"The biggest mistake anglers make is not keeping their bait on the bottom," Brasher cautioned. "If you are not bumping the bottom, you are not going to catch a fish."

Brasher's game plan for the flowing water below Logan Martin contrasts markedly with his tactics at Neely Henry: He anchors close to dam and out of the current. "It's totally different," he emphasized. "Rocks near the surface make it too dangerous to drift."

Using a 3-inch grub or a Sassy Shad on a 1/4- or 1/2-ounce jighead, Brasher casts into the current and lets the lure drift. Just as with live bait, he said, the bites come when the lure is bouncing along on the bottom. His favorite lure colors are white and chartreuse.

Back upstream below Neely Henry, Brasher noted, it's possible to wade-fish for hybrids and stripes -- if only one turbine is running. "This is wild!" he enthused, "If they are running one turbine, many of us wade out into waist-deep water so we can reach the fish with our casts. I have caught 20 fish in three to four hours of fishing.

"At times, anglers line up to take turns casting just like boats waiting to drift. I've been out there when it was so cold your body would feel numb. Sometimes, I wear chest waders, but mostly I wear blue jeans and tennis shoes. The problem with chest waders is they may fill up with water if they decide to start a second turbine. When they blow the horn, you have three or four minutes to reach the bank, because that additional turbine is going to send water over your head."

When wading, Brasher uses the same grub and Sassy Shad that he casts at Logan Martin. For distance, he recommends casting with at least a 7-foot rod and downsizing line to 14-pound test.

The last of Brasher's methods for catching hybrids doesn't involve fishing in current. The pattern doesn't always produce, but when it does, the fishing is outstanding. Since you could get skunked, arrive a couple of hours before turbine operations are scheduled to begin, and you'll have a fail-safe plan.

"The only time this is possible," Brasher advised, "is when the water is not flowing. It's possible to catch 15 to 20 fish in a couple of hours -- and three-quarters of the fish will be hybrids.

"Anchor about halfway down the wing wall. The water there flows over the wing wall and washes the little yellowtails with it. You can actually reach out and catch them, but it's easier to use a dip net. It's always convenient to have a few in the tank, because at times the fish bite as soon as the bait reaches the bottom."

Without current and with the smaller threadfin shad, Brasher downsizes his terminal tackle to a 3/0 hook with a 1/8-ounce split shot on the line next to the eye of the hook. "The weight carries the bait to the bottom," he explained, "but it's not so heavy that the bait can't swim."

Brasher noted that hybrids caught from still waters tend to run a little smaller, with the smallest weighing 4 pounds and the largest weighing 13 pounds.

When you fish waters hosting both hybrids and stripers, is it possible to identify the species before landing the fish? "Most definitely!" Brasher exclaimed. "A hybrid is mean. He's very aggressive. The salt will make a straight run, but a hybrid will go anywhere -- including straight for the boat."

For more information on Barry Brasher's fishing techniques, visit the Web site www.bamabassfishing.com.