“Where I go to fish pretty much comes with experience,” he said. “I keep records of everything I catch, including the time of day, time of year, where, and what bait I was using. It’s very easy to go back to the information from year to year and it will work as well this year as it did in past years.”

He fishes the upper part of lake in January, as well as the backs of the many creeks. Grassy Creek at Buoy 13 on the west side of the middle of the lake is a good spot to try. He also likes Eastland Creek along the eastern shoreline and Nutbush Creek on the southern side in the lower third of the lake. He launches at Island Creek or Longwood access to get to Grassy Creek, at Ivy Hill to get to Eastland Creek and at Hibernia access to get to Nutbush Creek. Where he fishes depends on how cold it is and how long the ride. He launches at the access area that gives the shortest ride in the least amount of wind exposure.

“The stripers follow the bait back into the creeks in winter,” he said. “I think that’s where the zooplankton goes and the bait goes after food like the stripers go after the bait.”

When he throttles back in the creek, he watches a depthfinder screen. If he sees pods of baitfish, he knows the fish are in that area somewhere. He searches off the main points with his eyes and his depthfinder. Sometimes he only sees one or two striper marks on the screen, but that’s enough to tell him it’s going to be a good day.

“You can get all the bait you want when the lights are on at the Virginia Hwy. 58 bridge at Clarksville,” he said. “They are overhauling the bridge, repaving and chipping out the concrete. HydroGlow and city of Clarksville put lights in each bridge piling. There are four above the water and four below on each column and there are about 20 columns. The one below attracts the fish as much as the one above it in my estimation. It attracts the baitfish so all you have to do is throw a cast net right against the lights to catch all the shad or herring you need.”

Early in the year, baits are larger. In winter, it can take several casts to catch the 5- to 6-inch baitfish Hall prefers. He places them in a 40-gallon closed-system livewell, adding salt and other bait-saving additives such as Sure-Life Bait Saver to keep them lively.

“I want to get to my fishing spots first thing in the morning after catching the bait,” Hall said. “I put out my side-planer boards first. I put out 50 feet of line, then attach the board to let the baits swim out to the side 20 to 40 feet at an angle to the boat. Running the bait shallow early in the morning is the best. As day progresses on, I let more line out or attach a split shot to make the baits go deeper.