They weren’t big, with the biggest pushing 3 pounds and 19 inches and the smallest barely exceeding the 15-inch minimum.
But, man, I was one happy boy on Wednesday (Oct. 3) when I finally nailed my first limit of keeper striped bass on Barnett Reservoir this year.
It was a long-awaited feat in 2012, but took less than 40 minutes to produce once I found the school hanging on the drop from 6 feet to 12 feet straight out from Fannin Landing.
“That’s about right, exactly what we expected,” said Ron Garavelli, the chief of fisheries for the Mississippi Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks, the first guy I called. “All those fish we were catching earlier this year between 13 and 14 inches, you knew they were going to grow and finish the season as keepers.”
It’s true that we had several fun days chasing and catching the feisty juveniles in May, June and July. We gave up on big fish and were satisfied gearing down to light tackle and barbless hooks and having fun with little ones. They were highly mobile and often spotted jumping on the surface, but they were never dependable for more than a day or two. We’d catch 50 or 60 along the river channel out from Twin Harbors and Lost Rabbit on one day, but wouldn’t find them again for days or, too often, weeks.
There were reports of a few schools of bigger fish, including some of the giant 10- and 12-pounders, usually further up the lake than they typically hang out in the summer.
Of course, hearing about them from other fishermen and finding them is never easy (since a lot of time fishermen won’t talk about them until the school has played out or moved).
Weird weather conditions — a hot June, a cooler and much wetter July and a strange August — kept me baffled and apparently kept the big schools of stripes from ever forming.
“Just wait,” I told aggravated striper chasers all summer, “this fall, when it comes time for the shad to move shallow, they will suddenly appear on the edge of the Fannin flats, from the channel to the landing all the way down to Pelahatchie Creek.”
And Wednesday, they were there as predicted. It’s been a dependable producer for years when the shad start migrating toward the shallows and the stripes move into ambush position along the edge of the big flats.
With the bass boat in the shop for annual service, I drove the pontoon boat out of its harbor on the Madison County side of the lake and crossed the main body toward Fannin. I was alone and had two light rods rigged for casting grubs and lead-heads and two mediums for trolling with Bandit 200 Series crankbaits.
I ran straight to the edge of the drop directly out from the Fannin channel and stopped when the bottom went from 14 feet up to 8. I tossed out three buoys to mark the edge along a 300-yard stretch and began trolling with a lime and black 200.
The first fish hooked up within five minutes and was 16 ½ inches. I pitched him back, not knowing if it was a loner or would be one of many. He was lucky. I ran back, got on the same lineup and trolled through the same area. The hit came when the water shallowed to 6 feet and so did the next one. This one was the day’s biggest — 19 inches — and he went on ice.
Still not sure, I saw I was within casting distance and I whipped the Bandit back out there. I reeled hard and fast to get it down and then paused and BAM! Another fish grabbed the lure.
I got it in and set the anchor.
Switching to the light action spinning gear, I started throwing a soft plastic saltwater cocahoe minnow. I was throwing at the shallowest spot on the ridge and bouncing down the drop.
BAM! BAM! BAM! BAM!
The limit sixth fish hit the ice exactly 34 minutes after I started trolling.
I mashed the barb down and kept fishing for another 30 minutes. I caught several more on that spot and then moved down to another, even shallower hump (4 feet on top) and caught another 10 on the grub, shaking them off at the side of the boat.
Leaving them biting to get this story done, I checked my schedule and already have my next trip planned.
Be the first to comment