Bringsfire
04-26-2010, 01:23 PM
I usually try to avoid the current bait shop "hot spot", but had a couple of friends in town for the weekend who came to Striper fish. They had called around or whatever and were convinced we had to go as far north as Colusa on the Sacramento if we where going to catch any fish. After much debate I went along with it and off we went at 4:30 AM the next morning. Well the ramp was every bit as crazy as I imagined, the parking lot a nightmare, and the river was crowded close to the launch. Basically I just kept motoring until we were pretty far upriver from the crowd. The guys that were with me are new to fly fishing, so we had some initial tangles etc. unitl we worked out the logistics of fishing 3 out of a boat. I was feeling a bit frustrated at this point (certainly the combat parking at the launch ramp, and the new rip in my seat upholstery had not helped) and had moved into that state of being that anyone who has taking children or folks new to the sport very many times finds. It's that "okay I'm not here for me today" state. I figured we could work on casting, knots, reading water, etc. and had actually put my rod away entirely.
So I find a stretch I think looks good except the water is only 8'-10' deep, but hey we are in practice mode anyway so what does it matter right? I tell the guys I'm going to float this stretch; cast there blah blah. and BAM fish on!, BAM another! motor up above the run and float it again...same results... I ended up anchoring and we did this sporadically until almost 1 that afternoon. So what started out as a pretty rough day ended up being one of the most productive days I have ever had striper fishing. I have never caught stripers on a fly in the middle of the day like that either, what a treat! We didn't catch any fish of size, all males about 20", but that was just the right size for a day like that!
I'm already over the upholstery :)
So I find a stretch I think looks good except the water is only 8'-10' deep, but hey we are in practice mode anyway so what does it matter right? I tell the guys I'm going to float this stretch; cast there blah blah. and BAM fish on!, BAM another! motor up above the run and float it again...same results... I ended up anchoring and we did this sporadically until almost 1 that afternoon. So what started out as a pretty rough day ended up being one of the most productive days I have ever had striper fishing. I have never caught stripers on a fly in the middle of the day like that either, what a treat! We didn't catch any fish of size, all males about 20", but that was just the right size for a day like that!
I'm already over the upholstery :)