I agree with Travis's post above about stripers moving many miles in a day. Other than their spawning run, their movements are generally dictated by shad movement and thermal refuges.
I disagree about them not relating to structure like logs. At least in a river where there is a lot of current, they will cluster up around rock piles and log jams. A lot of people don't realize this because they see stripers as open-water fish. I didn't believe it for a long time.
But I discovered the stripers on the Cordell Hull tailwater section of the Cumberland will absolutely relate to structure almost like a largemouth in a river. In fact, when you see people pulling planer boards for stripers, one of the big dividing lines between people who struggle and those who are really successful at it is how close they get their bait to the brush piles along the edge of the river. When you get a planer really tight to cover and bring that skipjack right past a big cluster of rocks and logs, that's when a big striper will hit. If you're even a few feet too far out, you may never get a bite.
Travis's quote is right about them being boat shy though. If you motor over them, it's all over, especially in clear water. I see this at the Steam Plant in winter all the time. One idiot roaring through the discharge canal can ruin the striper fishing for every single boat there that day.
bd
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