The
Bottom Line on Hybrid Stripers and Walleye
By
Bruce Edward Litton
I never forget the first time my son
and I tried weighting live herring along the bottom edge of a Lake Hopatcong
drop-off in October 2007, but I don’t remember if we got clued in by secondhand
information or the rig seemed obvious. A half-ounce egg sinker ahead of a small
barrel swivel and a four-foot, six-pound test leader of monofilament tied to a
size 6 hook. The only change we’ve made since involves the use of size 10
treble hooks. I owned a topographic map, selected a sharp drop, used a fish
finder to determine the edge between the slope and flat deep bottom, anchored
shallower and cast our rigs to that edge. Sure enough, we caught good-size
walleye of about four pounds.
We kept coming back for more each
third week of October. We’ve caught walleye every fall, and after a couple of
years, began catching hybrid stripers along with them. On several occasions, a
lot more stripers than marble eyes. Lake Hopatcong is not the only New Jersey
destination for either species by the same method. Hybrids grow perhaps just as
large in Spruce Run Reservoir and may be as numerous. Manasquan Reservoir
features them also. Average size is about three pounds, fish slightly less than
two pounds abundant, four-pounders common. I’ve caught a few five pounds and a
little better, but so far, I’ve been jinxed at catching one of the six, seven,
or eight-pound fish that so many of us read about in fishing reports, see
photographed or catch ourselves. I’ve hooked and lost a few in this range and
they fight like nothing else in freshwater. They just don’t leap as smallmouth
bass do.
Walleye inhabit Swartswood and
Greenwood lakes, Monksville and Canistear reservoirs in addition to Hopatcong
where they average about four pounds, six-pounders commonly caught with a
number over eight pounds caught each year. We don’t catch loads of walleye less
than two pounds as we do the bass, and though walleye do gather together in
pods, the explanation for the catch discrepancy involves their not schooling in
large numbers. On one occasion early in October, I witnessed fellow Knee Deep
Club member Marty Roberts catch the last of about a hundred hybrids on one
outing. He stayed anchored in a single spot, his fish alarm sounding off like
Christmas bells.
Many ways exist to catch both of
these species and most of them cross over. In almost a decade, I’ve successfully
used different approaches, but I like the bottom line of drop-offs in October
best. I sit back and let the world unwind. Nothing else has been so relaxing and
productive for these species. One caveat. Not all of the fish will cruise right
along that bottom edge. In general, we set from 20 feet down to 45 feet, but
throughout the month of October, be aware that on either Lake Hopatcong or
Spruce Run Reservoir, fall turnover and oxygenation of the deepest water is not
likely complete until the end of the month. We have marked fish as deep as 33
feet on October first, and yet as late as the third weekend, have witnessed
herring dead reeled up from 40-foot depths. Your live bait is the canary in the
coal mine, so check on it to avoid wasting effort.
We follow no hard and fast rules on
where to set, besides always putting at least a couple of six lines total
between two of us right on the deep break. A good idea for beginners is to mark
that edge with inexpensive buoys. Most often, we rig four lines with live
herring and cast to shallows for bass and panfish with a rod apiece while
keeping an eye on the open bails of the herring sets. Other anglers set drags
light, tightening them upon setting the hook, but especially with quick-running
hybrids, this can make a mess. Walleye, on the other hand, take the bait slow, line
poking off the spool. You really know when a hybrid hits. Grab the rod, engage
the reel and set the hook so that treble hook doesn’t catch in the gut, a
problem we’ve never caused.
Trebles allow herring liveliness. A
single-shank hook turns inward upon a herring’s eye when placed through the
nostrils, so a treble is preferable. Slip a prong through that bony opening for
the most secure and liveliest arrangement. The tiny treble rides on top of the
herring’s head like a thorny crown. Since the little hook with those hazardous
extra prongs often catches inside the fish’s mouth, use a hook disgorger or
long-nosed pliers to remove it.
We miss a few hits. Not many.
Medium-power spinning is all that’s necessary, and we’ve caught nice walleye on
ultra-lights. However, with six-pound test monofilament and an eight-pound hybrid
on the terminal end, power the fish when you can, but never force it. Hybrids
have convulsive power like no other freshwater fish, sure to explode in sudden
bursts of muscular force that will snap line instantly if the drag is the
slightest bit too tight. Some veterans would never go so light, but on the
other hand, Marty Roberts, last I spoke to him about it, catches hybrids only
with ultra-lights, so it is a matter of preference as much as a matter of fact
that a big hybrid will test any gear. I have caught five-pounders on 10 and 12-pound
test, and though I felt relief in having a margin of more control than with
lighter line, the fights remained long and sustained. The point is—these fish aren’t
leader shy. If you use a 12-pound test leader, no problem. Fluorocarbon is all
but invisible anyway. Hybrids must have good eyesight, as walleye certainly do,
and yet many get caught on chicken liver, so they rely on smell, too.
Herring happen to be rich in Omega 3
fatty acids. If you are good with a razorblade or very sharp knife, slightly
incise live herring along the back, never so much as to impede liveliness much,
just enough to release a little scent. Muscle gets cut, so a little of the
fish’s vitality and endurance will be compromised, and yet so long as the fish
remains active on the hook, a compromised life is more of a target to a
predator. Walleye floats made of Styrofoam—black is best—help keep crippled herring
out of rocks and other bottom obstructions. They slide onto the leader like an
egg sinker and the hybrids and walleye don’t mind. Or just slip a little junk
Styrofoam on the line, although the typical whiteness may not be ideal.
There’s nothing else like it. Whether
the wind howls like Halloween banshees or the lake lays calm and flat, this
method works all day, but get on the water before dawn for the best action
early. When the wind blows 20, 30 knots and everyone else hunkers down behind
shoreline ridges in the calm, we anchor right in the blow, don’t even bother to
double anchor, and let the boat ride the swells. Wind’s where the best action
awaits.
http://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2012/10/lake-hopatcong-hybrid-stripers-strike.html
http://littonsfishinglines.blogspot.com/2012/10/lake-hopatcong-hybrid-stripers-strike.html
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