Tony Buzolich
05-07-2010, 03:20 PM
It's no secret that the stripers are in up river but I caution anyone who might be thinking of coming up to fish. The river is packed with boats everywhere and it gets worse as the day goes on.
Today we got to Wards Landing a little after 5:00AM and couldn't find a parking spot anywhere except on the levee past Butte Slough. Coming out was worse because there were boats trying to get out while more guys were trying to get into the parking lot so they could launch. At the same time there must be a least a dozen plus cars parked at the driveway where they left there vehicles to go out with various guides for the day.
Once you get out on the water plan on a lot of rude drivers there too. Three times today we were within 50' of the bank casting our flies only to have some yahoo drive their boat between us and the bank. Some were trolling and some were just taking the shortest route with no consideration as to where we were casting.
I can't imagine how much more traffic there will be on weekends.
As for fish? Yes, there are good numbers of them, but probably 99% of those taken will be by minnow dunking, bait chunking, or trolling.
For the fly guys, things will get better as the water clears. Right now visibility is barely a foot.
If you decide to go anyway, get there early and know where you are on the water. I'll be at Wards again on Monday,,,,,,,,,,,, probably around 4:00AM,,,,,,,, and I know there will be guys ahead of me.
Today we got to Wards Landing a little after 5:00AM and couldn't find a parking spot anywhere except on the levee past Butte Slough. Coming out was worse because there were boats trying to get out while more guys were trying to get into the parking lot so they could launch. At the same time there must be a least a dozen plus cars parked at the driveway where they left there vehicles to go out with various guides for the day.
Once you get out on the water plan on a lot of rude drivers there too. Three times today we were within 50' of the bank casting our flies only to have some yahoo drive their boat between us and the bank. Some were trolling and some were just taking the shortest route with no consideration as to where we were casting.
I can't imagine how much more traffic there will be on weekends.
As for fish? Yes, there are good numbers of them, but probably 99% of those taken will be by minnow dunking, bait chunking, or trolling.
For the fly guys, things will get better as the water clears. Right now visibility is barely a foot.
If you decide to go anyway, get there early and know where you are on the water. I'll be at Wards again on Monday,,,,,,,,,,,, probably around 4:00AM,,,,,,,, and I know there will be guys ahead of me.