Hall said once he was fishing at Gaston in December and caught 21 stripers by sight-casting. It was snowing and the birds showed him where the fish were feeding. As at Kerr, the seagulls and other water birds can be the eyes in the sky that tell anglers where to fish.

“I was fishing at the middle of the lake that day,” he said. “When I fish Gaston, I use a bucktail like I cast at Kerr, but sometimes I will go to a 1-ounce Rat-L-Trap. The lure looks like a gizzard shad and works well for blind-casting to the points or drop-offs or for sight-casting when the fish are showing.”

Hall catches baitfish upstream of the Gaston Dam or below the Kerr Dam. But near the Kerr Dam outfall, the current flow can ball up the net before it sinks deep enough to catch the baitfish. Therefore, he is sometimes forced to back away from the outfall current to catch bait.

Hall also fishes Gaston creeks the same way he fishes Kerr creeks. A logical angler would believe the best plan would be fishing the creeks if the wind is blowing. But Hall doesn’t find success that way.

“Fish don’t have as many places to go in Gaston,” he said. “But it’s still a big lake. Wind kills the kind of fishing I do. I hate a windy day. I can’t control the boat like I want. If the wind moves the boat around with all the lines out, it’s a mess. Most of the time, when you hide from the wind using the shoreline, there are no fish there. Don’t ask me why. That’s just the way it is. When it’s too windy to fish with the trolling motor, the best thing to do is stay home.”

If you want to give Kerr Lake stripers a try, call Ramrod’s Guide Service at (252) 492-7793.