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John's Journal... Entry 150, Day 2

FISHING FOR SALTWATER STRIPER AT WEISS LAKE WITH STEVE POPE

The Key to a Perfect Day at Weiss Lake

EDITOR'S NOTE: Steve Pope from Centre, Alabama, guides for crappie from February through the middle of May. During May through the hot time of the summer, Pope guides for stripers or bluegills. I've discovered on this striper trip with Pope at Weiss Lake that you'll have exciting, fun fishing for stripers. On Friday of this week, Pope will give you the secret to cleaning, storing and cooking stripers that will make you leave your crappie poles at home and go out and buy striper tackle for these delicious stripers.

QUESTION: The real key to catching, keeping and being able to have a wonderful day of striper fishing on Weiss Lake is your shad or your bait. First of all, let's talk about where you find shad and how you catch them.
ANSWER: You can find shad almost anywhere, but you have to catch them in 2 or 3 feet of water because they'll get out from under the throw net too quick. If shad see the throw net coming, they're gone.

QUESTION: Now, you're catching the shad in what kind of throw net?
ANSWER: I'm using a 7-foot throw net that weighs about 24 pounds and opens up to 14 feet. It's a commercial net made of monofilament, and the lead on those nets are a lot heavier and better than those little light nets you can buy. I prefer this particular style because it works well.

QUESTION: How and where do you find the shad, and what do you do after you find them?
ANSWER: I start looking in 2 or 3 feet of water, basically in sloughs, off the main river channel. You've got to get where the water is calm because if you can't see the shad, you can't catch them. I'm looking for the shad to flip on top of the water. If the sun is out, I search for a dark shadow and throw to the shadow. Once, I spot the shad, I throw into the middle of them, hoping that the net will open-up and close them all in the net. I'd like to get all the shad in one cast, but sometimes that doesn't happen. For instance, today before we went fishing we spent two hours catching bait. I throw the cast net differently than the people who throw it over their arms. I have a bad arm, and I just can't do it. I fold the net in half to where the lead weight will just touch the floor with my thumb in my pocket; then I bring the net over, and fold it in half again with the horn side up. Make sure it's square. Then I get the middle of the net and I put that lead in my mouth. I put five folds over my left arm, and I go in and catch it at the top. Then I throw it out and up.

QUESTION: Why do you put the lead in your mouth?
ANSWER: It's just easier for me to throw. It keeps the net separated and helps it open-up better.

QUESTION: Once you see the schools of shad, how do you get close to them?
ANSWER: Well, the shad spook real easy in shallow water. So, use your trolling motor to get to them, and then shut it off and drift into them. Just the least little racket in the boat, and they're gone.

QUESTION: When you throw the net over the shad and you have a bucket full, next you bring them in and put them in a five-gallon bucket.
ANSWER: We take two, five-gallon buckets three-quarters full of water. You put shad in one bucket and let them do their thing, which is knocking scales off, getting slime off and going to the bathroom. Let them dirty-up the first bucket; then you move that bunch of shad to the second bucket and let them do their "thing" again. After they have dirtied-up the second bucket of water, you finally put them in the shad tank.

QUESTION: What kind of shad tank do you use?
ANSWER: CSI Systems has had a couple of their engineers who make blood filtering equipment for open-heart surgery and kidney-dialysis machines work on making shad tanks. They ran into the same problems that I've had. I've spent almost $600 making a shad tank, and I would have been better off to just put them in a five-gallon bucket. Making the best shad tank is something you learn by trial and error. I have learned that to have good shad tanks, you have to have a quality filter system that's insulated. You want the water temperature in your tank to be 10 degrees cooler than the surface temperature. Slowly bring the temperature down to 68 to 66 degrees after you have all the shad in the tank, and keep it stable at that temperature. The cool temperature rejuvenates the shad, makes them feel better and holds them better. If you don't cool the water, the shad will die on you in 10 minutes.

QUESTION: Your tank, besides having 1 1/2-inches of insulation and a super filtering system, also oxygenates the water, correct?
ANSWER: Exactly, it has seven different filters in the tank. These filters do an excellent job taking out the urine, feces and scales. Another convenience is that it's really easy to take out those filters and clean them while out on the lake, which is beneficial since you have to do that every 10-15 minutes, depending on how many shad you have in the tank. The tank will hold about 200, but I don't like to have over 100 in the tank to keep from overcrowding the shad. I don't know of a tank on the market that you can put over 100 shad in and think they will live. To ensure that 100 will live, you want the water temperature just right and the right chemicals in there.

QUESTION: What chemicals are you putting in that shad tank to keep them alive and frisky?
ANSWER: I start out with two hand fulls of rock salt for 35 gallons. The rock salt makes the shad's scales really tough and gives them more support. Then we use about one squirt of an agent called anti-foamer or Foam Away made by SureLife. If you don't use that, you'll have bubbles on the top that will deplete the oxygen supply in the tank. So, you've got to get those bubbles gone. Carnation Instant Coffee Cream will do almost the same thing. Then I like to use one capful of SureStart made by Jungle Laboratories because it takes the chlorine out of the water. Most people on the lake fill their tanks with tap water. To calm the fish, I use Stresszyme made by Aquapharmacal Company. In the bottom of the filter system, I use Zialight, which helps remove chlorine and feces. Underneath that, I have charcoal, which helps filter the water. These chemicals are important because the more the bait moves, the more striper the bait will catch.

For more information about striper fishing, call Steve Pope at (256) 927-6617, e-mail him at
clp-pope@tds.net, or visit his Web site, lakeweissguideservice.com. His Web site has up-to-date weather for the lake as well as a photo gallery of what Pope is catching at Weiss each day.

TOMORROW: HOW TO REEL IN THE KING

 

 

Check back each day this week for more FISHING FOR SALTWATER STRIPER AT WEISS LAKE WITH STEVE POPE ...

Day 1 - What to Expect From a Day at Weiss
Day 2 - The Key to a Perfect Day at Weiss Lake
Day 3 - How to Reel In the King
Day 4 - Why a Fishing Buddy is Imperative
Day 5 - The Steps to an Unforgettable Recipe


John's Journal