Lake Martin’s Year-Round Stripers

Author’s note: This article was published in 2008. I posted it for anglers wanting to use Jim Parramore’s valuable information on finding and catching striped bass on Lake Martin. Parramore has since retired from guiding. Martin’s fishery has changed, but Parramore’s techniques will still put fish in your boat. -Eileen

by Eileen Davis

When anglers ask guide Jim Parramore for the best times to catch striped bass on Lake Martin, his reply is always the same, “The best month is between now and this time next year.”

Parramore, who is also an accomplished wildlife biologist, is quick to add that he’s not being overconfident.

“Martin’s striped bass fishery is incredible,” he explained. “Not only is it an awesome lake for producing numbers of fish, but it also produces unbelievable numbers of trophy fish. Last year, we (clients) averaged more than 25 fish per trip, with one trip producing 54 stripers. That‘s in winter. We could have caught more, but I ran out of bait. As for size, last year, we caught 145 fish weighing between 25 and 40 pounds.”

Parramore cut his teeth guiding part-time for 10 years on Smith Lake, then four years ago, he quit his job to guide full-time on Martin.

“I decided to go down there and check it out,” said Parramore. I was stunned! It’s a target rich environment with no fishing pressure. In fact, I consider Lake Martin the best striper lake in the state.”

Before dams stopped the migration of striped bass from the Gulf, this species spawned in the unimpeded current of the Tallapoosa River. Since stripes can no longer reproduce, the state stocks about three fish per acre in Martin.

Chris Greene, District IV fisheries supervisor, says the lake is unique as it provides striped bass with important thermal refuges formed from a combination of deep and infertile water.

“Cool water with adequate oxygen is critical for striped bass,” explained Greene. “In clear water, sunlight can penetrate much deeper, therefore oxygen is available at lower levels. Unlike impoundments on the Coosa River, which are highly fertile, sunlight cannot penetrate nearly as deep, so they do not have oxygen at those lower levels.”

Of course, thermal refuges are not a problem in winter, but will position stripes as the water warms. Here’s how Parramore deals with the changing temperatures and seasons to find and catch striped bass.

Winter

Beginning in mid- to late December and ending in late February, winter is the best time of the year to catch large numbers of striped bass. Parramore says it’s also when the lake receives the most fishing pressure. But don’t let that stop you.

“It’s an absolutely awesome time to catch stripers,” reports Parramore, “as they are traveling in huge schools. You may see two or three acres of them schooling on top. It’s a sight! At times, when you pull into a school the sonar screen will blackout because they are so thick.

“The fish congregate in these huge schools to feed on large schools of shad. They herd shad like dogs work cattle. There’s power in numbers; it’s just their nature in winter.”

Parramore finds schoolies, fish weighing 10 to 14 pounds, by either watching seagulls or his sonar. When using the latter, he searches around islands and on the edges of gravel and sandbars from Madwind Creek all the way through the narrows to Wind Creek. But it’s the birds that provide visual excitement.

“The gulls feed on shad the strippers are pushing to the top,” said Parramore. While resting on a sandbar, the gulls will send out a scout to search for shad. If successful, he will return and alert the others. As the gulls take flight, follow them. They will give the fish away every time.”

To catch stripers busting the surface, Parramore recommends a ½-ounce bucktail jig with a curly tail grub. Cast the lure into the school, let it sink for five seconds and then reel slowly for a straight-line retrieve. Winter is one of only two times during the year when artificial lures produce on Martin.

If you want to catch big fish, Parramore says you’ll find them holding on the outer edges of the school.

“Nearly every time we caught a fish over 30 pounds last winter,” said Parramore, “it was due to a strong wind blowing us out of a big school of fish. It’s hard to leave a school to work the edge. If you do, though, you may catch a monster.”

Without help from his feathered spotters, Parramore relies on his sonar. As soon as fish appear on his screen, he kills the motor and puts out four- to five-inch shad on downlines. The guide lowers the bait so it swims a few feet above the stripers.

Parramore makes a downline by attaching a two-ounce trolling sinker to his main line, which is 20-pound-test Trilene Big Game, then ties a three foot leader of 20- or 25-pound-test fluorocarbon to the sinker. The other end receives either a 1/0 or 2/0 Daiichi circle hook.

