Results of Rain

[Charlie S]

It appears that this could be a banner year for Lake Mendocino. I just received a report from a close friend and neighbor who was just up at the lake (I can't get out yet due to shoulder surgery) and she reports that the South boatramp parking lot is under water. Don't know how many of you have been up here but that is a LOAD of water and will definitely help all the fishing for this year. The bluegill, crappie, smallmouths and LM bass will be really feeding in the edges and the stripers should also be awesome. Come up and enjoy the fishing with a little wine tasting on the side.

[Scott V]

I have never been there, how long does it take to get there?

[matt johnson]

Thanks for the heads up Charlie. I look at that lake through the window of the minivan everytime I drive by it on my way to the inlaws in Geyserville, but I have never stopped to fish it. What time(s) of the year are best for the stripers, and in general, what is the best approach to targeting them on flies? Thanks! Matt.

[Charlie S]

The lake is about three hours from Sacramento. Two ways to go, either up 5 to Williams and across on 20. Or down 80 and across 37 at Vallejo to 101 and up to Ukiah.

Spring is excellent for LM and SM Bass, Crappie and Bluegill. A little later in the Spring the stripers turn on to top water. You definitely need a boat to fish the stripers because you have to find them first, covering a lot of water and then either fish them deep with lead core or, if they are blasting shad, on the surface with an intermediate line and a shad imitation. Color is secondary to size for your flies.

Send me a personal message if you want more info about specifics. I've just recently had shoulder surgery and I'll send my telephone number via PM if you want to call. I can't stay on the computer very long for a while yet.

[joshfish]

i was born and lived in ukiah for many years. when i was a kid there was an old man that would feed ducks in the cove next to the boat ramp at the dam. he would throw out loaves of bread a couple of times a week. lots of fish would move in and feed also. for a long time you could catch the striper that moved in to feed on the feeding fish. it was like shooting fish in a barrel there were so many fished packed in that cove.

[Charlie S]

Those days are about gone, but there are still some pretty good stripers around. Where you fed the ducks is under about 2 feet of water right now.

I forgot to mention, once the really warm weather starts and, especially after school is out, the jet skis will take over any chance of chasing stripers except in the very early and very late hours.

[matt johnson]

Thanks for the info Charlie.

Do you think the stripers in the lake are spawning successfully some years?

I am guessing thats why there are still stripers in there? Or is there still stocking of striped bass taking place? Matt.

[Charlie S]

No natural reproduction....not enough flow long enough. They did plant for quite a while up until last year or year before. Not sure about the last two years.

[Tony Buzolich]

I used to camp out at my mother-in-law's place in Redwood Valley when the steelhead were happening and as the season got warmer the stripers would go off on Lake Mendocino chasing threadfin shad. Some times you'd actually see bait jumping onto the bank trying to get away from the moving schools of stripers. They moved fast too. The trick was to get ahead of the school, kill your motor, and let them come to you. You'd only have time for a couple of casts before they moved on by. Bigger fish were usually more solitary and hung near the dam.

Several times while I was there trucks would come in and dump juvenile stripers at the north boat ramp. I don't remember the trucks being from F&G but seemed more like a private deal.

Charlie's right about the flow not being enough to suspend the eggs. Even if the temperature is right the eggs need to be free-drifting for 24-48 hours to become viable enough to survive.

Anyone know about stripers in Millerton or Don Pedro? Do any of these inland lakes have spawning populations?

[Notch]

I'm not sure about the San Joaquin/Millerton, but the Tuolumne River above Don Pedro turns into class III/IV rapids just above the lake. It would take one savage striper to make it up those rapids before it attempts to spawn.