We had a 3-hour striper fishing charter this morning, the first after the busy holiday weekend. Boat pressure has finally started to ease up, though traffic on the water was still moderate despite the gloomy, stormy skies. Like most of my shorter striper trips, we focused on trolling rather than bait fishing—while it sometimes produces fewer fish, it consistently brings better quality. Our first fish came by 7:50 AM, and by the end of the trip we put around 15 fish in the boat. We started trolling in about 30 feet of water at 2.5 mph, running a River2Sea D Walker Pearl swimbait on a ½ oz head, a custom-painted white jerkbait, and a Rapala Shad deep-diving hybrid crankbait. Early on, we weren’t marking many bait balls, just scattered fish, so I decided to adjust our spread. Swapping over to a custom-painted white lipless crank and a smaller Cotton Cordell shad lure, while keeping the swimbait in play, made all the difference. That adjustment paid off quickly—we had a few double hook-ups and steady action throughout the morning. Once again, the swimbait proved to be the top producer. Most of our stripers landed were in the 14–16" range, with only a couple of small dinks mixed in. All in all, it was a solid trip with a happy client.

Air temps were in the low 100s, water temp held steady at 82°F, and we fished depths ranging from 20–40 feet. As many of you know, my wife and I are expecting our baby soon—originally planned for September 4th. But like most good things in life, expect the unexpected! She began contractions Wednesday at just 37 weeks. With several catfishing trips already booked for September and a few hours to stay close in cell service, my very understanding wife gave me the green light to sneak out for some scouting before the big day. I launched around 5 PM and planned to fish until about 11 PM. Bait was first on the list, though the red ear sunfish I was finding were more trophy-size than bait-size! Finally, at my third stop, I managed four smaller bluegill for the livewell. My first anchor set was at sunset on a transition line where a deep hole met a shallow flat. With flatheads being creatures of routine, my rule is 45 minutes per spot unless I get a bite. That first spot was quiet, so I moved on. At spot number two, I hooked into two flatheads under 10 lbs before things shut down. My final move—just 150 yards—produced a solid 8 lb channel cat on cut bait to wrap up the catfishing. Before calling it, I dropped the green light for some video and to see if I could grab a few stripers for dinner. Within 15 minutes, a good school was under the boat, and I managed to land a few keepers. Great scouting night, and the bite is only going to get better as temps start to cool down.

Water temps this past week have ranged from 82–87°F with air temps between 94–115°F. Sunrise has been around 6:01 AM with sunset at 7:15 PM. Winds have been all over the place, from glass-calm mornings to 15 mph gusts, and we even had one monsoon storm on Friday the 15th that brought rough evening water for a short time. Last week was jam-packed with back-to-back 3-hour striper charters. Many clients wanted to target quality striped bass, and the bite was steady but definitely changed with the wind. Trolling produced most of our action, with River2Sea Pearl Swimbaits, Cotton Cordell hard baits, Rapala deep divers, and custom-painted jerkbaits all getting bit. The standout lure for the week was the River2Sea swimbait, consistently producing solid fish. Most trips started just north of Site Six, working through the “Sod Farm” where striper were stacked up in 25–30 feet of water. Some days it was wide open, other days the fish had lockjaw. If that slowed down, we pushed into Mesquite Bay or Thompson Bay when time allowed. Midweek through the weekend, fishing got tougher and daily counts dropped, but the majority of fish were quality in the 14–19” range. Later in the week, I switched gears and headed south, trolling from Pilot Rock to Standard Wash. That adjustment paid off big — we were back into steady action, landing 30+ fish most trips, mainly in the 14–17” class with a few smaller ones mixed in. We also started bait fishing in 20–40 feet of water using cut bait on fly lines and drop shots. Keeping a chum bucket going was key to holding fish under the boat, since there’s so much natural forage right now. On Sunday I had a day off and used it to scout. I worked the Intake area for the first time since winter and landed about 15 striper trolling lipless crankbaits in 30 feet. On the way back, I picked off a few more near Cattail Cove, where fish were shallower and even chasing bait into boils late in the morning. Monday evening, I switched gears again to target flathead catfish. I hustled to catch bluegill for bait before dark, then set up anchored on one of my favorite spots. With a Santee Cooper rig and live bluegill, plus a slide rig and cut sardine, I managed a nice flathead just under 10 pounds. Lost another fish to structure and had a few short runs, but I think more live bait would have really dialed them in. Later in the night, I dropped a green light and picked up several 2–3 lb striper that moved in to feed — an awesome sight if you’ve never watched them school and crash bait under the light.