Striper mania at Okatibbee

By By Mike Giles / outdoors writer
May 21, 2004
The hybrid striped bass are back in Okatibbee and attacking shad and anglers baits with abandon. In recent years these ferocious fish have been stocked at the lake and they have finally reached lunker status and are letting area anglers know that they mean business. Many crappie poles are being broken and bass reels have been stripped of their gears due to the strength and power of these "mini torpedoes."
During the pre-tournament practice for the firefighters youth tournament a couple of weeks ago, many anglers couldn't keep their lures in the strike zones for long due to the feeding habits of these stripers. Stripers ranging in the ten to twelve pound range kept local anglers such as Ken Murphy and Sam Williams busy. According to Williams, several of the massive hybrids were located on one of his bass hot spots and they attacked his baits with an almost unmatched fury and display of power.
Wrong fish?
While Murphy tried out a few deep-water spots, he also encountered the big bruisers. Cast after cast was met with crushing blows to his crankbaits and flukes. "Mike, I couldn't even catch a bass on some of the spots. The stripers had them run off!"exclaimed an excited yet agitated Murphy. While he enjoyed the terrific fight and battle that they displayed, he was preoccupied with finding a few bass for his youth partners in the upcoming tournament.
Speaking of the tournament, there was a bonus prize for the biggest non-bass caught. Since Murphy had located a couple of hot spots, they thought that they might have a good chance at taking that award After they had caught their limit of bass on the morning of the tournament, they headed for the striper hole and commenced to catch several of the hybrid striped bass. Accordingly, they did win the bonus prize to go along with their third place winnings. His partners for that day were Justin Giles and Jaime Boland.
During a recent afternoon, Justin Giles and his dad Joe joined me on the water. We were in search of the stripers and it didn't take long to find them. They came up on the surface at random and slashed the surface while feasting on succulent shad. Topwater baits such as the Rattlin' Chug Bug, Zara Spook, and Devil's Horse are all good baits to use while they are feeding on top of the water.
Bright lures
When they are cruising deeper, bright or shiny colored crankbaits are the ticket. Just remember to have your drag set very light, or you will be in danger of losing that crankbait. If you have pretty heavy line, they may not break the line, but they will sure enough straighten some hooks. In fact, on my first hook up of the day, a striper stripped line off so fast the reel just couldn't keep up. As a result, my treble hooks were literally straightened out. If they hadn't been I would have lost my lure.
Once we got a striper on it took quite a few minutes to land it. They don't ever give up and they don't tire easily. If you try to force them too quickly then you will usually be sorry. On this day Justin and his dad alternated catching and releasing stripers in the nine to ten pound range.
Just remember to practice catch and release and we all can continue to have fun with the stripers. These fish don't reproduce and they must be restocked annually to keep the population up. So it is imperative that anglers release the fish to live and fight another day. If you want to get in on some of the finest fishing of the year, then head to the reservoir and try a striper or two for yourself. You will be glad you did, I guarantee.