Strip

[Charlie Gonzales]

Not to pull guys from this BB, but theres an interesting thread on Blantons board regarding retrieves. Interesting to me because I have always favored the slower retrieves.

[matt johnson]

I was checkin' that out too Charlie. Good stuff.

I think my typical retrieve is fairly fast. I catch some stripers, but I think I kind of suck in general at catching them. I wish I could catch more, because stripers rock! Maybe its my retrieve...

Perhaps the dirtier the water and lower the light the slower retrieve you can get away with? I can't imagine fooling many 20lb, 10 year old stripers on the American mid-day slow stripping a chartruse and white clouser? Maybe I'm wrong.

Most of my striper experience comes from fishing the spawning run on the Sacramento. This typically involves fishing fairly dirty water. I don't have it all figured out yet, but almost "dragging" the fly or "slow trolling" it with occasional "pops" along the rock wall current seams below Colusa seems to produce best? Matt.

[Hairstacker]

I was checking that one out too. Lot of food for thought in that thread. I always thought relatively fast, erratically-timed strips with lots of significant pauses was the way to go, but have been thinking about that one fella's slow, big fly approach to nail the big ones. . . .

[Scott V]

I can not find what you are talking about on the bulletin board. What is the title I should look for.

[HC]

Scott, The thread title is "Delta", and was posted by James. Incidentally, LMB rose to the occasion (DD) Tuesday at FT. Best HC

[Scott V]

It feels weird to say what I am about to say, but I will strip slower on Saturday to see if I can get bigger fish. :lol: :lol:

When tying big clousers, what size hook are you using and what material are they using to get the body 6+ inches long. I'd like to tie some tomorrow for this weekend.

[Charlie Bisharat]

Charlie, there are some great insights in that thread. I fish often with Marcus and he is an excellent fisherman with a wide range of experiences. He catches way more than his fair share of quality fish(15#'s and up). I happen to totally agree with the ideology that big fish are more likely to chase and eat big flies, and that a slower retrieve can be more productive on the bigger fish. In my experience it has held very true. I think the big fly thing is particularly true with regards to top water fishing. Also when a big fish REALLY wants to eat something, it seems to find a way regardless of retrieve speed, size etc.Cheers Chas

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Welcome to the board 'top water' Charlie.....


It seems like some were recommending a slow strip with a big fly.

It makes sense because bigger fish are lazy and are probably more efficient feeder.

Smaller fish feed in schools which causes lots of competition.

I watched a 5 pound Steelhead 'greyhounding' on the surface many years ago while a big Striper boiled just behind it.

[Charlie Bisharat]

Bill, thanks for the welcome to the board, it is a wonderful place to learn ,discuss, debate, and share.You do a fantastic job as the administrator and you know what a huge fan I have been of your shop since I started in fly fishing. For those of you that don't know, Bill has been in the retail fly fishing business for 40 years that I personally know of. My father and I bought fly tying material from him at Sports unlimited on Arden way in about 1967.What a run , good for you Bill.
As for the big fish, big fly thing , I totally feel it is true. A person can look at what the conventional fisherman use and catch for another perspective. To be able to throw a big enough fly effectively is the challenge and quite honestly that is what lead to the design and production of the Charlie's Airhead. I personally fish those flies up to 12" in a rainbow pattern especially in turbid water.As for the retreive speed I think a fellow needs to look at the fishery. The delta , for certain it is something to look at but the fish in the Feather , American and Sac are somewhat used to chasing as they live in swift current and things happen quickly.Like I said earlier, when a big striper wants to eat something my experience is that they will hunt it down regardless of speed and smash it .Cheers Chas

[mikenewman]

Hi Charlie

I just found a photo of your Airhead
http://www.fsflyfishing.com/AmericanRiverreport.htm

That's some fly!

Cheers
Mike

[Charlie Bisharat]

Mike,

The Charlie's Airhead fly with it's recepie was showcased in Fly fishing in salt water magazine last issue . Not the current one . It is in an article by Kevin Sloan about fishing the delta.Cheers Chas

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

We have a very large stock of "Charlie's Airhead" flies at Kiene's that are producted by Umpqua.

We have them in Chartruse over White, Brown over White and Gray over white.

We have them in #3/0, #1/0 and #2 @ $6.99