Lake Murray striper tips scale at 32-pounds

Kevin Yates and his trophy striper

A once in a lifetime striped bass came from Lake Murray on April 10 for dedicated striper angler Kevin Yates. Each spring the striper bite comes to life as the bait moves into shallower and warmer waters, and the stripers begin to prowl before spawning. Trolling is a common practice to locate stripers, but it was a fateful first cast of the day that hooked Yates up with the striper of his dreams. “I have caught plenty of stripers in the 20-pound class, but never topped the 30-pound mark,” said Yates, of Irmo. “I was fishing alone and decided to drift the boat by a rip rap wall near the dam and next to a 40-foot hole. I always use a fish finder to locate the structure that I think will hold fish.” Yates was fishing with a medium-heavy Fenwick rod and a Penn Battle reel spooled with 30-pound braid. “I cast a 7-inch bass assassin lure in pearl white and the big fish sucked in the bait,” said Yates. “I set the hook once and nothing happened, so I set the hook a second time and the striper took off with such a rush that I had to start the motor and chase the fish.” Knowing that this was the fish all anglers hope to hook, Yates said he continually prayed out loud that he could get the fish to his boat. 

Any fight with a big fish while on your own can be especially worrisome, but this veteran angler played the striper well. His landing net scooped up the striper with the tale of the tape measuring the fish at 39-inches. Yates chose not to release this striper for the purpose of mounting his trophy fish, but otherwise supports the catch and release of Lake Murray stripers. 

To read more from my feature article on striper fishing click Colletonian.

To view past blog entries about freshwater fishing click here.