stripers on the river. When?

[bubby864]

i usually try to gauge the stripers being up the river by when the dogwoods bloom. How do you guys do it? i am talking about from gervais bridge down to eastman.

[JP111]

we are catching some out of packs landing. they are averaging 9 to 11 pounds. a few big cats have been caught in the upper flats.

[flopduster]

upper flats??

[img]graemlins/confused.gif[/img]

[JP111]

sparkleberry and catching some in the river. river finally is right to fish. i have weighed a dozen or more big cats over 30 pounds.

[mirroman]

[Shelben]

What's new down in South Cackalackie? Been too damn cold and windy up here to fish any. Been hearing of some shad finally showing up so the rock should not be far behind them. We are scheduled to be down there April 30 through May 9 but I may try to slip down there with my brother for a weekend or two before that. What's the avaiability of the trailers for the next month or so?

[JP111]

come on down! good reports last night, the stripers are moving. call me and i will give you some dates on the trailers. we are almost booked for the seasons. change the lines on your reals to 40 lbs test before you come.

[Shelben]

I will give you a call this weekend. I am heading to Creswell at the end of next week (just across the sound from Edenton) and hope to get some fishing in while I am there. They say the shad are starting to run pretty good and they are picking up quite a few stripers as well.

[Shelben]

BTW,

Mirroman, think you would be up for some fishing w/us if I can drag the boat down? Only requirement is that you have to be able to stomach bloody marys at day-break (or earlier).

[JP111]

i guarantee mirrorman will be ready. keep me informed about edenton.

[Shelben]

JP,

I tried to PM you this morning and find out why you were on the web and not fishing but I can't figure out how to work half of this stuff. Looks like I will be heading down weekend after next (weekend after easter) with my brother and maybe Chris. He got a new boat out of a salvage deal that he may want to drag down. I will try to give you a call today.

[JP111]

sounds good . call me today. cats did really well this weekend a few nice stripers caught 10 pound average.

[Stripa Swipa]

What is the basic tackle/techique for fishing the river out of packs? We have always fished Lake Marion from Randolph's to the river channel but my old man can't wait until they move into the main lake. He wants to head to the river before turkey season but I've never fished it. Any help would be much appreciated.

[JP111]

mostly we use cut herring in the early spring , march and april. in the river or in the flats we use one or two ounce weights and a barrel swivel with a 10 to 12 inch lead line. the best hook size in the spring, 6/0 or 7/0 plain shank eagle claw hooks. fish in or around the willows in the river or shallow water 3 to 4 feet.

[mirroman]

Bloody Mary's????? I'll need something stronger than that.. I would love to go. If you can't find a boat let me know. Plenty of room on mine..

[Stripa Swipa]

thanks JP!

[Shelben]

You obviously have never had/heard of our bloody maries. Stevie tried his hand at them one time and can vouch for the potency. We typically have bloody maries until 8:30am or 9:00am then switch to beer for a couple of hours and finish up with vodka and Fresca (yes that Fresca from the 70s). I just talked with the Packs and have one of the trailers booked for 3/31 through 4/2 so I plan on doing some serious fishing and drinking or drinking and fishing…basically just a lot of both. As it is now I will probably be hauling our boat down but thanks for the offer. We will have plenty of room on it to fish and kick back. It is a 22 ft. Hurricane deck boat with an 11 person capacity so we can get plenty of bait, cooler, and fish on it and still have room to move around.

[mirroman]

Keep in touch and we will burn their/our asses...

[JP111]

stripers are runing well on the sand bars in the river. the size of the fish are averiaging 10 pounds.

[Shelben]

Can't wait to get down there. Sounds like it is going to be me, my brother, and a friend of ours. Chris is too busy to get come down on this trip. I am trying to get another friend of mine to make the trip. Make sure you have a plenty of ice in the trailer for us. I plan to get down there late Thursday night and I hope to fish Friday morning. JP, are you going to be able to fish w/us any?