Name:	Procraft176 -	Reply
Subject:	No birds, no stripe
Date:	12/27/2015 8:29:34 AM

Anyone having any luck finding stripe? I have been a number of times since Thanksgiving and have had very little luck around the pleasure point area. 

Name:	Waldo -	Reply
Subject:	No birds, no stripe
Date:	12/29/2015 7:48:42 AM

I was out Sat morning and saw some birds working north of Youngs Island. I did mark lots of bait and plenty of fish that I believe were stripers but I couldn't get them to take artificials. I even saw a big Striper blow up on the surface (not on my lure of course). I'll try to post some pictures of my sonar screen shots of what I believe were stripes once I learn how.

I also saw several other boats trolling for stripes, but didn't see anyone catching any. I just wonder how long it will take the lake to get back to normal after all of this rain. The muddy water line was at Youngs Island on Sat and tons of debris was floating uplake from there. Be careful running.

Name:	Procraft176 -	Reply
Subject:	No birds, no stripe
Date:	12/29/2015 8:39:52 AM

I was up there sat also,we spooned around paces point area some and Youngs island some also. I marked fish , but only caught a few crappie. You are right that mud  line was right at Youngs Island. Anything north of there looked pretty rough. I haven't been since then ,but I bet that mud line has spread south. I hope that it clears up pretty early on January. 

Name:	LakeTracker -	Reply
Subject:	No birds, no stripe
Date:	12/29/2015 10:49:46 AM

Was planning on fishing this coming weekend. Would it be best to drop in at Kowaliga if the water is clear there? Any input appreciated, thanks!

Name:	Waldo -	Reply
Subject:	No birds, no stripe
Date:	12/29/2015 12:41:46 PM

I've tried Kowliga a couple times lately, but have of had any luck there. Some bait in the area, but am not sure if there are any stripers still there. You never know, the muddy water could have pushed them back down. 

Name:	LakeTracker -	Reply
Subject:	No birds, no stripe
Date:	12/29/2015 2:11:22 PM

Sounds like it will be a bank and dock trolling weekend then, but hey it's fishing and not working! I imagine the docks should be holding some fish with the water up underneath them again.  Maybe I'll practice shooting dock technique to see what's under them. I'll let you all know how it goes. 

Name:	Procraft176 -	Reply
Subject:	No birds, no stripe
Date:	12/29/2015 3:35:01 PM

Has anybody seen any stripe busting shad on the top and birds diving ? I used to go to Martin this time of year and find em all the time. I have yet to see any this year . Is it the weather, the blue backs or are they wiseing up to fisherman (lol) ? As a matter of fact I don't recall much of it if any last winter ?

Name:	LakeTracker -	Reply
Subject:	No birds, no stripe
Date:	12/29/2015 3:39:10 PM

I've heard about that but have never seen it. I have been fishing only about a year there though.

Name:	Procraft176 -	Reply
Subject:	No birds, no stripe
Date:	12/29/2015 7:39:03 PM

Just a few years ago , taking your binoculars and looking for the gulls were the way to find the stripe. Times have changed over the last few years tho. It almost appears that the stripe are disappearing. ( I know that is not the case, but it does seem that way )

Name:	Waldo -	Reply
Subject:	No birds, no stripe
Date:	12/29/2015 9:00:35 PM

I'm new to the area so I'm not much help. The surface temp on Sat was 59-61. Maybe that plays a factor as well as it has 't been cold enough to put them in the winter feeding mode yet. I noticed that the pressure has been steady and hasn't really dropped to put them in a surface feeding mode as well. The few gulls I saw were diving sporadically, though I couldn't tell what they were diving at.

Lake Lanier in GA has bluebacks, but the stripers still feed on the surface there (recently). There's probably more fishing pressure there than on Martin as well.

I wonder if the heat last summer put a lot of stress on the stripes here and killed off a lot. But then, I don't know if this last summer was any hotter than normal. 

Name:	Waldo -	Reply
Subject:	No birds, no stripe
Date:	12/29/2015 11:00:21 PM

Here's a first attempt to post a photo of a sonar shot from Sat. Hopefully, these are the right links and not of someone's bachelor party.

The top is down imaging and the bottom is traditional Chirp sonar. I was convinced that this was a school of stripers, though they would not strike at bucktails, swimbaits, and spoons that I dropped down. Now I'm beginnign to think that they could have been crappie.

https://goo.gl/photos/7B7BcUccofZnrDtD8

Here's a view of another school of.......something that would not bite anything artificial:

https://goo.gl/photos/bSiNXvjZVdu2SWKt7

Name:	Ahluring Angler -	Reply
Subject:	No birds, no stripe
Date:	12/30/2015 9:25:01 AM

not crappie, probably small stripes. they do get tempermental.  there was a striper loss 3 years ago, but fish and game have been stocking additional numbers to compensate, will see smaller stripes for a while longer. surface temp yesterday was up to 66 deg. all my honey holes in the creeks are choc colored. in the main lake, fish pretty scattered.

tight lines

Name:	Procraft176 -	Reply
Subject:	No birds, no stripe
Date:	12/30/2015 12:12:27 PM

Those are some good looking arches.... Should have produced for ya. I'm like you I would think those were stripe myself or some big spots 

Name:	Billy -	Reply
Subject:	No birds, no stripe
Date:	12/30/2015 1:22:57 PM

I saw a few diving birds up in the river a couple of weeks ago--not a lot of action, but some.