Lake granbury... newbie striper fishing

Okay so I’m no stranger to bass fishing. But when it comes to striper fishing I don’t know jack. I have fished many times for striper but always with a guide. I finally have my own boat and have a buddy coming into town this weekend and we plan to head out first thing Saturday morning. I have no idea how to find them and what to throw at them. When on guided trips I have always used live shad. I would be down to use live shad but.. I have never had to find them either. I need a lot of tips here guys. Where to find shad, and what to look for on my graphs and also the same thing for the striper. I know I am asking a lot and I don’t expect to learn this totally from a few replies from y’all but if y’all could give me a few pointers to help me go the right direction I would really appreciate it!

I always see boats all over the place near the dam at sun up. Is that the best place to start?

I don't fish Granbury but fish up river at Possum Kingdom. I'll bet that the reason you are seeing those boats at the dam in the early hours is that stripers are roaming there looking for something to eat. If you see them hitting on the surface they will be fairly easy to catch on lures that look like what they are after.

Later in the day you should use your electronics and look for fish on the bottom in deep water. I don't think Granbury is that deep but at PK I find stripers at midday under shady docks from about 30-50 feet. When I see that I can drop baits down on them and catch them pretty consistently. I also get a few nice LM Bass that way, as both at PK are targeting crappie and perch hanging out under the dock. They will both take small perch all day if you put them close to them.

Good luck. Got this one at PK in 100 degree heat at midday under a dock.

I have a lakehouse near the dam. Fished it three weeks ago and did very well. Find the humps in 22 to 27 foot of water. The boats you see will give away the popular spots and yes, I would start in those areas. Just keep your distance, and don't motor up close to them. Depth finder will help tell you if the fish are there and what depth. Live bait is best but also catch them on RSR slabs bumping off the bottom. Shad can be netted along the banks and coves early morning and late evening. Easiest just before sunlight. Good luck.

Run the river channel edge from “striper alley” to the dam. Keep in mind that fishing on the weekend is brutal. Jet flees and skiers will be on top of you by 6:30am.

Was very tough to day on bait. Well, atleast for me it was. Gizzards, threads, perch, didn’t seem to matter.

Well thank y’all for the information! I’m gonna head out there Saturday morning around 5 AM and see what happens. If all else fails head to my bass spots!

Follow the guy in the black Ranger Cc! He sometimes gets sneaky and uses a pontoon boat. Mr ACOSTA is normally on them.

Randy: Now mikes gonna post a pic of your boat and tell everyone to follow you. I guess it would not be any worse than have a jet ski do doughnuts around you.

So that’s who’s in that boat. Hey Mike. Did you have a trip a few weeks ago that had a chase boat that was filming?

Let hope the fish are on this weekend!

Yea I really hope they are! I have friends coming in to town to stay and we will be out on the water tomorrow morning.

I hope everyone had better luck than I did. I saw Mike A on the water quite a bit. Is it just me or is every one struggling getting fish in the boat?

We caught a lot of crappie a few weeks ago down deep but that’s about it. Lake has shut down otherwise. Even carp fishing is slow. I think they all moved to Canada for the summer

Could be the heat, increased boat traffic, small fish kill in the early spring, who knows. The ones being caught seem to be larger this year. There were hundreds of 15 to 18 inch stripers in the lights in April and that was just in our little eight house stretch of the neighborhood. They’re still out there.

July last year I was catching fish. Stripers and sandys. We will stay at it. Love being on the water!

Yes, Barry Stokes was trying to film a show. I have been limiting out most mornings early. Granbury fishing has been great all year and limits continue even in the heat. Schools are moving, but they are there from Indian Harbor to the dam.

I only saw 1 camera so I figured it was it was someone shooting for a YouTube channel. Did Barry say when the episode will air?

I don't know when it was going to run. I know i left him with a limit in my boat at 8am. How he did after that i don't know. I think it will be a crappie and striper show.....

Finally found schooling whites and stripers this morning. Acres of splashes. Unfortunately they were all small but still fun to catch and only a couple of other boats in the fray. They stayed up for a couple of hours. Cloud cover helped.

Went to Granbury on Thursday morning, caught and released a few small fish, 18 1/2", trolling between Indian creek and the dam, going to try some live bait next time. Good day to fish, fairly cool and cloudy, but no lighting yea! The lake is down about 2 feet, 84-85f surface.Getting reacquainted with Granbury the fun begins.

Caught 83 last Friday. All schooling fish. 77 whites, 5 stripers and a drum.