Downlines continue as effective during pre-spawn, but the technique Parramore embraces is the use of side planer boards to search the shallow water of creek and slough edges.

"The deadliest weapon ever invented for catching trophy stripers is a side planer," he asserted. "The planer allows anglers to freeline shad away from the boat and are especially effective in shallow water."

Planer boards enable the guide to control the bait by simply maneuvering the boat without ever having to fear spooking fish swimming in water 2 to 5 feet deep. Plus, he can cover a lot of ground.

Parramore pulls Water Bugz planer boards using the same line and leader material, but switches to a 5/0 Daiichi circle hook for large shad. With the bait hooked and in the water, he pulls off about 40 feet of line before attaching the planer board. He then holds at a speed sufficient to keep the planer in position to the side of the boat.

"There's nothing specific about where to find stripers," he pointed out. "It's a hunt; you must go looking for them. When I pull in the back of a slough, I never know if it holds fish. The only way you are going to know is to put that big bait out and start working it down one side of the bank going in and the other side coming out. If they are there, you'll have an encounter, because stripers have a way of finding those big jumbo shad."

Nearly every creek and slough, Parramore believes, has the potential to hold fish during pre-spawn. As April arrives, however, he concentrates on the Tallapoosa River to take advantage of the landlocked stripers' instinct to spawn.

"Much depends on rainfall and the resulting current," he explained. "With ample rain, the river current attracts stripers wanting to spawn. When the current is ripping down the river, fishing for big stripers is incredible."

When he fishes the Tallapoosa, Parramore trolls big shad on planer boards just as before, but switches to the boat motor to counter the current.

If the current remains strong, river fishing continues until the end of April, when rising water temperatures induce the bass to abandon their desire to reproduce.

"Even though there are resident stripers that remain in the river year 'round," Parramore reported, "the majority of the big fish move back to the lake. You find them in the upper lake in the same places they roamed in winter.

"May is a great month to fish, because you can still catch them using planer boards or you can use downlines. The water is still cool enough to see fish busting the surface. Usually, though, they hold at depths between 20 to about 35 feet. Downlines produce best in this situation.