For many, many years I fished thinking that the only fish worthy of catching was a largemouth bass; maybe an occasional smallmouth but never anything other than that.

For the last two or three years I have been working stripers and hybrids seriously, and here is why. They are school fish with excellent populations in the river and they fight like Mike Tyson. You see, the truth is that the river is at its best, at least in the Cincinnati area, as a center for stripers, hybrids, and catfish (especially flatheads).

Summertime brings the opportunity for main river stripers and hybrids from now through early winter. They can be caught not only in the early morning and late evening but also during peak periods of recreational boating. If the correct techniques are used they can be caught during the heat of the day with a blazing sun overhead in July and August.