Originally Posted by
seal
Yes like size hang together, don't want to be the small guy hanging with the big guys. Also water temp dictates striper behavior quite a bit, the larger models do not like warmer water while the smaller ones are more tolerant. Also bait size dictates some behavior smaller forage smaller fish, early season fry are very small and will hang out near shore for safety and to be near the weedbeds that hold their source of food. Try downsizing your presentations in the spring and early summer, small fry small bait, match the hatch. Small shad (larvae) will move around in open water as opposed to shallow so you will possibly see some disturbance on the surface but not boils, this is what some call "slurping", it's just small stripers feeding on small fry. You can try a mini fluke with a bubble with a little water in it and a 3.5' of so leader, just like a fly and bubble setup, very effective on the stripers when they are chasing larvae, we've been averaging over 10 fish in about an hours or less just before dark when we need some nice fillet's in the freezer.
I am not sure the definition of "shoal" vs. "school" has any difference when discussing striper behavior. They hangout out together and when ready work together to whack as much food as possible. They are extremely effective and will use existing structure to corral and ambush their prey or push them around in open water and when ready attack.
Next level? Keep fishing and study the activity and growth of baitfish. The stripers will be where the fish they are feeding on are, simple. Also time of the day is very important, stripers like lowlight conditions so will be more active up top and shallow during those times.
Lure, reel? Because size is so variable it depends. In the mid/late summer the stripers will start boiling more on larger baitfish, at that point spooks are a fantastic way to target fish that can range up to 8lbs. or so and I usually use line up to about 10lbs test for those but like a challenge so 6 or 8 is the norm unless I'm tossing some larger topwater lures. I like a 7 to 7.5 ft. rod and not too stiff so I can walk the dog effectively.
The Wood and the Duct are very different, a lot of the shore fishing at the Wood has a very forgiving shoreline where landing fish is simple, the Duct on the other hand you need some backbone to hoist those beasts up the shoreline. Also everything I just wrote does not apply to the Duct where the water depth changes thought process, they are more accessible so therefore when the fish might be holding in deep water in the lake dictating boat or other needs the Duct does not have that variable.