The guide admits that much of this pattern has to do with water temperatures. For example, if the water is in the upper 40s or above, he knows he can move back into some of the smaller creeks that feed into Nutbush Creek, such as Hibernia or Townsville, and catch stripers on their infiltration from the shallows. If water temps are lower than 45, he contends that stripers won't be moving inshore and he'll stay out in the main-lake area of Nutbush. He's particularly prone to this strategy if a predominant northwest wind is blowing, because that way he can still fish some good deep-water areas while being protected from the harshest winds by the landmass to the west of the river arm.

Another good area where Hall likes to free-line for Kerr's winter stripers is the Grassy Creek area.

"Grassy has a lot of smaller cuts and coves and the points of these coves often hold fish, on the inside if the water temps are tolerable and on the outside if the water has gotten too cold," Hall said.

Hall will motor straight into Grassy until he reaches the area between MM 13 and 14. This area has a lot of both marked and unmarked humps. Humps are good ambush sites for stripers, particularly when the water temps dip as they afford deep water close to a structure stripers can feed on when the time comes.

In Hall's opinion, a good third choice to look for winter striped bass is Eastland Creek on the north side of Kerr. Around Buoy No. 6, he'll start watching his graph and try to pick up on the daily pattern to determine whether the fish are high in the water column or if they are hugging the bottom. Another reason he likes Eastland Creek is the easy access from Eastland Creek ramp, which is located right off Hwy. 707.

It's not uncommon for Hall to pick up on a pattern in a big creek like Nutbush, which is nearly 10 miles long from the mouth at Keats Point back to Satterwhite Point, and stay on those fish for several days or weeks. Hall has a number of choices when it comes to boat access to Nutbush. He can use the Henderson Point ramp east of Woodworth off Hwy. 39 if the fish are out closer to the mouth of the creek, or he can use the ramps at Hybernia or Flemingtown if the fish have moved farther south into the creek. Both of these ramps run east of Hwy. 39 near Townsville.

The final piece of the puzzle, according to Hall, is to ally yourself with some other knowledgeable striper anglers so you can trade notes when the fish don't want to cooperate. Hall serves as the tournament director for the Buggs Island Striper Club, which was founded in 2001 and boasts over 300 members.

"These guys know Buggs backward and forward," said Ramrod, "and that's a great resource when things get tough." For more info on the Buggs Island Striper Club, contact president Lanny Parrott at (919) 693-6263 or visit the Club's Web site at www.buggsislandsc.org.