02-23-2008, 02:42 PM
[cool][#0000ff]Big fish like that are NEVER "all over the lake". Unlike the smaller stripers, the bigguns usually travel by themselves. And obviously, there are far fewer big ones.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]However, they could be almost anywhere at any time. Like all predators, they tend to stay in the areas where the dining is best. If they are patterning on big shad...or sunfish...or small carp...or any other forage species...they will stay where they can make a food run when they get hungry. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]The big fish you marked in deep water could have been large stripers. They do often travel in deep water. But, unless your sonar is sensitive enough to see the stripes on your "targets" they could also have been big carp or something else. And, as most of us know, seeing them on sonar is never a guarantee that you can get them to bite. In many cases it is just the opposite. If we see big fish suspending deep, they may well be just hanging out and digesting a big meal...in a completely neutral or negative mode. We all see a lot more fish than we catch.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]In Mojave there is probably a greater number of really big stripers, but they are not usually caught by casual weekend tanglers. A high percentage of all stripers over 20 pounds are caught by big fish specialists, who fish the lake regularly, know the fish well and use big gear designed to catch the big fish. [/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Timing and luck are important too. Showing up after a hatchery truck has "rang the dinner bell" by dumping a load of "striper candy" (rainbows). Big stripers come in and hang around until the trout are all eaten or dispersed. Big trout imitating plastics or hardbaits are the favored lures at this time.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]Utah and Arizona no longer plant trout in Powell. They used to and there was some good troutin' in the late 70's. Coincidentally, that is also a time when there were a lot of BIG stripers being caught at Powell. The combination of no trout, an explosion of walleyes, smallmouth and stripers all during the same period put a lot more pressure on the threadfin shad and led to the boom and bust cycles of shad populations and skinny predators since then. When the lake is good, it is very good. When it is off, it can break your heart to see the condition of many of the fishies.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff]But, like we have already discussed elsewhere, once a few stripers grow large enough to be able to munch bigger fish, they quickly grow much bigger. And, once they switch their diet to "super size" meals, they don't smack small jigs or little chunks of 'chovies.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]If you target the biggest stripers you have to drag a big bait or lure. You won't get all the bites you do with smaller stuff, but you have a better chance at a braggin' fish.[/#0000ff]
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[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]However, they could be almost anywhere at any time. Like all predators, they tend to stay in the areas where the dining is best. If they are patterning on big shad...or sunfish...or small carp...or any other forage species...they will stay where they can make a food run when they get hungry. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]The big fish you marked in deep water could have been large stripers. They do often travel in deep water. But, unless your sonar is sensitive enough to see the stripes on your "targets" they could also have been big carp or something else. And, as most of us know, seeing them on sonar is never a guarantee that you can get them to bite. In many cases it is just the opposite. If we see big fish suspending deep, they may well be just hanging out and digesting a big meal...in a completely neutral or negative mode. We all see a lot more fish than we catch.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]In Mojave there is probably a greater number of really big stripers, but they are not usually caught by casual weekend tanglers. A high percentage of all stripers over 20 pounds are caught by big fish specialists, who fish the lake regularly, know the fish well and use big gear designed to catch the big fish. [/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Timing and luck are important too. Showing up after a hatchery truck has "rang the dinner bell" by dumping a load of "striper candy" (rainbows). Big stripers come in and hang around until the trout are all eaten or dispersed. Big trout imitating plastics or hardbaits are the favored lures at this time.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]Utah and Arizona no longer plant trout in Powell. They used to and there was some good troutin' in the late 70's. Coincidentally, that is also a time when there were a lot of BIG stripers being caught at Powell. The combination of no trout, an explosion of walleyes, smallmouth and stripers all during the same period put a lot more pressure on the threadfin shad and led to the boom and bust cycles of shad populations and skinny predators since then. When the lake is good, it is very good. When it is off, it can break your heart to see the condition of many of the fishies.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]But, like we have already discussed elsewhere, once a few stripers grow large enough to be able to munch bigger fish, they quickly grow much bigger. And, once they switch their diet to "super size" meals, they don't smack small jigs or little chunks of 'chovies.[/#0000ff]
[#0000ff][/#0000ff]
[#0000ff]If you target the biggest stripers you have to drag a big bait or lure. You won't get all the bites you do with smaller stuff, but you have a better chance at a braggin' fish.[/#0000ff]
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