I mentioned in my last article that I haven’t done much striper fishing this year, although we have a little ways to go before years end. In fact the times I have been striper fishing have not been all that successful. I enjoy night fishing, casting plugs over hot spots, but my regular spots weren’t all that hot. For me, the prime season is early spring to early summer. I’m sorry to report that my diary is full of zeros, punctuated by only a few nights of success during that period. I am almost ashamed to turn in a diary with such a dismal record, but of course I will in the interest of scientific research.

I was in attendance at the Striper Club’s August general meeting with guest speakers Capt. Kathy Franceschini and Mike Bendzus. Kathy is a pro guide, Mike is an experienced striper fisherman and the Club’s tournament director. As I listened to the speakers explain their techniques and the success they were having, I began to feel inspired. It almost felt like a pep rally. I really needed to go out and catch a fish. I needed to feel something pulsating at the end of my line. It’s a thrill I’ve enjoyed all my life and I hope it never ends.

I wasn’t able to satisfy my addiction here because of commitments we had already made to family members in northeast NC, not too far from the mouth of the Chesapeake Bay. Upon arrival in NC, my son in law proposed a trip in the Bay for sheepshead. I told him, “Of course I’m interested, but I’ve never caught a sheepshead in my life”. He told me he had been doing some research on sheepshead and he had a DVD we could watch on the subject. The DVD was informative indeed. It showed in detail just how to catch sheepshead.

Sheepshead are so named because their front teeth protrude out, similar to a sheep. They hang around bridge and dock pilings and are well equipped to chisel barnacles off the pilings. They feed off of the crustaceans on and around the pilings. The best baits are fiddler crabs, mole crabs and pieces of blue crabs. Sheepshead range in size from 2 to 8 lbs. Their mouth is relatively small, but extremely powerful. Experienced sheepshead  fisherman claim they can bite through a flimsily hook. A size #4, 4X is about right. The DVD suggested taking along a flat bladed shovel to scrape barnacles off the pilings and that in effect acts as chum for the sheepshead.

A day before we decided to go we collected fiddler crabs and mole crabs at VA Beach. We also remembered to put the shovel in the boat. The next day we headed for Lynnhaven Inlet, a ramp at the mouth of the Bay. While we were readying the boat for launch, we were overhearing a lot of talk about a tremendous flounder run. It seemed everybody was catching their limits. We just couldn’t ignore all the chatter. What to do? As most sensible fisherman would we decided to heck with the sheepshead, we need to get in on the flounder run.

At the end of the day, we all had our limits of flounder. There were four of on the boat, the limit is four legal size fish per person and we had our 16 fish. We caught many more that were undersized and had to be thrown back. I got the fix I needed. By the way I still haven’t caught a sheepshead, but we’ll keep the shovel handy.

Good Luck and Keep the Lines Tight, Paul

For me, the best fishing on the lake is at night from April to mid June. 

I know this is a striper club, but during that period I’ve caught a lot of big bass, both largemouth and smallmouth. I’ve also caught a lot of white perch and some channel cats. This year I missed most of the spring night fishing season here at the lake. I did have a few good nights, but nothing like in past years. One reason was because of the weather. It seemed like the nights I wanted to go, a thunderstorm was threatening or it was very windy. That’s not to say I didn’t go fishing all that much. The reason I missed so much of the season here was because I spent so much time in southeast Virginia, on the Chesapeake Bay, fishing with my son-in-law and friends. We caught everything from tautogs to stripers to spadefish. We did manage to catch one cobia, about 60 lbs. I must admit though that the pound for pound strongest fish I ever fought was the spadefish. The pound for pound phrase is probably overused, but in the case of the spadefish, I think it’s true.

Spadefish look a little like an oversized angelfish, with black vertical stripes. In the Chesapeake Bay, spring is the prime season for spadefish. (Seems like all the good fishing happens at once.) During this period they like to hang around structure in large schools. The usual method when fishing for them is to use a float with a small hook and a split shot on the business end. The float is placed about 5 ft. above the hook. Just like bobber fishing in fresh water. 

The preferred bait is a small piece of clam. Almost any type of tackle can be used except ultra light. I wouldn’t use light gear either, it’s hard enough to get them in with medium to heavy tackle. 

When jellyfish arrive in the Bay, that usually signals the end of spadefish season. The spadefish spread out and gorge themselves on the jellyfish. 

If you ever get the opportunity to go spadefishing, take it, you will not be disappointed. As one angler put it, “Spadefish are like bluegills on steroids”. 

Good luck and keep the lines tight, Paul