Post by GhostComanche©® on Jan 25, 2021 1:55:54 GMT
Try This Method for Catching Kerr Striped Bass
by Buck Paysour at www.greensboro.com | January 26, 2015
`Taylor said not to bring any fishing equipment,' Bill Black told me when he called that November night. ``He said he had everything we need.'
I felt a twinge of disappointment. Bill had told me a few weeks earlier that Taylor Turner had discovered a new method - at least new to him - of catching striped bass, one of my favorite fishes. The method involved the use of live minnows for bait, something I did not then consider very sporting.Until that call, I had planned to use artificial lures. Little did I know that I was about to become a born-again minnow fisherman.
There was frost on the ground when Taylor picked Bill and me up for the 90-mile drive to Kerr Lake, known to many as Buggs Island.
But by the time we reached the lake, which straddles the North Carolina-Virginia border, the sun had warmed the air and fingers of mist rose from the calm water. It was to be a perfect Indian Summer day.
Shortly after we launched the boat, Taylor jabbed his cigar in the direction of the dancing lights on the depthfinder's face. The lights indicated fish swimming 25 feet under the boat.
``Stripers,' Taylor grunted.
The lights vanished briefly, then flashed on again. This time, they signaled smaller fish at about 20 feet.
``Baitfish,' Taylor said around the cigar now clenched between his teeth.
``Stripers,' he said again as the depth finder fish again at about 25 feet.
My heart beat rapidly and I no longer had any reservations about using minnows for bait.
At last Taylor shut down the gasoline engine, lowered the electric trolling motor, and quickly impaled a minnow on a hook, stripped out 23 feet of line, and handed me the rod.
``Stripers will come up a few feet to get your bait,' he said. ``But they usually won't go down.'
Taylor told me to lean the rod against the gunwale so that the rod's tip protruded over the water. I asked why I couldn't hold the rod.
``That's what I wanted to know the first time I tried this kind of fishing.' Taylor waved his dead cigar as if it were a lecturer's pointer. ``But Jerry Kirkman said that if you hold the rod, you'll invariably react too fast and jerk the bait out of the striper's mouth. And he's right.'
A striped bass will often toy with the bait and then go off and leave it, Taylor explained.
``But if a striper really wants the minnow, he'll thump it a couple of times, pause, and then swallow it. In the interval, he's turning the minnow around.'
A few minutes later, my rod trembled.
``Look!' I yelled, reaching for the rod.
``Don't worry,' Taylor said, as if consoling a little boy who had dropped his ice cream cone in the dirt. ``You'll get another chance.'
Taylor knew what he was talking about. Less than five minutes later my rod tip again quivered, then bent sharply toward the water.
``Set the hook!' Taylor barked when he heard the rod tip rattle against the side of the boat.
I obeyed and immediately felt the surge of a powerful fish. Before I could slow the fish it made three runs of at least 20 yards each against the reel's drag. Then it headed for the bottom where it made several more splendid runs. At Taylor's instruction, I pumped a beautiful striped bass, the largest fish I had ever caught in fresh water, to the boat where Taylor slid the landing net under it. Beginner's Luck. I had caught the first fish.
Taylor, then nearly 70, is no longer living and that's a great loss to his fishing buddies. He had an open mind even during his later life and was constantly searching for better ways of catching fish. He had the wisdom of experience and the enthusiasm of youth. He also was quick to share his knowledge with you.
Taylor would rather see Bill and I catch fish than catch them himself. For example, he hooked the second fish and thrust his rod at me saying, ``Here. You land it. I've caught my share of stripers.'
Another time, Bill (who was fishing two rods) hooked two fish at the same time. Taylor patiently held one of the fish until Bill had landed the other one. Then he handed Bill the rod so Bill could have the pleasure of landing the second fish.
A few months before our trip to Kerr Lake, Taylor had learned a system of fishing with minnows from Jerry Kirkman of Greensboro. Although Jerry was young enough to be Taylor's son, he already was one of the South's best striped bass fishermen. Jerry's system involved the use of live minnows. Taylor added some refinements of his own to the system.
The system involves a one-ounce sinker with eyes in each end. A split ring is connected to the bottom eye of the sinker and then a barrel swivel is attached to that. An eight-inch leader is tied to the swivel and a 3/0 or 4/0 hook is attached to the other end of the leader.