Spring

Even though striped bass no longer spawn in the Tallapoosa, Parramore says the urge to reproduce influences their behavior. So within this season, he tracks the fish based upon prespawn, spawn and post-spawn behavior. Stripers move out of the main lake to the creeks and river, then back again in a cycle running from late February to mid-June. During this period, the best time to catch a trophy stripper is from the end of February to end of April.

Parramore says the transition from winter to prespawn begins when stripers start consuming large shad.

“I fillet my customer’s fish and always check stomach contents,” explained Parramore. “When I see large shad, it’s time to change fishing techniques and switch to the big jumbos (gizzard shad weighing 1 ½ to more than 2 pounds).

“It seems when the water temperature reaches 53 to 55 degrees, the stripers metabolism increases to the point where they switch from a winter diet of chicken nuggets to T-bone shad.”

Downlines continue to produce during prespawn, but the technique Parramore embraces is the use of side planer boards to search the shallow water of creeks and sloughs.

“The deadliest weapon ever invented for catching trophy striper is a side planer,” Parramore said. “The planer allows anglers to free-line shad away from the boat and are especially effective in shallow water.”

Using planer boards, the guide can control the bait by simply maneuvering the boat; yet, never fear spooking fish swimming in water two to five feet deep. Plus, he can cover a lot of ground.

Parramore pulls Water Bugz planer boards using the same line and leader material, but switches to a 5/0 Daiichi circle hook for large shad. With the bait hooked and in the water, he pulls off about 40 feet of line before attaching the planer board. He then uses just enough speed to keep the planer in position to the side of the boat.

“There’s nothing specific about where to find stripers,” said Parramore. “It’s a hunt; you must go looking for them. When I pull in the back of a slough, I never know if it holds fish. The only way you are going to know is to put that big bait out and start working it down one side of the bank going in and the other side coming out. If they are there, you’ll have an encounter, because stripers have a way of finding those big jumbo shad.”

Parramore believes nearly every creek and slough has the potential to hold fish during prespawn. As April arrives, however, he concentrates on the Tallapoosa River to take advantage of the landlocked stripers instinct to spawn.

“Much depends on rainfall and the resulting current,” explained Parramore. “With ample rain, the river current attracts stripers wanting to spawn. When the current is ripping down the river, fishing for big stripers is incredible.”

When fishing the Tallapoosa, Parramore trolls big shad on planer boards just like before, but he switches to the boat motor to counter the current.

If the current remains strong, river fishing continues until the end of April when rising water temperatures cause the bass to abandon their desire to reproduce.

“Even though there are resident stripers that remain in the river year round,” reports Parramore, “the majority of the big fish move back to the lake. You’ll find them in the upper lake in the same places they roamed in winter.

“May is a great month to fish because you can still catch them using planer boards or you can use downlines. The water is still cool enough to see fish busting the surface, usually though, they hold at depths between 20 to about 35 feet. Downlines produce best in this situation.”

“Last year, for the week before Memorial Day we caught 30 stripers weighing 20 to 30 pounds and eight weighing more than 30. I had never encountered so many big fish. We caught them 45 to 55 feet deep. Then all of a sudden on Memorial Day weekend they disappeared. We still caught fish, but I never found the location of those big fish.”

Summer

As mid-June approaches, Parramore finds striped bass deeper and in the middle of the lake around the Sail Club, Chimney Rock, Long Branch and Blue Creek. Their depth varies with temperature. Last summer was especially hot; as a result, the guide caught fish as deep as 80 feet.

Nevertheless, the heat had a positive impact on fishing. On July 30, his clients set a new record for Parramore when they caught six fish weighing 150 pounds. Two weighed more than 30 pounds and one exceeded 40 pounds.

Live bait fished on downlines is the best method for catching fish according to Parramore, but artificial lures also produce when trolled behind downriggers.

