“Striper Madness Year-Round on Lake Cumberland in Kentucky with Richard Holt and Mister Twister Lures”

Part 2: Stripers in the Spring

Editor’s Note: Richard Holt of Russell Springs, Kentucky, owner of Striper Madness Guide Service on Lake Cumberland, has fished for land-locked saltwater-striped bass all year long for 25 years. He uses different techniques throughout the year, depending on the depths at which the stripers are holding, and the baitfish the stripers are eating. “Here at Cumberland Lake, we have a year-round fishery for stripers,” Holt reports.

Question: Richard, yesterday we talked about how you catch stripers all year round. How do you catch stripers in the spring?

Holt: We use a 1/2-ounce Mister Twister Striper Lightnin’ Jig with a 6-inch Curly Tail Grub, casting to the shoreline in 5 to 12 feet of water and swimming the bait. I really like the flash in the white-colored Striper Lightnin’ Jig, and we match the jig with either a pearl or a white-colored Curly Tail Grub.

Question: Why do the stripers move-up shallow at that time of year?

Holt: The water starts warming up in the spring, the bait moves shallow, and the stripers chase the bait to the shallow water.

Question: What pound-test line will you use?

Holt: I use 16- to 20-pound-test line with a heavy-action bass rod. These stripers will average from 9- to 14-pounds each, but you may catch a bigger striper.

Question: What kind of bank do you fish?

Holt: We look for a bank in the 5- to 12-foot depth that receives sunshine all day. We’ll often be fishing in the backs of the bays where the water will warm-up first because that’s where the bait will show-up with the stripers not far behind. At this time of year, we can catch and release from five to 25 stripers in one day of fishing.

Question: Richard, tell me about your umbrella-rig fishing in April.

Holt: We use a four-arm umbrella rig that we pull behind the boat with a flat line. We’ll usually have three lines coming off each umbrella rig, and we generally don’t pull more than two umbrella rigs at a time. When we use umbrella rigs, we use Mister Twister jigs with the 6-inch pearl or white-colored Sassy Shad on the jigheads. The water temperature will still be cool, so we won’t be using the 9-inch Sassy Shads.

Question: What pound-test line will you use with your umbrella rigs?

Holt: The umbrella rigs are big and heavy, and you may catch two stripers on the same umbrella rig. So, we’ll use 35- to 40-pound-test line with our umbrella rigs.

Question: What happens when you get two stripers on the same umbrella rig?

Holt: We tell our customers to hang-on because when we fish the umbrella rig, the stripers usually will weigh from 9- to 14-pounds each. We’ve had two, 20 pounders on one umbrella rig at the same time.

Question: How did you get those two, 20 pounders into the boat?

Holt: We coached our anglers to reel slowly and easily. Most of the time two fish that size will start fighting each other, which helps wear them down quicker than if you just had one fish. Umbrella rigs are fun to fish, and they’re very effective on our lake.

For more information about Striper Madness Guide Service and how to fish with stripers at Lake Cumberland, visit www.stripermadness.com, or call 270-866-3660.