I tried searching for the forum for this topic but didn't find anything. Forgive me if this has been answered in the past and I'm beating a dead horse...

I started to target stripers with artificial lures (spoons and swimbaits) and have no problem catching a limit of smaller fish and occasionally one over 20 inches. I was curious to find out what methods do recommend to target bigger fish? If not a method, do you find the key to catching larger fish is location and not necessarily the tackle you use?

Full disclosure, I know a majority of the guides fish main lake flats and I haven't invested the time out there. They also fish with bait which isn't something I've tried yet. I'm not against fishing with bait, I just don't own the tackle to catch live bait.

You surely have the tackle for live bait - go catch perch and keep them in a bucket with an aerator. I've always had better results with perch that have some bright orange or red colors on them.

Otherwise, big lure, big fish.

I've caught some big stripers on Perch at PK. You have to be a little patient, as the stripers wont take perch as quick as they do shad. With Shad, if I often cannot get two poles in the water before I have a striper. Also, often they will grab the perch and run 50 yards then drop it. I assume the perch got his dorsal fins up and made the striper drop him. The striper will almost always come back and get the perch after this happens.

If you have a shad tank, gizzard shad will eliminate the smaller stripers.

I like using 5" or larger swim bait to catch the big stripers. It only works in the shallow areas so I usually target the big stripers in the fall and spring. But one lesson I learned is that when there is top water action, I let my lure sink farther below the surface because it has been true most of the time that the big stripers are beneath the smaller stripers.

I just look for the bigger arches.

Thanks, everyone. To clarify, I don't have a cast net to catch shad. I hadn't thought about using perch.

Knowledge and location of their behavior are equally as important is important as proper baits.

Bigger stripers in fresh water...those above 20 pounds...are much more vulnerable to live bait than artificials. When I started targeting larger stripers, I did so as an artificials guy but I learned the hard way that live bait is far,far superior.

Within the category "live bait", there are significant differences in probability of success depending on your location, i.e. water body and time of the year. In general, my ranking would be live gizzard shad rate the highest probability of success and blue gills about the lowest. That's not to say blue gills won't work, they will at certain times and certain locations.

One of the unfortunate challenges of going after big stripers is that often the best bait is also the most difficult to obtain and sustain....but, hey, if it was easy to catch big strippers, everyone would be doing it.

What swimbaits do you all like for bigger stripers?

Knowledge, movement, timing I think are more important than bait selection my experience. If anyone would know it's Mr. Striper Express himself weighing in above. As the water temps fall into the 50's fish start migration into river arms. Those mainlake and river points and flats can be deadly. 6 inch swimbaits for me last couple of years with under spin has got it done. Good news I don't have to get up early best bite 10-2pm depending on day

"One of the unfortunate challenges of going after big stripers is that often the best bait is also the most difficult to obtain and sustain...."


never a truer word spoken