Taylor used 14-pound test monofilament for the running line and a slightly lighter line for the leader. That way, he did not lose a lot of line if a striper broke off.
``You should set the drag very loose,' Taylor said.
On that trip to Kerr Lake, Bill accidentally thumbed his reel after hooking one fish. The leader snapped. It was the only fish we lost.
The system that Taylor showed us involves more than just dunking minnows and it was sporting. You have to get your minnow down close to where the stripers are cruising. Otherwise you might as well be home watching the Washington Redskins play football on television.
Even the size of the minnows are important.
``They have to be big and lively,' Taylor said.
Some people catch sunfish on bream rigs and then use the sunfish for bait. Before doing that, however, check the latest game regulations to be sure there are no restrictions. Other anglers use cast nets to catch shad and use those as bait. You can only catch a few shad at a time because they cannot live very long in a bucket or live well.
``I don't know why,' Taylor said, ``but your bait has to hang straight down. Maybe it gives a more natural appearance to the minnow.'
To keep our lines straight, Taylor used the electric motor to move the boat against the light breeze.
Kerr Lake is one of the few inland lakes where striped bass reproduce. The striped bass needs long rivers to run up into to spawn. One of the striped bass I caught that day had been tagged years before during its spawning run up the Staunton River in Virginia.
On most lakes where stripers have been stocked, they do not reproduce. But the method we used will take stripers on any North Carolina lake where the fish have been stocked.
At one time, many people thought striped bass could not survive if they were landlocked and did not have access to salt water.
On our trip to Kerr, we didn't start fishing until 9 a.m. and quit well before sunset. Yet we caught 11 stripers that weighed an average of more than 11 pounds each. The number we caught was within the legal limit at the time but was more fish than were caught by anybody else we saw that day.
In the afternoon, I asked two anglers who were trolling artificial baits if they were having any luck. They said they were not.
As the anglers trolled past, one of them told his buddy, ``I'd rather catch one fish on an artificial lure than five on minnows.'
Maybe that crack should have insulted me. But it didn't. I once said much the same thing, usually when I was fishing with artificial lures and not catching anything.
by Buck Paysour at www.greensboro.com | January 26, 2015
`Taylor said not to bring any fishing equipment,' Bill Black told me when he called that November night. ``He said he had everything we need.'
I felt a twinge of disappointment. Bill had told me a few weeks earlier that Taylor Turner had discovered a new method - at least new to him - of catching striped bass, one of my favorite fishes. The method involved the use of live minnows for bait, something I did not then consider very sporting.Until that call, I had planned to use artificial lures. Little did I know that I was about to become a born-again minnow fisherman.
There was frost on the ground when Taylor picked Bill and me up for the 90-mile drive to Kerr Lake, known to many as Buggs Island.
But by the time we reached the lake, which straddles the North Carolina-Virginia border, the sun had warmed the air and fingers of mist rose from the calm water. It was to be a perfect Indian Summer day.
Shortly after we launched the boat, Taylor jabbed his cigar in the direction of the dancing lights on the depthfinder's face. The lights indicated fish swimming 25 feet under the boat.
``Stripers,' Taylor grunted.
The lights vanished briefly, then flashed on again. This time, they signaled smaller fish at about 20 feet.
``Baitfish,' Taylor said around the cigar now clenched between his teeth.
``Stripers,' he said again as the depth finder fish again at about 25 feet.
My heart beat rapidly and I no longer had any reservations about using minnows for bait.
At last Taylor shut down the gasoline engine, lowered the electric trolling motor, and quickly impaled a minnow on a hook, stripped out 23 feet of line, and handed me the rod.
``Stripers will come up a few feet to get your bait,' he said. ``But they usually won't go down.'
Taylor told me to lean the rod against the gunwale so that the rod's tip protruded over the water. I asked why I couldn't hold the rod.
``That's what I wanted to know the first time I tried this kind of fishing.' Taylor waved his dead cigar as if it were a lecturer's pointer. ``But Jerry Kirkman said that if you hold the rod, you'll invariably react too fast and jerk the bait out of the striper's mouth. And he's right.'
A striped bass will often toy with the bait and then go off and leave it, Taylor explained.
