Striped bass are schooling fish by nature, but when anglers talk about schooling stripers they’re usually talking about the melee that ensues when these predators push a school of bait to the surface. It’s a lot like a fireworks show, with explosions occurring in every direction. Fishing doesn’t get more exciting. Beaver Lake, Ark., fishing guide Brad Wiegmann commonly leads clients to the frenzied fun of schooling stripers and white bass, and says that locating the fish is just the first step. Just because stripers are busting shad on top doesn’t mean that catching them is easy. Because the fish only attack baitfish on the surface for intermittent time periods, knowing when to look for them is important.
“Boat traffic is the worst thing for schooling stripers,” he said. “That’s why early mornings are so good. I also like the late afternoons as long as the pleasure boats haven’t been too bad. That’s usually during the week. Never on weekends.”
Wiegmann typically starts searching for schooling stripers in major creek arms and works his way toward the main lake, but he notes that location varies depending on the season. In winter, the fish often break over shallow mud flats, and during the summer a more likely area is over the deepest water in the lake.
“Once you get on ‘em, though, you can find them close by for days and sometimes weeks afterward,” he said. Read the rest of this article by Steven Johnson…
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