Tony Buzolich
02-28-2013, 09:13 AM
For the last couple of weeks the rice growers up this way have been draining their fields. This in turn puts a lot of muddy run-off into the rivers and clouds the visibility making fishing a lot tougher than usual.
Yesterday, I got out on the water again and things have definitly changed for the better. Visibility was back to 3'-4' with a nice green color. I started as usual working the bank and trees tight between snags and soon had my first grab and boated the first schoolie size striper of the season. Up to this point all of the stripers we've taken have been in the 5-8 lb. range or larger.
Working farther down my drift I pick up another schoolie about 20". Can't believe how hard these guys hit in this cold water using my 8 weight. Forty-nine degrees is still cold for stripers.
I motor back up stream to my original starting point and soon enough get another hook-up and again a small schoolie about 18". Two more passes without a grab and it's time to head home.
So what does this mean? These are the first schoolie size fish we've taken so far this year. Maybe the run is on it's way but it's SLOW in coming. The lack of rain isn't helping bring many new fish into the rivers and the rivers are LOW.
This week the moon has been really bright all night and I'm sure a lot of these fish are feeding in the dark. On the good side, the Terns have arrived. Not sea gulls but terns, and terns always seem to show when there's bait (smolt) around so this is a good sign as the stripers will be chasing the bait too, and hopefully some of my flies.
I'll be over on the Sac the next couple of days and see what's going on over there. There's a bit more water flow than the Feather and maybe this is where they're at ?
Tony
Yesterday, I got out on the water again and things have definitly changed for the better. Visibility was back to 3'-4' with a nice green color. I started as usual working the bank and trees tight between snags and soon had my first grab and boated the first schoolie size striper of the season. Up to this point all of the stripers we've taken have been in the 5-8 lb. range or larger.
Working farther down my drift I pick up another schoolie about 20". Can't believe how hard these guys hit in this cold water using my 8 weight. Forty-nine degrees is still cold for stripers.
I motor back up stream to my original starting point and soon enough get another hook-up and again a small schoolie about 18". Two more passes without a grab and it's time to head home.
So what does this mean? These are the first schoolie size fish we've taken so far this year. Maybe the run is on it's way but it's SLOW in coming. The lack of rain isn't helping bring many new fish into the rivers and the rivers are LOW.
This week the moon has been really bright all night and I'm sure a lot of these fish are feeding in the dark. On the good side, the Terns have arrived. Not sea gulls but terns, and terns always seem to show when there's bait (smolt) around so this is a good sign as the stripers will be chasing the bait too, and hopefully some of my flies.
I'll be over on the Sac the next couple of days and see what's going on over there. There's a bit more water flow than the Feather and maybe this is where they're at ?
Tony