Photo by Ron Sinfelt.

Mist wafts up from the surface of the water as first light breaks over the eastern tree line. Emerging from the mist like an apparition, a boat materializes. Fishing rods point perpendicularly from the boat's gunwales. Each rod trails a glistening thread of fishing line. Arranged in symmetrical order on each side of the vessel, lines from the bow rods plunge almost vertically into the cold, dark water. Subsequent rods sway back into the gentle roll of the boat's trolling wake, while the stern rods tow a small armada of bright yellow boards, barely visible in the low light of the craft's developing shadow. An angler stands immobile behind the boat's center console; only his eyes move, trading between the bright glow of the boat's electronics and a wheeling flock of birds swinging just above the water's surface, directly in his path. Not unexpectedly, one of the starboard boards breaks formation and reverses course with violence. The rod's drag begins screaming its alarm. . . .

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Many anglers consider the cold winter months as a time to regroup and prepare for the upcoming spring season. Striped bass anglers, on the other hand, yearn for the cooler months, a time when they can have vast reservoirs all to themselves and when they can easily pattern their quarry by locating tightly packed schools of baitfish.

Mike Green is one of those hardcore anglers. Green, a native of Huntersville, knows a few things about freshwater striped bass fishing. Green and his tournament striped bass team -- Team Fishers of Men -- have to their credit three National Striped Bass Association Gold Cup Championships. For Green, January is not a time for planning for future fishing trips: It's time to be on his favorite North Carolina lakes and get busy. He shares his advice on fishing three Carolina striper lakes: Norman, Hickory and Badin.

LAKE NORMAN
Winter striper fishing on Norman means stripers are concentrated in the mid-lake region looking for pods of baitfish.

Green prefers to launch his 21-foot Key West Center Console at one of several ramps located near the Hwy. 150 bridge crossing the lake. From this location, he can access four primary winter venues for Norman stripers: McCrary Creek, Stumpy Creek, Rocky Creek and Hicks Creek.

However, before he fishes for stripers, his first order of business is to catch live bait for the day's fishing. Typically, this is a quick process because Norman's primary forage -- herring, alewives and gizzard shad -- can be found bunched up near the surface during the early morning hours. A couple of throws of the cast net and it's time to get the day started.

Compared with some other Carolina lakes, Norman is not considered a trophy fishery -- but it is well known for the numbers of 3- to 6-pound fish it produces.

Assuming the overnight temperatures have been seasonally cold, Green presents multiple live baits while scouring the main-river channel, looking for structure that will hold fish.

"I believe striped bass are far more structure oriented than most people give them credit for," he explained. "Sure, they have a reputation for roaming open water, but during the winter when their metabolism slows down, they are more prone to hold in a really small area on a piece of structure and wait for food to come to them."

While in search mode, Green will deploy a couple of Carolina-rigged down rods from the bow of the boat and stagger free lines down the sides of the boat. The free lines are a mix of lines held out to the side of the boat by planer boards, lines that are held a little deeper in the water column with split shot weights, and lines that are nothing more than a baited hook tied to the main line.

First thing in the morning, look for fish to be deep on the edge of the channel: Average depths in the mid-lake may be 20 feet on the edge of the channel dropping off to 50 or 60 feet.