"People think we're really doing something special because we go after these big fish with fly gear," Edmonds said. "But it's really no big deal. They catch tarpon on fly gear too on the Gulf. Fly gear can take a lot of heat."

Two 43-pounders from two different waterways -- let's take a more in-depth look at each of these places and the striped bass fishing that's available there. CHATTAHOOCHEE RIVER
The Chattahoochee River is part of the historic range of striped bass in Alabama, according to state assistant chief of fisheries Nick Nichols. In the days before impoundments blocked their path, stripers would swim up from the Gulf of Mexico to spawn in the river.

In the modern era, fish have returned to the river, thanks to human intervention. Although Alabama and Georgia share the Chattahoochee, it's Georgia that's done much of the management and stocking work on the river.

"They have stocked both stripers and hybrids over the years," Nichols noted. "They went to almost all hybrids several years ago, but now they're switching back to stocking almost all stripers." Owing to the new stocking efforts, the fishery should continue to produce an abundance of stripers for anglers for many years to come.

The stretch of river that Kent Edmonds likes to target runs from West Point Dam down to Bartletts Ferry Dam and even to Goat Rock Dam and on down to Phenix City. "The big one came from just below West Point Dam," he pointed out.

Fishing for both stripers and hybrids in that stretch of river is great sport. "The hybrids grow a lot faster," Edmonds explained, "but they don't get as big as they stripers, and they don't live as long." Those hybrids also tend to run more in schools in the river, although big stripers will also school up.

In March and April, the big striped bass run in the river, finishing the movement ganged up below dams. "We like to throw big saltwater streamers that look like shad," Edmonds said. "Conventional-tackle fishermen also throw various baits that imitate shad."

Some fishermen even catch and use live shad. "If you catch the stripers busting on top, you can sight-fish," remarked Edmonds. "But you're not going to do that every day, and you're not going to do it very long on days when you are able to do it." So you're basically just blind-casting into areas in which you expect that stripers should be.

The best fishing is to be had when the dams are pulling water; indeed, a lot of striper fishermen think that you're wasting your time if you even try to fish when no water's coming through the powerhouses.