Blue76, Chick, LM / ??, 9-1, Sarah

[FishNews]

My daughter wanted me to take her and a friend fishing yesterday... so pretty much in the hottest part of the day we headed to the lake. Decided to put in at Grasshopper to avoid a lot of boat traffic. It wasn't too bad...<br /><br />Headed over to Sale Creek and only managed a couple of short fish on the other side of the bridge. Came back under the bridge about 6pm and the fish were schooling everywhere. Picked up a few small schooling fish. Nothing with any size. That died down so I decided to run up to Hiawassee to a couple of spots I have marked picked up one 3lb fish and that was all. Ran back down to Grasshopper just before dark and fished the creek channel heading into the slough... One of the girls picked up a 2.5 LM and the other missed one or two there.<br /><br />I was throwing a deep crank and had one big bite but it was a short fight... got off before I could see it. <br /><br />I older gentleman at my Church who was an avid fisherman told me to try a lure called "Gay Blade" I had seen these before but never fished with one. I thought what the heck and tied the thing on. First cast I got bit... but it was about a 12" white bass / stripper... I cant tell them apart. I proceeded to catch a fish on pretty much every cast with that silly looking lure. I didn't keep count but I am sure I caught 15 to 20 of these white bass / stripper fish in all sorts of sizes. Between 12" long down to 6" long. It was actually quite fun for a while. Then it got dark and I wasn't prepared for that and couldn't see to unhook them.<br /><br />I read the reports and see that others are managing to catch some decent LM right now.... It is a struggle for me. I think I may take a few weeks off from the Bass. Considering giving those bigger strippers below the spillways a shot... Never tried that before so if you have some tips on how that works and are willing to share.... I am willing to listen....<br />