I’m just teasing! Nice fish! Makes me hungry looking at em. Do you usually use live shad vs artificials?
I knew you were my friend. For stripers on Whitney i use live perch. Unless they are schooling, then I use a clear Zara Spook. I haven't had much luck getting them on swimbaits or jigs.
Until this year I was so stubborn and refused using shad because of the well known pain in the butt it can be to catch and care for them but man does it pay off! Especially in many situations where artificials just don’t produce. Do you have a smart trolling motor to spot lock over fish or what do you do? I have a smart trolling motor and I won’t ever go back to not having one now especially for shad fishing.
Perch will work but they are like #5 on the best bait list, numbers 1-4 are shad. I usually use perch because I'm 69 with two bad knees and and a hip that needs a second replacement. I would pay unreasonable prices for live shad on Lake Whitney.
Interesting to hear what works for different people. I have had better success on Whitney with perch. I’ve had great luck with shad, perch just seem to get hit harder than shad for me.
FishWrangler2, by perch I mean any of those species that you catch around docks or brush using worms. I try to get the grandkids to catch mine. There's at least three different types in Whitney. I try to use perch that are around 5 inches long which usually keeps stripers less than 20 inches long from biting. For me live bait is King when fishing for stripers.