Carol Marsh and Ramrod Hall with a freshly boated Kerr Lake striper. Photo by Mike Marsh

John H. Kerr Reservoir, or Bugg’s Island Lake, as it is also known, straddles the North Carolina-Virginia state line. The lake is enormous, encompassing 78 square miles in Halifax and Mecklenburg counties of south-central Virginia and in Vance County of north-central North Carolina. The lake was formed by the John H. Kerr Dam, which was built in 1953 by the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers for electric power generation and also for municipal water supply.

A reciprocal license agreement allows anglers who possess a license from either state to fish the entire lake. But no matter on which side of the border an angler chooses to try his luck, the vast expanse of water is a prime spot to catch big winter striped bass.

Marion “Ramrod” Hall is one of the most respected guides who chase the big fish here. Specializing in stripers above all other fish, he catches them at the lake all year ‘round, but he really likes to go after them in winter.

“Kerr stripers typically weigh 7 to 9 pounds, which is down from a few years ago when we were catching fish between 9 and 12 pounds,” he said. “But there are a lot of small, young fish coming from our stockings. At any time you have to be ready to catch one that weighs 18 to 20 pounds. But there are not many fish of that size.”

Most of the fish are spawned naturally in the Dan River and Roanoke River, according to Hall. However, while in the past the lake had received leftovers from other stocking programs, there is now a dedicated stocking program of 350,000 per year.

“In 2006, we only got 280,000,” he said. “It will now have a more routine striper stocking schedule, courtesy of Virginia’s Brookneal Hatchery. Our fishing club, the Bugg’s Island Striper Club, is working with the Virginia Fish and Game Commission, and helps catch the brood stock and provide manpower for stockings. I help them take gill net surveys in the fall by helping to bring in the nets to identify each fish and how long it is and the weight of the fish. Thousands of fish are sampled and the club supplies nine people to help in the fall and help catch the brood stock in the Roanoke River by electrofishing. Then we meet the trucks when they bring the stockings down and put them in all the way around the lake instead of in one spot like they used to do.”

Hall looks for baitfish to find the stripers. When it turns cold, he watches for signs of gizzard shad and blueback herring disturbing the surface. When the baitfish are on top, it means that striped bass are slashing at them from below and birds then attack them from above. For sight-fishing, he uses 1/2-ounce or 3/8-ounce white bucktails. But when the fish are not visible, he uses live bait.

The best time to find them on top is early in the morning or late in the evening when light penetration is low. However, on some days, especially overcast days when it is calm, stripers can come to the surface at any time during the day.