time, go to PCB and go out past the second sandbar. That will change your world! I do not fish near as much fresh water fishing as I once did. Those saltwater fish will make sure you have the proper tackle.
I caught 3 kings, two mahi's, and several other "off" species over the weekend without fishing hard. You will need steel leaders and some other stuff, but easy to get.