I Have Been Fishing...

I have been fishig recently but I haven't done well at the catching part.   My buddy with a boat was nice enough to have me tag along to hunt for striped bass.  Kerr Lake is notorious for striped bass fishing.  A member of the Triangle Fly Fishers talks about how great the fishing is and teases us with pictures like this.

Striper fishing is a whole different monster from other types of fly fishing.  The rods are 8wt or heavier.  Sinking line is a must.  The fish can range from busting shad on the surface to chasing bait balls 40ft deep.   The technique is to find birds hovering in a certain area.  Hopefully this is a sign of feeding stripers pushing bait to the surface.   The first time I went out we traveled miles across the lake before we found birds.  We marked fish at depths between 40-60ft.  Neither one of us had sinking line that could fish the water properly.  The second time I had bought some sinking line for Christmas and this last weekend I felt well equiped.  We launched from a different side of the lake and this time we saw birds quickly. 

We frantically fished the water and within 20min a stiff breeze picked up.  A cold front was coming in fast.  The birds stopped working the water and just sat.  What was once a fast and busy atmosphere was now dead and silent.  The only sound was of fisherman complaining about the wind chill.  It didn't take long for us to decide to call it a day.   I think if we had a little bit more time when the birds were working we might have gotten lucky.  There is a chance we'll go again around Martin Luther King day.  If that doesn't happen I will probably only fish lakes close to home.  That's at least until pickerel season.