``But if a striper really wants the minnow, he'll thump it a couple of times, pause, and then swallow it. In the interval, he's turning the minnow around.'
A few minutes later, my rod trembled.
``Look!' I yelled, reaching for the rod.
``Don't worry,' Taylor said, as if consoling a little boy who had dropped his ice cream cone in the dirt. ``You'll get another chance.'
Taylor knew what he was talking about. Less than five minutes later my rod tip again quivered, then bent sharply toward the water.
``Set the hook!' Taylor barked when he heard the rod tip rattle against the side of the boat.
I obeyed and immediately felt the surge of a powerful fish. Before I could slow the fish it made three runs of at least 20 yards each against the reel's drag. Then it headed for the bottom where it made several more splendid runs. At Taylor's instruction, I pumped a beautiful striped bass, the largest fish I had ever caught in fresh water, to the boat where Taylor slid the landing net under it. Beginner's Luck. I had caught the first fish.
Taylor, then nearly 70, is no longer living and that's a great loss to his fishing buddies. He had an open mind even during his later life and was constantly searching for better ways of catching fish. He had the wisdom of experience and the enthusiasm of youth. He also was quick to share his knowledge with you.
Taylor would rather see Bill and I catch fish than catch them himself. For example, he hooked the second fish and thrust his rod at me saying, ``Here. You land it. I've caught my share of stripers.'
Another time, Bill (who was fishing two rods) hooked two fish at the same time. Taylor patiently held one of the fish until Bill had landed the other one. Then he handed Bill the rod so Bill could have the pleasure of landing the second fish.
A few months before our trip to Kerr Lake, Taylor had learned a system of fishing with minnows from Jerry Kirkman of Greensboro. Although Jerry was young enough to be Taylor's son, he already was one of the South's best striped bass fishermen. Jerry's system involved the use of live minnows. Taylor added some refinements of his own to the system.
The system involves a one-ounce sinker with eyes in each end. A split ring is connected to the bottom eye of the sinker and then a barrel swivel is attached to that. An eight-inch leader is tied to the swivel and a 3/0 or 4/0 hook is attached to the other end of the leader.
Taylor used 14-pound test monofilament for the running line and a slightly lighter line for the leader. That way, he did not lose a lot of line if a striper broke off.
``You should set the drag very loose,' Taylor said.
On that trip to Kerr Lake, Bill accidentally thumbed his reel after hooking one fish. The leader snapped. It was the only fish we lost.
The system that Taylor showed us involves more than just dunking minnows and it was sporting. You have to get your minnow down close to where the stripers are cruising. Otherwise you might as well be home watching the Washington Redskins play football on television.
Even the size of the minnows are important.
``They have to be big and lively,' Taylor said.
Some people catch sunfish on bream rigs and then use the sunfish for bait. Before doing that, however, check the latest game regulations to be sure there are no restrictions. Other anglers use cast nets to catch shad and use those as bait. You can only catch a few shad at a time because they cannot live very long in a bucket or live well.
``I don't know why,' Taylor said, ``but your bait has to hang straight down. Maybe it gives a more natural appearance to the minnow.'
To keep our lines straight, Taylor used the electric motor to move the boat against the light breeze.
Kerr Lake is one of the few inland lakes where striped bass reproduce. The striped bass needs long rivers to run up into to spawn. One of the striped bass I caught that day had been tagged years before during its spawning run up the Staunton River in Virginia.
On most lakes where stripers have been stocked, they do not reproduce. But the method we used will take stripers on any North Carolina lake where the fish have been stocked.
At one time, many people thought striped bass could not survive if they were landlocked and did not have access to salt water.
On our trip to Kerr, we didn't start fishing until 9 a.m. and quit well before sunset. Yet we caught 11 stripers that weighed an average of more than 11 pounds each. The number we caught was within the legal limit at the time but was more fish than were caught by anybody else we saw that day.
In the afternoon, I asked two anglers who were trolling artificial baits if they were having any luck. They said they were not.
As the anglers trolled past, one of them told his buddy, ``I'd rather catch one fish on an artificial lure than five on minnows.'
Maybe that crack should have insulted me. But it didn't. I once said much the same thing, usually when I was fishing with artificial lures and not catching anything.