Rick and I hit the lake…

Got out on the lake with the Rickster today to see if the Stripers are getting any closer to their summer patterns. So far the lake has been slow to warm with the temps still barely just over 80 degrees. We really need 85+ on the surface to help set up a solid thermocline and so far we just haven’t had any real hot weather to help generate that much heat. I expect that will change shortly though as we move into August so it won’t be long…

Rick and I headed North today after hearing about some fish up above Browns Bridge. Turned out my sources were right on. We were able to mark fish on our electronics and got several to bite as well. The first fish of the day was 12-13 lbs and was trolled out in some deep water which is always fun.

First fish of the day!

There were 6-7 boats in this area so these fish were a little skittish but we still managed several before lunch. And though we did get over 2-3 fish at a time, they weren’t big schools and they weren’t super aggressive. That being said, I still managed one jigging which is always fun on the lighter spinning tackle. All the other fish were caught on the troll.

Here is Rick with one of the fish he boated.

One of the nice fish Rick landed today.

Rick will be on vacation next week and if things go down like they did last year when he left town to visit his Dad, the Striper fishing should really get going while he’s away. I expect a lot more fish to be active out in the deep water as we move to August so it could be “on” any day now. When this happens, they’ll be schooled up a lot more which means more jigging and more catching!!

Start checking weekly for my latest report as I expect to be on the water several times a week for the next 2-3 months.

Capt. J.