Winter stripes down south?

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Havalina

Havalina

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I always store my boat at Bullfrog and regularly fish north to the bay of good hope all winter. The striper fishing is generally pretty slow between January through March. The walleye fish is usually fair to decent. The water temp during this time is generally around 48 degrees. Is the striper fishing better around the Waheap and the dam this time of the year?

I’m not looking for spectacular fishing just maybe more than on or two a day. Then does anyone have any suggestions on boat in that area?
 
I do not think the fishing is good at the dam in the winter. Wayne taught me that the stripers all head to the backs of bays and canyons where the water turns murkey. (That is where the shad seem to hide out) I have found LOTS of stripers around Lone Rock, Gunsight Bay and especially in the back of Last Chance. They hit spoons for me all winter long from about 9 am to 3 pm. They usually hold from 50 to 75 feet. One of my favorite times to fish. I avoid the clear water. It is not uncommon to get 50 by myself. Besides, generally you get the Lake to yourself....
 
I have been trolling the channels looking for the infamous shad balls. I use down riggers and a fishhawk and shoot at what temp is closest to the 50 degree range. I’ll start giving the spoons and jigging a shot. I always do pretty well with the walleye, but they are pretty boring to catch.

Thanks for the suggestions.
 
Havalina said:
I have been trolling the channels looking for the infamous shad balls. I use down riggers and a fishhawk and shoot at what temp is closest to the 50 degree range. I’ll start giving the spoons and jigging a shot. I always do pretty well with the walleye, but they are pretty boring to catch.

Thanks for the suggestions.
Click to expand...

You will be amazed when spoon fishing over a large school of stripers that are in winter mode looking for shad schools in deep water. I think the best we have done is over 90 fish in 2 hours. This can happen just as well, maybe better in the northern lake. It is my favorite method for catching stripers and I have done them all. It is like a striper boil but you are watching the graph instead of the surface of the lake.
 
Agreed by the dam usually is very slow during winter. In warm creek and by lone rock, I have spooned them up with decent success. I have also had some long days just trying to find them, but now have several locations saved on GPS and cycle through those.
 
Many many years ago when I was camped at Stanton a guy I met on the water said, "Catching stripers is easy, finding the darn things is the hard part." I have to agree with Wayne spooning is a very fun way to catch stripers, and the fish are usually in pretty good shape and put up a decent fight.
 
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