I haven't lately but in the 90's I fished hard for big Striper in Ga. And first thing I was told about catching these guys is you must get the bait down to them but always above them. "They wont look down for food". Yesterday I caught a nice striper on an eight inch Lake Fork tackle worm. I had worked the worm half way to the boat so it was on the bottom or real close. Why was a striper picking up a worm off the bottom. Is it more common than I think? Thanks

Many times the stiper will feed on or near the bottom. One reason cut bait works well on Big Stripers.

Fish are like wimmin. Just when you think you figured out what they gonna do------BAM! They do the total opposite.

Back in the day we would go to Texoma and seine ghostminnows and drift with them on the bottom and caught tons of stripper that way. Also do the same with shad.

I think stripers will eat anything they can get in their mouth. I've had catfish guys tell me they catch them on cut bait and find them full of small catfish. I've watched guys fish at the PK dam catch them on cut perch. I've caught them on live perch as well.

The main reason you find those stripers near the bottom is water temp. They want 55 deg water. Unlike trout, they don't die in warmer water but don't like it one bit.

Sand bass grab my jig as I slow roll it along the bottom every spring run.....stripers are the large version/species of the same kind of fish. They will also eat crayfish... So yes they will eat off the bottom, you'll just get a few more strikes above them than below them.

Eric

Stripers and sandbass are 2 different species.sandbass are Morone chrysops and stripers are Morone saxatilis....same genus different species. Stripers eat the easiest way possible just like any other fish. However they are more pelagic than sandbass or hybrids. They don't relate as close to structure as a sandbass does but I've cleaned plenty of them with bellys FULL of zebra mussels and freshwater mussels. As far as strike zone goes....its difficult to tell. I've caught them on 3oz bucktail jigs on the drop in the summer and had to smack them in the face with a fluke in January. Their eyes are above the hinge of their jaw so they will be more prone to feed up....in theory

Big Sows will feed along the bottom. Jim Crawford, a friend and great guide of Buchanan, turned me on to cut bait fishing for them several years ago. Great technique and lots of fun. Double anchor over a hump and basically fan cast around boat covering all depths. Seems to work best in the spring/early summer and fall. But will works well year round as well.

My friend just fished with a guide on lake Powell, Utah. They used dead anchovies as bait for stripers with success.