Hybrids and Stripers – We are in a period of transition for the Hybrids and Stripers. The pump back bite we enjoyed in the late Summer and early fall has dropped off and the night time fishing docks with lights has slowed down.

The good news is we are starting to see the gulls dive down and pick the shad (bait fish). The bait fish are abundant now and in large schools easily seen on the Lowrance HDS12 on my boat. The schools are all over the lake and I have seen the largest schools in 20 feet of water about halfway down below the surface.

The best fly set up to catch the fish that are usually just under these schools of bait is a small clouser dressed with some pink on top of the fly. This fly sinks quickly and can be used on an 8-weight rod with an intermediate or sink tip line and a 9 foot, 10 or 12 pound leader.

The “main event” for stripers and hybrids is coming soon as cooler temperatures come in. When this happens, we will fish mid lake to the dam looking for the birds. This is top water fishing and is a blast. The setup is a floating line, a 10 pound leader, and a wiggle minnow. The retrieve is a constant strip, sometimes done with the fly rod under your arm and using both hands to strip line back in.

Crappie – Oh my, it is off the charts right now. I have used both down lines pushing jigs tipped with minnows and ling lines pulling behind the boat. The latter has been the most effective. I am using 2 1/16 jigs and because these fish are so big, 8 lb test. I have been catching up to 20 in 4 hours mostly large to very large crappie. Several in the 2 pound range recently. In terms of color, a blue / chartreuse curly tail has worked best.

I love fishing this time of year, jet skis are gone, fewer boats on the water, and the bite will be good until late March.

Hybrids and Stripers – Many of you know that power generation at Wallace Dam really gets the Hybrid / Striper bite going. According to the Wallace Dam Website, “Georgia Power currently operates the project to generate during peak power demand hours, and then pumps some of the water back at night during off-peak and lower-cost power hours.”

The pump back bite is killer for fly fisherman and usually happened somewhere between 6:00 AM and 9:00 AM from August through late October. That bite has become unpredictable as power demands changed with cooler weather.

We are focusing on fly fishing at night under dock lights right now. This bite is good all over the lake. On the upper end, the water can become stained with rain, but so far it has not been a problem. I had a guest out Monday 11/6 and he boated 6 smaller hybrids, serval nice crappie, and had some much bigger fish break off on a 10-lb. leader. All with only one fly and in just a few hours.

There are a few keys to success doing this. First, a clouser type fly that sinks quickly and a retrieve of 3 to 5 short strips as soon as the fly hits the water, then pause and repeat. The pause is key.

Secondly, the hook set; it must be a striping hook set with the rod tip down. This is not like fly fishing for trout where a high rod hook set works well.

Most importantly, a 4 lb. Hybrid is a heck of a fight at night on a fly rod. Getting the fish on reel as soon as possible will keep the fish from breaking the leader. Fight the fish with the part of the rod closest to the reel. It’s an adrenaline rush to catch a big Hybrid at night on a fly, just remember they play by their own rules and landing one means getting it away from the dock and any other structure as soon as possible.

Crappie – The cooler weather has made the crappie move off the deep-water structure and start to disperse in open water. The trolling bite has not started on the upper end of the lake, but I am hearing good reports from people long lining in the area near lick creek. The fishing on the docks at night has been fair, the fish are good size slabs. We are catching them on crappie minnows and on the same flies used for Hybrids.