Lake Buchanan Striper Fishing

Jason's granddaughter and the days catch

 

 

Now that I am supposed to be retired I hope to get my boat in

 shape and get out on the area lakes to chase fish.  It has been

 many years since I used to fish Lake Buchanan so I have been

hanging out over at the Austin Bass Fishing Forum to catch up

on the latest techniques.  One of the members of the forum

has agreed to be my guest author this week with a how to for

those of you that would like to chase stripers and hybrids on

your favorite lake.  Jason has put together an article that will

teach you how to be successful on your next outing.  Hope you

enjoy it, I sure did. Wild Ed

 

 STRIPER FISHING

  

Lake Buchanan is one of the best lakes in Central Texas to

catch stripers and hybrid stripers.  Stripers are a salt water fish

that can live and grow in fresh water but they will not

reproduce, they are all stocked in the lake by the Texas Parks

and Wildlife.  Hybrids are a cross breed of a striper and a

white bass.  These fish will also not reproduce and they are

stocked in the lake by TPW and the professional guides that

fish and make their living on Lake Buchanan.  Hybrids will

not get near as big as the stripers but are just as enjoyable to

catch!  There are not many Texas fresh water fish that will put

up a fight like a striper; we are talking about pole bending

drag squealing kind of fight! 

So let’s talk about how to catch these fighting giants:

(Lake Buchanan record striper 41” over 27 lbs)

Stripers and hybrids will bite on just about anything if your timing

is right, but their food of choice is shad!  Early morning you might

see schools of fish chasing shad to the surface splashing around, at

this point they will bite almost anything you throw into the feeding

frenzy – white,  or shiny works best – try not to let your lure sink

too deep (and don’t be afraid to throw live bait into the middle

either).

The easiest way to catch fish would be to hire a guide and let him

use his knowledge to put you on the fish.  Expect to pay about $450

with tip for a 4hr 4 person fishing trip which includes the cleaning

of your fish.  You will usually meet your guide at 7 am, but you can

also schedule afternoon trips.   That being said there are no

guarantees that you will catch your limit (5 per person, and they

must be above 18 inches long)  – and if you limit out in 45 minutes,

you will be done fishing and heading back to the dock by 8:30

Hiring a guide not your thing? Want to try it yourself? 

We will start with the best but not the easiest method first.  It

begins with waking up about the time the bars are closing (2:15 am

for me) heading to the store to buy ice and red bull energy drinks

to stay awake.  Driving for 2 hours with my eyes constantly

scanning for the road side deer whose only intention is to ruin my

fishing trip!  I usually arrive where I launch my boat about 5 am

After a short boat ride we drop a green light in the water.  A bait

tank is a must to keep your shad health and lively.  Your tank must

provide circulation, aeration, and filtration and being insulated is a

bonus. 
 

An Internet search will provide you information how to make one

for under $75 that will work but not well in hot weather.  Bait

Jacuzzi makes a nice 18 gallon tank for under $250 shipped that

works very well!  Bait tanks like the professional guides use will

run you about $600 and up but the weekender can get by with a

much less expensive tank.  Fill your tank with water and add 1 cup

of salt per 10 gallons of water, maybe some ice if the water is

above 75 degrees, now you’re ready!  Grab your cast net and start

throwing.   Sometimes you can catch the right bait easily in 10 to

15 throws, other times you will throw the net until you think your

arm might fall off!  Just know it is worth it!  I will usually keep and

assortment of different size shad as sometimes they like the big

5-6” shad and other times the much smaller ones, better to have

and not need, than need and not have!  Don’t put your shad directly

into your bait tank if at all possible, let them swim in a bucket

first and then use a dip net to transfer them to the tank.  Once they

are caught they will urinate and defecate and you want to let that

happen before you move them to your clean water   (I have 2 bait

tanks that I use, one built into my boat and the other an 18 gallon

Bait Jacuzzi, in hind sight I wish I had bought the 26 gallon Bait

Jacuzzi tank)

       If waking up early and catching of shad is not your thing

 you can always buy jumbo minnows and perch which will catch

fish but not nearly as well as Shad.

