Stripers at Boone Lake with Lateral Line Charters
Lewis Creek Shooting School 08.19.13
The tip of the rod dipped down, almost into the water from the strike. Like the previous fish, this was a good one. I grabbed the rod and worked it out of the holder in spite of the pressure generated by the surging fish. I looked at Charlie, my grandson, “Do you want this one?”
Charlie looked tired and for good reason. In the last 30 minutes, he’d boated three fish, all bigger than any fish he’d caught in his life, the first and largest being a 16-pound striper. The last two had been hybrids in the eight-pound range. His arms were tired and his stomach was sore from the butt of the rod, which he had supported there to allow him to keep pressure on the fish. He shook his head indicating he was just too tired.
“OK, I can handle this one,” I said and started to turn around and fight the fish. Charlie watched the diving rod tip. The rod was alive with the bucking fish 20 feet deep and moving away from the boat. The drag sung as the fish made a long run and the rod tip surged down again.
I could understand Charlie’s reluctance. This would be his fourth fish; the total weight of our catches so far probably came close to equaling his own body weight. I know that catching four fish that tip the scales at a quarter of my body weight would be tough.
Charlie and I take a guys-only trip every summer and this was our last day. We were fishing Boone Lake, just northwest of Johnson City, Tennessee, and the fish were there. Our guide was Rod Salyers, the foremost guide on Boone Lake, and probably the top striper guide in the East Tennessee area. Ron has fished all over the world and guided TV personalities and other high-profile clients, including giving casting lessons to former Vice President Dick Cheney.
Our morning had begun at 4:30 a.m. when my cell phone rang. We had camped at the boat ramp, so we ate a quick Honeybun breakfast and walked down to Rod’s 20-foot center console. Rod had then been on the water for two hours, charging his bait tank with alewives, one of his secret weapons for stripers. Bait can be a game changer and Ron goes to a lot of trouble to put the best baits in the water on his trips with live bait. Watauga has gizzard shad, threadfins, and alewives, and the alewives are by far the hardest baits to obtain. He casts a high-sink rate 11-foot net and it normally takes almost two hours to put enough quality baits in the tank for our trip. This kind of dedication is what separates average guides from the best in the trade and his passion for what he does makes the difference.
Rod’s love of the Tennessee Valley Authority lakes has lasted his whole life. As a young man at 18, he fished the area for a solid month and he’s returned for mountain lake stripers throughout his entire fishing career. He’s the only licensed captain who guides on Boone Lake. While Rod specializes in fly fishing, he’s the kind of guy who loves to fish and enjoys clients with less experience as much as seasoned veterans.
On Charlie’s first fish, he was surprised at how hard his fish pulled. I had to help him keep his rod at the right angle to best work the fish while keeping it away from the other lines. By the third fish, he was managing the rod well and keeping his rod at the proper angle to keep the line tight and the fish working. He learned to allow the fish to take drag, and was learning to get line back when the fish didn’t have the traction to take line from him. Boating a 16-pound striper on light tackle requires a lot of effort and technique, and he learned surprisingly quickly. As the fish led Charlie and I around the boat, Rod was managing the other lines and we made a pretty good team.
I was especially pleased with the effort Rod made to make Charlie confident and comfortable on our trip. Early fishing trips can make or break a young angler. A truly talented guide has the patience to handle the most inexperienced angler and the expertise to put hard-core anglers on the kind of fishing they appreciate.
We caught enough fish that we lost count, but I estimate we boated between 15 and 20 stripers before the trip was over. Our biggest fish was 16 pounds and our smallest was a single brown trout of about a pound. The rest were stripers and hybrids, and probably averaged about eight pounds. By the end, my grandson was worn out, but smiling. Rod tied the boat up at the dock and we all shook hands and promised to fish together again. Charlie thanked Rod for a great trip and carried our gear back up to the truck.
Trips like this make memories that last a lifetime. I will remember this trip ’til the end of my days; Charlie will likely remember it long after I’m gone. And I know he will also remember his new friend, Rod Salyers, for both his kindness and skill in the outdoors. Not only had Charlie caught the biggest fish of his life, he had caught fish until he was dog tired. As we walked up to the truck, Charlie looked up at me and said, “Rod is an extraordinary man.”
“Yes, Charlie,” I said. “He is.”
Rod and Lateral Line Charters can be reached at boonelakestriper@gmail.com or 423-930-7682.
Dick Jones is an award winning outdoor writer and a member of the Southeastern Outdoor Press Association Board of Directors. He writes for four North Carolina Newspapers as well as regional and national magazines. He’s hunted and fished most of his life but shooting has been his passion. He’s a former High Master, Distinguished Rifleman, and AAA class pistol shooter. He holds four Dogs of War Medals for Team Marksmanship as shooter, captain and coach. He ran the North Carolina High Power Rifle Team for six years and the junior team two years after that. Within the last year, he’s competed in shotgun, rifle and pistol events including the National Defense Match and the Bianchi Cup. He’ll be shooting the Bianchi, the NDM, the National High Power Rifle Championship, The Rock Castle AR15.com Three Gun Championship and an undetermined sniper match this shooting season.
He lives in High Point, North Carolina with his wife Cherie who’s also an outdoor writer and the 2006 and 2011 Northeast Side by Side Women’s Shotgun Champion. Both Dick and Cherie are NRA pistol, rifle, and shotgun instructors and own Lewis Creek Shooting School.
