As the water continues to warm, the fish move into their spawning grounds. The heart of the striped bass spawning area is literally in downtown Rome, one of northwest Georgia's busiest places. The Etowah and Oostanaula rivers join in Rome to form the Coosa. It's in the last few miles of the Oostanaula and first few of the Coosa that most striper spawning occurs. Conveniently, the fish picked a place with good boating access and easily navigable water. Not all of the spawning occurs in those few miles, but there are always plenty of fish in that area.

Depending on the conditions, a few fish can show up and start spawning as early as end of March. In some years, a few of the latecomers may still be reproducing the first of June. Late April and early May are ordinarily the peak, though, and the time for the most fantastic fishing you'll ever have ever experienced.

Just about anywhere you choose to soak your bait along the spawning area, you stand a chance at catching fish. Places to look for though are rocky bottoms, deep holes, logjams, and seams in the current. Anchor and fish for 20 minutes to see what happens. If you don't get any activity, pick up and move to another spot.

The best stretch on the Coosa seems to be from the ramp down to the Rome Sewage Treatment Plant a few miles downstream on the south bank. On the Oostanaula, anywhere up to the SR 140 ramp can be good. There are some good shoals and holes throughout this stretch of the river.

After the spawn, the fish scatter for several weeks before the need to survive kicks in. Stripers are a cool water species. To get through a blistering Georgia summer, they have to find cool water. Large stripers need water 77 degrees or less to feel comfortable.

This is when the smaller rivers begin to shine. The Etowah and to a lesser extent, the Coosawattee, can hold an amazing number of stripers in the heat of the summer. The cool water discharged from the depths at Carters and Allatoona dams keeps the rivers cool and the stripers flock there like moths to a flame. For these rivers, summer is prime time.

Two anglers can enjoy 100-plus fish days if they're at the right spot at the right time. When the bite is on, stripers literally fight each other for the honor of eating your bait. But, outside of the summer months, the fish don't use these rivers much.

Fishing techniques are basically the same whether you are targeting the Coosa and Oostanaula during the spawn, or are fishing in one of the summer refuges. After months of being chased by anglers, live bait fools the most fish, but artificial offerings are easier since you don't have to worry about acquiring and keeping bait.

Among artificials, topwater stickbaits are good. A Zara Super Spook is excellent. Stripers seem to love a sliding, gliding walk-the-dog action. The Redfin is another old standby. One thing to keep in mind: It doesn't take a huge plug to catch fish on the Coosa system. You aren't trying to draw fish up from 20 feet deep. Largemouth-sized plugs provoke more strikes than do hammer-handle-sized Redfins, and boast a better hookup ratio, too.

As summer fades into fall, the water begins to cool, and stripers can again roam anywhere they want. Most fish spend the fall and winter in Weiss Lake, but come the first hints of spring and the stripers are on their way up the Coosa once again to start the cycle anew.