I found a place where there are a good number of nice striper to catch but I cant seem to hook up with one while I see others around me getting hooked up. This is a Dam Tailrace and there are lots of snags to take a rig from you also which I spent much time retieing as opposed to fishin. Most were caught on shad caught in a cast net that seemed to be the bait of choice since I was using large bass minnows and didnt get hooked up. People were floating shad under a bobber and letting it drift and others bottom rigged. I tried both and no luck. Maybe it was just my location or the bait thing? What do you all think? The most were caught right at the outflow of this dam but some also at the first set of rapids below. Any help would be greatly appreciated. I need to loose this skunk!

were you fishing at the roanoke river tailrace, if so that was probaly my dad and i you saw, weve been using shad we caught in a cast net under a baseball bobber and tearing them up,

blue cats from 5-35 pounds, one trophy 15 pound 3 oz channel cat, and a ton of stripers.

good luck

fishcrazy was that you down fishing on the bank a little further down from the dam in the canal?
today/monday. we were using real long poles,
huge baseball bobbers that were red and yellow and bottom rigs also. and we were right beside the dam.

i think we were fishing at the same place and same time and didnt even know it.

hi Katmaster - That wasnt me at the roanoke dam. I was fishing at the Jordan lake tailrace. I just dont know what I was doing wrong or not doing right there. I think maybe it was the bait I was using. The large bass minnows just were not getting picked up and the shad these guys were catchin in the river seemed to be the ticket. Any ideas?

Never been where you're fishing...you sure do get around by the way. You could try a spittin image from the bank, they don't dive enough to get hung up. You could also try tipping a bucktail with one of those bass minnows, like a big crappie jig so it'll be mostly weedless. Shad stink out loud, that may have something to do with it too.

or you could try some eels.they use to work real good there.

fishcrazy, i fished there one time, at night. caught some channel cats on shad, i think shad might get you some action man, or maybe even live bream, depending on how big the stripers are. id use shad though. and eels are pretty good too.

good luck man

Thanks for the advice everyone. That is a purdy good fishery there. There are some cats there as well as striper and also the crappie get up in there as well. I think that the shad are the bait of choice there as thats what draws the striper up to the dam when they are running it. I did catch some small cats with the minnows but only one hookup on something that was not a cat and got off almost immediately. There are some nice striper in there though. I saw a couple caught there that I know were approaching 30 inches right up at the spillway mouth. I may have to just try one of those Spit'n Image lures though. That sounds like a possibility. I really should get a cast net and learn how to throw it. But I thought that they would hit the large bass minnows since they did up in weldon when I went there. I guess that was just another day. Any other thoughts would be appreciated and thanks for all the help.

Aren't live bream illigal Katmaster?

Bream are legal if caught on hook and line in the same body of water you are fishing in.

a 4' cast net will pay for itself in a few trips (about $20) and it's actually fun after you get past the learning curve.

Ray thats a good idea and I think I will.

let me know when you want to get off the bank and quit feeding the chiggers, have boat will travel.

yeah bream are legal as long as there caught on a pole, in the same body of water. id get a 6 foot cast net first then move up to a 7 foot once you get the hang of it, it will pay for itself, unless you do like me and lose 3 in a month

good luck