Striped fishing Raccoon lake

[stratosjoe]

Was wondering if any BBCers fish for stripes there? I would love to try it sometime but hate to spend the kinda money a guide costs. Just wanted to experience it there. Have went once on Tim's Ford in TN.

[bradjames12]

State record was caught out of there a few years back.. but as far as how to go about it at Raccoon, not a clue.. only striper fishing I have ever done was below the Newburgh Dam on the Ohio River, so needless to say... not the same

From a quick google search from stripers247.com... "A lot of the guys who troll use 1/2 oz-1ozbucktails tipped with 4'' grubs. The popular colors for the bucktails/grubs are usually any combination of white and chartreuse. They use these on umbrella rigs as well, which really catch some fish"

[03ranger185vs]

fishing a bass tournament at Raccoon about 5 years ago. Partner and i throwing top water by the damn at first stop. just after sun up . he had a one hit his spook and the fight was about 30 seconds before it took him into some cables and broke off. as soon as it hit his lure we had no doubt what it was. very violent strike . he never turned that fish. it was taking drag and moving the boat . so i would say in the summer at sun up you could try top water by the damn. but you may want more then 14 lbs test on a med action rod lol

[cevans]

Friend of mine caught a 20 lb plus last yr. I have caught a few long lining spinner type baits of diff colors and white. Crank baits work good trolling, you can find them on the electronics and even fish them vertical in dead summer. They prefer alittle deeper water but can be found shallow during the spawn and like all fish, find the bait fish and bait balls and you will find them.

[stratosjoe]

Thanks to all of you I appreciate the help. Got rod holders on my Jon/bassboat. Have a bunch 1 oz white hairjigs and a couple big rapala redfins made for stripers. Gonna give it a shot I have a couple old flipping sticks with some old Garcia wide spools. Thanks again

[brushsjigs]

A friend that trolls crankbaits for crappie catches them sometimes. He works the humps somewhere out around the river channel. Sorry, that's all I can tell ya. Pay attention for the shad and watch for the larger arches around the shad and troll the crank thru them. If you happen to be there in the Dam area and see a black bass pro walleye aluminum boat. Stop and ask, it might be Stephen. He will tell ya. He loves that lake and he is a serious troller, should be easy to spot. .

[TommyBass]

It used to be pretty good, not sure if they still stock the same etc. I used to go quite a bit 15 years ago, caught several over 20lb, biggest near 25. Lots in the 10-15 range. You can troll large live bait very effectively. Watch your graph for the 'big' arches to figure out what depth they are at. Start at first light and just start driving around the main basins of the lake in the summer. They like the humps etc, but I've also found them just randomly suspended chasing bait. Keep a 30lb braid top water lure on for casting at blow ups. I know you can troll cranks and buck tails too, just not much experience with it.

[stratosjoe]

Thanks Tommy and brush really appreciate it

[brushsjigs]

That crankbait trolling,, there is a science behind it. Each brand crank will run this certain depth with:= Line diameter, x amount of feet of line let out and speed your trolling. Take a few years to get all of that down, not going to happen the first few trips.

[cevans]

I use the Precision Trolling App. Hard to beat. And a Mega 360 to find the fish.

[brushsjigs]

A reel with a line counter will save you a lot of aggrivation and will get the bait back to the same depth every time.