Q&A: Trolling Lures for Freshwater Lake Striper and Hybrid Bass

QUESTION

Hogy,

I’ve watched all of your videos on striper fishing in the salt water up in the North East. Thanks for all of the great info you guys provide.

I live in Charleston, SC and we have the striper in the lakes down here (as well as the rivers, but they are not large), both hybrid and regular striped bass. In the winter, the shad school up and create large bait balls which makes it easier to target the striper in the lake. Trolling deep diving crank baits have been my consistent producers. Following the birds when the flock helps when trying to locate the fish as well.

My question is, can I use the same techniques you guys outline in your videos and the same gear to target stripers in the lake? There is a very minimal current, almost unnoticeable. It seems like in all of your videos, you guys fish with the current.

In the winter months, the fish move to the deeper section of the lake, which is 40-60 feet on average. I typically find the fish suspended in 30 or so feet of water. What suggestions would you have to target these fish better? I’ve purchased the hogy 19″-24″ bubblegum, wine, and black SI perfect tube lures and plan to try them out. However, we don’t have sea worms here to tip the hooks.

 ANSWER

Thanks for reaching out. I really appreciate your feedback about the site, glad it’s providing some ideas for targeting bass in your area.

The SI Perfect Tubes can be trolled with out any bait on the hook. Several guides use them “naked” and have great success. Without having to focus on current direction, finding the correct depth and speed will help produce results. The tubes troll best at 1.5 – 2.2mph, you want the tube to roll slowly, not spin. Checking the action near the surface at different speeds will help you find the sweet spot.

Other ideas – I’ve heard some fantastic feedback from anglers vertically jigging freshwater striper using our 7inch HDUV Eel Tail on a 1oz 6/0 Barbarian Jig Head They’ve always used the Bone Glow Flake color and reported that it was almost like “cheating”. Their technique was focused on jigging suspended bass in 60 – 100’ over submerged timber.

We recently release the Pro Tail series, these Pre-Rigged baits could be dynamite as well. I’d recommend checking out the 7inch Pro Tail Eel for vertical jigging.

I think the heavier 4oz – 5oz 6.5inch Paddles could also troll very well too. Try trolling them back 200’ – 250′ in the same speed range (1.5-2.5mph) to keep the bait swimming as deep as possible.