Thats a nice Striper! I have givin up on fishing Neeleys and the dam. Fishing has been good to great in Cedar, broadway and N. D&D area. Have caught so many 12-14" Striper this year the future looks great for PK. Even caught a 18" yesteray. Have not caught anyrhing close to what your catching since early August. Winter fishing should be great. Thanks for the post.

Yeah I've had the same results catching mostly 12 to 15 inch fish, really looking forward to the next couple of years

When I hooked the 18 lb fish a few weeks ago one of the jigs was broken by a second fish that got on. This was an H2o jig from academy, so maybe not the highest quality steel but it took a lot to break it. I have had them bend the Cabelas jigs in the past so I no longer use them. The ones they cannot bend or break are the Luck E strike Gamakatsu jigs from Wal mart. When they get on those they are in trouble.

I had to quit buying the bargain Cabelas swivels for much the same reason. Occasionally, the stripers would bend the swivel and get off. I now use the more expensive Eagle Claw number 7 swivels.

Most of the issue comes from not using a downrigger and having to use the two jig one crankbait rig to get the baits down to 25 feet. If two stripers get on which happens a lot they can rough up the line until it breaks or bend or break hooks/swivels. Doesn't happen much now but I have done the following to prevent the breakoffs:

1. Use 50 LB test Fluorocarbon leader
2. Number 7 eagle claw swivels
3. Premium hook jigs
4. premium hooks on the bomber fat free shad
5. Limber medium action ugly stick 7 foot pole with lose drag

Even with all that, if my rig passes over a school of stripers and I get multiples on, I only bring in one. The evidence of the others is early in the fight the fish are totally uncontrollable until only one is on and bend hooks, missing jigs broken swivels or whatever it takes to get the beasts free.

I still catch some big ones but you have to up size your bait until the sand bass leave it alone. If not, you just catch sand bass and small stripers all day. 5+ inch baits seem to be the ticket.

Oh I was under the impression you were using crank baits. Using jigs your at the mercy of the hook quality the manufacturer uses. The fifty lb line is way over kill. Unless you get into rocks and or timber IMO.
Sounds like you got it figured out though.

Hey PK. Please explain the two jigs and crank bait rig. I've been trolling the lake but obviously I am not getting down deep enough. I don't have down riggers

Ok allfish, here's how I do it. I use three number 7 swivels because I can use palmore knots. These are tied to a 30 inch 50 lb test fluorocarbon leader. My main line is 12 lb test, as this lets me go a little deeper.

The swivels are spaced about 8-10 inches apart. The crankbait is attached to the last swivel. I use two 1/4 jigs attached to the two swivels above that. I've been having my best success with Berkly ripple shad in Glow Chartreuse or White Berkly saltwater gulp minnows.

I'll try to take a picture of this rig today. This typically hangs up if I get under 25 feet.

The kids and I have been dove hunting a lot since the tournament.
Yesterday we fished and we found the bigger striper slow but the sand bass were nuts.

Nice one Mike! Here's one about the same length from Texoma this past week. BTW, I never bend hooks except when I put my pliers on them. 12lb mono/fluoro and drag set to where a 30" will run a bit of drag but can still horse the fish a bit. Standard hooks on CC Pencil Poppers top water and ReAXtion/RSR/Moes lures for swimmers, slabs. Of course, my boat has a lot of "give" and a 30" will move me around a bit so I have some built-in drag.

Nice fish Roger. Haven't been up to fish for a month. Planning a trip soon maybe see you on the water.

Randy: That's better than I did this week. I didn't catch a single legal striper. I don't see them on the fish finder and have no idea where they went to. Been catching a ton of sand bass and undersize stripers at night with the green light. Some of the undersize stripers from last years stocking are almost 16 inches now. Great fun on the crappie pole.

I did catch one last night that was only 6 inches so we must have had a striper spawn of some kind this year. I doubt any of the fingerlings would be that small after two years with all this bait to eat. When I fire up the green light at PK after dark my color fish finder shows a solid school of bait under the boat. I think fishing will be good a some time at PK.

Great fish Roger. I never bend a hook with the inflatable but the Tracker does not give much.

Joe: It's almost October so it's time for me to try Texoma again. Big Tex can't stay mean to me forever.

Randy, I just love it when my sonar lights up like that in your picture. That situation is a fish every time you drop a slab down into them. What fun. I've found the Reef Runner blade bait to be deadly on the PK sandys.

PK, thanks for the info, I'll give it a try the next time I'm on PK.

Randy, I just love it when my sonar lights up like that in your picture. That situation is a fish every time you drop a slab down into them. What fun. I've found the Reef Runner blade bait to be deadly on the PK sandys.

PK, thanks for the info, I'll give it a try the next time I'm on PK.