“Down rig trolling or controlled depth trolling is an awesome way to catch fish, said Parramore, “and it’s an alternative to using live bait. One day last summer, heavy boat traffic mid-lake caused me move to the upper lake. The downriggers did not produce at the first two places we fished, then we moved to Young’s Island. When we stopped fishing, we had caught 10 fish weighing 200 pounds. Of those, one weighed 30 pounds and two weighed over 20 pounds. The strike from the 30 pounder came at noon while fishing water 60 to 70 feet deep, with the downriggers set at 45 feet.”

Parramore says downriggers work best from mid-August through October when the fish or either scattered or schooling. The former requires anglers to cover a lot of water to find fish, while the later move too fast to use downlines.

“If you see a large school of stripers following bait balls,” explained Parramore, “don’t even try to fish them with downlines because they will have moved before you can lower bait to them. They are on the move. Often, using downriggers, you can make two or three passes through a big school before you lose them, and usually you’ll catch a double with each pass.”

In either situation, he lowers his two downriggers to within 5 to 10 feet above the fish and trolls at a speed of 1½ miles per hour. The lure, which is a horse-head shaped jig with an Indiana spinnerbait blade, is rigged to run 100 feet behind the downrigger ball.

“That’s the deadliest bait that I’ve every used on a down rig,” reports Parramore. “Troll slowly, as stripers do not like to hit at high speed.”

Down rigging catches fish, but it’s not as effective as live bait. And the best summer pattern for using live shad is staging. Parramore defines this behavior as a stretch of river channel or gravel bar where the fish wait for the bait to come to them. They may remain in the same area for a month.

“When they are staging,” explained Parramore, “sonar may show a very loose group of fish; they may be on the bottom or 10 feet off the bottom. Mark them with a buoy, and then put out live bait on downlines. You can return day after day and hammer them.”

Fall

“I love fall fishing,” Parramore said, “because it’s like a spring pattern. The cooler water in the backs of the creeks attracts the big loner stripers, and when you troll a jumbo shad over the shallows, all hell will break loose.”

From late October to mid-December, Parramore reverts back to fishing side planer boards in the same places where he fished in spring. While he believes all creeks potentially hold striped bass, the guide advises anglers start by fishing the Tallapoosa River or Elkahatchee Creek.

If you tire of the hunt for big fish, Parramore recommends taking a break by moving back to the lake to fish. He says Kowaliga and Blue creeks produce good numbers of fish in the fall using downlines.

“With planer boards,” said Parramore, “we may go four hours before a blow up from a big striper. So if a client gets bored, we’ll go catch some 8 to 12 pound fish on downlines to break the monotony. We fish the downlines just like as in summer.”

Live Bait

One of the reasons why fishing pressure is greatest on Martin in winter and the use of downriggers is growing in summer is the availability, or the lack thereof, of baitfish. The lake’s infertile water does not sustain high numbers of shad, which makes it difficult to catch enough bait for a day’s fishing. So angler participation increases when striped bass respond to artificial lures.

For year-round fishing, Parramore catches gizzard shad from the Coosa River, usually in a tailrace. He says having a lively shad on the end of your line is the key to success.

“Keeping shad alive is an art form,” said Parramore. “For years, we did everything to keep them alive. Nothing worked. Shad caught from the lake would have 100% morality within three days. Then a marine biologist at Dauphin Island researching baitfish and their immune system discovered a bacterium that becomes active within the shad when stressed. The bacteria are dormant when water temperatures fall below 56 degrees, and that’s why anglers do not have a problem holding shad in winter. 

“But in warmer months, the bacteria is a problem, so it’s important not to stress the shad. Stress is caused by shad purging in the holding tank because their waste clogs gills and sends ammonia levels through the roof.”

Parramore has found shad mortality drops to 10% when he catches them in a tailrace.

“In a heavy current, the shad empty out,” explains Parramore. “So when you throw a net on them and drop them in your tank, the water remains clean. It makes all the difference. I’d rather drive 50 miles to a tailrace than two miles to the lake.”

This guide is one of Lake Martin’s greatest ambassadors.

“Striper fishing on Lake Martin is better than going to the coast,” says Parramore. “We catch bigger fish, more pounds of fish and it’s not near as expensive.”

Click here to read more about how successful anglers find and catch Bama’s bass.