Tony Buzolich
09-28-2011, 11:16 AM
By now everyone in the world knows that chartruse/white is a standard go-to color for striped bass everywhere. If clear water conditons dictate or a specie specific bait is keyed on then things change a little but for the most part chartruese/white is THE color of choice,,,,,,, until yesterday.
This was our first trip to the delta this year. Bill, Ben, and myself got on the water a little after 6:00AM and headed out across the San Joaquin looking to chase the tide and find some moving water. We headed inland and made our first stop at "little Mandy" and quickly pick up three small schoolies which quickly stopped as a huge sea lion began feeding just inside the break we were fishing at. Move a little ways, nothing. Move some more, still nothing. That's the way it is with chasing stripers. Keep moving until you find them and don't waste a lot of time pounding a spot if nothing is happening.
The tide had topped out where we were and we needed to find moving water. Finally we moved to a good rock wall where the tide was flowing and prospects improve. Bill hooks up first with a nice 3-4lb. fish. ALL RIGHT, maybe we've found a school? Ben hooks up next with another schoolie. BINGO, we've found them.
We tease Ben about the color of his fly that he had just tied a day or so before, PINK. Ben is a newbie to fly fishing but has quickly gotten the bug after picking up a few nice stripers this season. He also has just now started to tie his own flies and today's PINK creation was one of his first.
We continue along this wall and Ben picks up another fish right away,,,,, on PINK. And then another, and then another. All on the same PINK fly. Bill and I are hooking up as well but Ben's got the hot rod.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/001.jpg
As the tide slows the bite slows as well and we move looking for more productive water. We try here and there with only one or two fish as we go but no big schools are found.
Around noon the tide had changed and we decided to head back to where we first got into them. We drift across the same flat but our school has moved. We're marking lots of fish on the bottom,,,,,,,,,,,20 feet down in fast moving water. After a few passes Ben hooks up again to a nicer 4-5lber.,,,,,,still on his same PINK fly.
Bill is having fits now with Ben's success and switches to one of HIS pink creations. Wham!, sure enough Bill's onto one too. Me? I keep plugging away with my ol' chartruse/white. And I'm picking up fish too, only because I didn't HAVE a PINK one to put on or else I would have.:)
So, am I giving up on chartruese/white? Not a chance. But you can bet I'm going to have a few PINK flies in my box when we go again.
TONY
This was our first trip to the delta this year. Bill, Ben, and myself got on the water a little after 6:00AM and headed out across the San Joaquin looking to chase the tide and find some moving water. We headed inland and made our first stop at "little Mandy" and quickly pick up three small schoolies which quickly stopped as a huge sea lion began feeding just inside the break we were fishing at. Move a little ways, nothing. Move some more, still nothing. That's the way it is with chasing stripers. Keep moving until you find them and don't waste a lot of time pounding a spot if nothing is happening.
The tide had topped out where we were and we needed to find moving water. Finally we moved to a good rock wall where the tide was flowing and prospects improve. Bill hooks up first with a nice 3-4lb. fish. ALL RIGHT, maybe we've found a school? Ben hooks up next with another schoolie. BINGO, we've found them.
We tease Ben about the color of his fly that he had just tied a day or so before, PINK. Ben is a newbie to fly fishing but has quickly gotten the bug after picking up a few nice stripers this season. He also has just now started to tie his own flies and today's PINK creation was one of his first.
We continue along this wall and Ben picks up another fish right away,,,,, on PINK. And then another, and then another. All on the same PINK fly. Bill and I are hooking up as well but Ben's got the hot rod.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/001.jpg
As the tide slows the bite slows as well and we move looking for more productive water. We try here and there with only one or two fish as we go but no big schools are found.
Around noon the tide had changed and we decided to head back to where we first got into them. We drift across the same flat but our school has moved. We're marking lots of fish on the bottom,,,,,,,,,,,20 feet down in fast moving water. After a few passes Ben hooks up again to a nicer 4-5lber.,,,,,,still on his same PINK fly.
Bill is having fits now with Ben's success and switches to one of HIS pink creations. Wham!, sure enough Bill's onto one too. Me? I keep plugging away with my ol' chartruse/white. And I'm picking up fish too, only because I didn't HAVE a PINK one to put on or else I would have.:)
So, am I giving up on chartruese/white? Not a chance. But you can bet I'm going to have a few PINK flies in my box when we go again.
TONY