November 23, 2005
By Wayne Gustaveson
Lake Elevation: 3602
Water Temp: 58-61
F
Water temperature continues to slowly decline. Stripers and shad that were holding at 25 feet last week will slowly move to deeper water. Keep trolling mid depths to locate striper schools or troll deep to find the bigger fish. Only troll in areas where fish are marked on the graph.
When a striper
school is located by trolling, they will be less likely to move away from
the boat as they did earlier this Fall. That provides more time to find
the right bait to match the fish mood for the day. Fish the area located
by trolling thoroughly with various methods to find what works best. It is
possible to just continue trolling back and forth through the school if
that is your preferred fishing method.
If stripers will
only hit an occasional crankbait or jigging spoon both of which move quite
fast, you may want to try a plastic swimbait (Storm wild-eyed shad), stump
jumper or jig. The slower, gentler action of these baits may be more
natural in the cooler water when fish metabolism and movement has slowed.
Spoons flutter and jerk like wounded shad and will work when stripers are
actively eating shad. If
stripers are resting on bottom, spoons may not work at all and a more
subtle approach may be needed to get them fired up.
Using anchovy bait
and chumming works better in cooler water when fish have slowed down.
That may be the best technique for the current conditions but water
temperature is still warm enough to get some good sustained reaction bites
from hungry fish. Use your preferred fishing method or bait when a school
of stripers has been bracketed.
Both largemouth and
smallmouth remain active and are eating shad which makes them very
catchable. Largemouth will
continue to feed at lower temperatures while smallmouth will go dormant
sooner as water temperature dips below 55 F. There will be one more good
week of fishing before black bass become more difficult to catch.
Crappie fishing
remains good in shallow brushy coves and canyons but they will soon move
deeper with cooling temperatures.