"We had a new lake (striper) record set in a club tournament in June (18.35 pounds), but I don't think we'll ever see many fish over 22 or 23 pounds, even after they've been in here for a long time, because the lake isn't deep enough. But it's perfect for hybrids. I hate that they quit stocking them. They're a lot of fun; they're definitely the most sporting fish in the lake."

Roberson's personal best striper is a 16-pounder, but he said that increasingly, fishermen are seeing fish between 12 and 14 pounds as the original stockings reach 5 or 6 years of age. Most of the hybrids that show up are grown ones. Five- to 10-pound fish are not unusual; Roberson has caught them up to 12 pounds and has heard of 13- and 14-pound hybrids. What he doesn't understand is why 2- and 3-pound hybrids are showing up in anglers' creels.

"They stopped stocking them in 2000, so the last ones stocked should be bigger than that," said Roberson, a 33-year-old Concord native who developed a love for striper fishing on Badin Lake as a youngster. "I don't know if some are getting mixed in with the stripers when they stock them, or maybe they're spawning on their own. Maybe they're mixing in and spawning with the stripers -- a male striper and female hybrid? Because most of the hybrids they stocked should be at least 5 or 6 pounds by now."

Roberson said that most of Jordan's baitfish will be just off the main lake during the winter, back one-third of the way from the mouth of major creeks. He likes White Oak and Beaver creeks the best, but will work around the mouth of most any creek and around the mouth of pockets and coves off creek channels.

"I'll work in and out of coves until I find a school of fish or find an area where they're actively feeding. There may be a few deep, bumping the bottom, but most of the stripers will be suspended, and my favorite range to fish in the winter is 2 to 10 feet," Roberson said

Roberson is careful about his live bait, which he catches with a cast net, either spotting them flipping on the surface in coves and pockets or seeing them in tight schools on his depthfinder. He rigs them on circle hooks.

"I like to use a 2/0 Owner circle hook, but I'll go to a 3/0. I'm particular about matching my hook sizes to the size of the bait," Roberson said. "Normally, I use my trolling motor to drift along at about 1.5 miles per hour."

Roberson uses Waterbugz side planers and puts two baits out on either side of the boat, spreading them apart by paying out different lengths of line. He puts one shad off the back of the boat on a line without any weight, allowing the shad to swim freely, and a second shad off the back on a line with a single split-shot several feet above the hook, which pulls the bait down in the water column.

"I'm targeting stripers anywhere from the surface to about 12 feet of water," Roberson said. "They'll be suspended a lot of the time, and sometimes, they'll be right up under the surface feeding.

"Normally, I'll drag the bank south of the mouth of Beaver Creek on down toward Johnson's Island and the (Pea Ridge Road) roadbed," said Roberson. "I'll stay in less than 20 feet of water all the time, and there are some times when I get close enough to the bank that my planer boards will be over about 5 feet of water."