     Now you have bait, it’s time to go fishing!  The equipment I

use is bait caster rod and reels with 20lb line, 3/4oz weight, swivel,

and #2 circle hooks (circle hooks can help the fish from becoming

gut hooked in case it is not a keeper)  At Lake Buchanan anywhere

from the dam to about 3 miles down the lake are good hunting

areas.  Your hunting will be much easier with electronics.  Sonar

and a chart plotter that you understand and know how to use will

make you much more successful!  Look for the fish on top of

underwater humps near the deeper river channel (right now 30-35

foot of water is where I am finding them).  Hook your shad

through the nostrils for best results, drop them to the bottom

and reel up 3 to 5 turns to start with, watch your sonar to get the

right depth where the fish are as they swim through.   Most of the

time the fish are much more active on cloudy days with decent

winds, yet I have caught plenty of fish on no wind, sunny,

extremely hot days!  If your bait dies put on a live one, check them

every 10 minutes or so – dead bait will work, but once again not a

well as lively shad

Lake Buchanan has a tremendous amount of blue cats that are only

about 10 inches long that love to kill and eat your shad.  It is very

easy to tell the differences between catfish and striper bites.  A

catfish will nibble and tug at your lines while a striper or hybrid

will bend your pole straight down to the water in one bite.  If

you’re getting nothing but catfish bites, it’s time to move, they will

kill all of your bait in a short amount of time!  Once you get that

striper to bite (and you are using circle hooks) don’t try to set the

hook, simply leave the rod in the rod holder and reel up about 5

times rapidly before you remove the pole form the holder.  (A

rapid pull using a circle hook will pull the hook right out of their

mouth!)  When you hook that first one be ready, they are schooling

fish and usually when there is one there are more!

Once you have your limit, keep them on ice until you’re ready to

clean them.  There a many ways to clean a fish and with stripers or

hybrid there is no wrong way,  unless you like fishy tasting fish you

need to remove the red meat that runs along the spine.  If you do

that you will end up with an amazing piece of fish that can be

grilled, blackened, or cooked any way you like.

Labor Day weekend 2014 was a great fishing weekend for me!

Saturday:

We got there at 5am – caught shad easily and were heading to catch

fish by 6:15.

Conditions – calm very little breeze, sunny, not a cloud in the sky

We arrived at one of my spots just as the sun came up.  Along with

the rising sun the top water action came alive.  I was throwing a pet

spoon that had about a 2’ leader attached to a casting float so I

could really toss it out there.  My friend was using an umbrella rig

to start with and then a large floating lure; he caught fish with both

types of lures.  We both caught 3-5 fish but only one keeper.  Once

the top water stopped, we then switched to live bait and proceeded

to catch lots of undersize fish mixed in with the keepers and my

 biggest striper to date a 28”  just shy of 7 pounds.  We left the lake

 about 12:30 one fish short of our limit as with no breeze it was

miserably hot.  Fish today liked large shad 5” or bigger.  We found

another boat and gave them all of our left over live shad as I

always do!

Jason's Big Fish

Sunday:

Arrived at the lake at 5 am, shad was not as easy to catch the size

 we were looking for, but by dawn we had more than enough.

 

Conditions – constant 8 mph wind and 95% cloud cover until 8:30
 
am  (perfect conditions)

We arrived at the same spot as Saturday a little after sun up – we

saw no top water action so we decided to use the shad. The 2^nd fish

 I caught was a 26” Hybrid that weighed 7.22 lbs. (the record

hybrid for Lake Buchanan is 24.5”, by the way that is still the

record, because I filleted and grilled that bad boy knowing that it

was a record fish and not caring to go through all it takes to certify

a record fish on a holiday weekend)  By 8:30am we were one short

of our limit and the clouds were going away.  By 9 am the cooler

was full and we decided to do some sonar exploring which yielded

about 7 more keeper size fish that were returned to the lake

unharmed.  The fish today wanted small to medium shad.  Before

we left found another boat and gave them all of our left over live

shad!

I have been fishing Lake Buchanan for the last 2 years and I am

addicted to it!  I hope this will help some of y’all get hooked up on

some good fun……………and hey, take a child with you, show

them there are fun things to do outside away from a TV and an

 Xbox

 

And for safety – before heading out to Lake Buchanan check the

winds anything over 15 mph will make this lake dangerous for

small boats.  White caps happen at 10 mph and huge waves at 15

mph!

Stay safe and reel ‘em in

Jason Weisberg

 

Jason and some good Buchanan Stripers