When the boat launch below Melton Hill Dam gets packed with center console striper boats, it is like a red flashing light with a siren saying "The stripers are back - go fishing!" So I fished the Clinch today after work for just a couple of hours to see if I could locate any of the silver kings. I launched at the Gallaher Bridge and got bait in the first inlet upstream and to the right. The water was 61 F and I've always heard this is kind of like the magic temperature at which the rockfish start running up the river. I rigged up an 8" gizzard on a Carolina rig with a 7/0 Owner Super Mutu Circle hook and started a float trip along the deep bank just out of Caney Creek (the one with the Soaring Eagle Campground in the back of it) and almost immediately a 12 lb striper hammered it. I thought I was in for quite an afternoon. Unfortunately, I got a good dose of how many stick ups and logs there are along that stretch of bank, so I ended up losing quite a few 7/0s and wasn't boating too many rockfish. I did see quite a few fish on the Lowrance, but I spent more time getting hung than anything else. It's all part of the learning process. I ran up to Grubb Island to try a different spot, and I picked up another almost identical 12 lb striper. I began to get low on bait and so I called it a day after only about 1-1/2 hours, but I learned a lot and I can tell the stripers are up there and feeding - so just like the stripers...I'll be back another day, hopefully soon.
No comments:
Post a Comment