Cooling Water Temperatures Means Roving Stripers

I had just a couple of hours to fish this afternoon, and my buddy Stuart Row had been catching some nice striped bass in his cove in the afternoons.  As the weather and the water have started cooling off, the shad minnows have moved into the shallower coves in desperate search of the warmest water the lake has to offer.  So guess who's following? You got it...the wolf pack of the water, stripers...and of course Big E.  I put in at TWRA's Shady Grove launch, got a nice batch of 3-4" gizzards and ran across the lake to Row Cove.  I rigged up with a poppin' cork, a 3' 15 lb test flourocarbon leader and a 2/0 Owner Mutu Light circle hook on old faithful Shimano Stella 4000 FB on my new 7' 0" ML FWS 703-1 Temple Fork Outfitters spinning rod that I bought yesterday at Edgemoor Sporting Goods in Claxton.  Needless to say I was eager to break in my new rod the right way - inaugurating it with a silver king.  The surface water temperature was 58 F.  Right away I could see the rockfish relentlessly harassing monstrous schools of minnows.  The feeding frenzy had my adrenaline pumping and at one point a striper that was at least 15 lbs came completely out of the water about 10 feet from the boat as he recklessly exploded on a school of gizzards.  The stripers were moving around so quickly and covering so much water that it was evident that chasing them was pointless.  Consequently, I strategically positioned the boat where I felt they would most likely surface again.  In the two hours I had to work with, I caught one striper about 5 lbs and lost two others.  It was pretty frustrating because the fish were everywhere but just too spread out to really be able to pinpoint.  I did take the one I caught home and enjoyed a fresh fish dinner.  Striped bass are becoming one of my favorite table fare fishes as well as one of the most exciting freshwater sport fish to catch.