Tony Buzolich
06-10-2013, 08:51 AM
To paraphrase that song "It's Summertime.... and the fishin' ain't easy", but that's not saying it's over and done with. By no means. The fishing is good when you can find them. And that's exactly what it takes to fish stripers in the summer,,,,,, a lot of searching. As I've been saying, the fish are scattered throughout the rivers. Most have already spawned but some still haven't. Some are moving upstream while others are moving back to the bay, so.... they're spread out and not stacked in big schools like they are in the spring. This means some searching to find them.
Yesterday Jim and I hit the Sac again and like other days we stopped at one of our favorite spots expecting an immediate grab. We start at the top of the run and drift along a nice wall or bar or shelf and cast toward the bank. Often only inches away from dry ground you quickly strip your fly away from shore hoping for that hard grab. Stripers, squawfish, black bass, etc. seem to know that small baitfish crowd the bank trying to get away from the stronger currant further out in the river. Rocks, tree limbs, and every sort of snag also provide shelter for the baitfish to hide in.
Our first stop was empty. We had made several passes but as I often say " there was nobody home". So we move and try another spot still hoping for that first grab. Sometimes all you need is a small tap on the fly to let you know that somebody IS home and that they're feeding. There are a lot of small stripers in the river now too and often they will come up and grab the tail of your fly giving it a shake but not actually hooking themselves. At least this will tell you there's fish here and it's worth trying until you find one big enough that'll eat your fly.
We started our drift again on the next wall and quickly got one of those small tap and grab misses. Sometimes if you pause for just a moment you'll get another quick grab from the same fish. Sometimes another fish will grab the fly too and sure enough I get my first solid hook-up. "Set, set, head shake," and it's game on. I'm solid on our first fish and it feels heavy. As we continue drifting I try to get the fish away from shore and possible snags. Jim grabs the electric and motors us away from the bank. Now under the boat the fish makes a charge and heads straight back to it's starting point taking off yards of line and backing. It wants to get back to it's holding spot.
After a lot of tugging over under and around the boat we get her to the net and Jim boga's her at 23lbs.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/001-2_zps8b70b048.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/001-2_zps8b70b048.jpg.html)
Our first fish of the day.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/005-1_zps5b6e5218.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/005-1_zps5b6e5218.jpg.html)
After the release we decide to try another pass on the same wall. Often schools of similar size fish will stay together and we might just luck into another good fish. Not today though, and we move.
So, this is the routine. We move from spot to spot. Hit every favorite wall and likely looking piece of water, and keep at it. Soon enough you'll come across some nice fish. Some of the water will look soo promising, but there'll be nothing there. Other times you'll find them unexpectedly but you keep moving. You don't waste a lot of time one spot unless you're getting those little taps and grabs that sometimes turn into better fish.
There are a lot of these in the river now but you have to find them. Keep moving and keep searching until you do.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/008-1_zps3a10076d.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/008-1_zps3a10076d.jpg.html)
As we wound down for the day Jim suggested one more stop before we quit. It's already noon and fish don't usually bite when the sun's high but we decide to give it a try anyway. A lot further downstream than we've been lately we again set up our drift and are rewarded with a quick hook-up and our first double of the day.
And it's noon, and the fish are still biting, and I'm tired. It's time to go home.
Tony
Yesterday Jim and I hit the Sac again and like other days we stopped at one of our favorite spots expecting an immediate grab. We start at the top of the run and drift along a nice wall or bar or shelf and cast toward the bank. Often only inches away from dry ground you quickly strip your fly away from shore hoping for that hard grab. Stripers, squawfish, black bass, etc. seem to know that small baitfish crowd the bank trying to get away from the stronger currant further out in the river. Rocks, tree limbs, and every sort of snag also provide shelter for the baitfish to hide in.
Our first stop was empty. We had made several passes but as I often say " there was nobody home". So we move and try another spot still hoping for that first grab. Sometimes all you need is a small tap on the fly to let you know that somebody IS home and that they're feeding. There are a lot of small stripers in the river now too and often they will come up and grab the tail of your fly giving it a shake but not actually hooking themselves. At least this will tell you there's fish here and it's worth trying until you find one big enough that'll eat your fly.
We started our drift again on the next wall and quickly got one of those small tap and grab misses. Sometimes if you pause for just a moment you'll get another quick grab from the same fish. Sometimes another fish will grab the fly too and sure enough I get my first solid hook-up. "Set, set, head shake," and it's game on. I'm solid on our first fish and it feels heavy. As we continue drifting I try to get the fish away from shore and possible snags. Jim grabs the electric and motors us away from the bank. Now under the boat the fish makes a charge and heads straight back to it's starting point taking off yards of line and backing. It wants to get back to it's holding spot.
After a lot of tugging over under and around the boat we get her to the net and Jim boga's her at 23lbs.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/001-2_zps8b70b048.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/001-2_zps8b70b048.jpg.html)
Our first fish of the day.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/005-1_zps5b6e5218.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/005-1_zps5b6e5218.jpg.html)
After the release we decide to try another pass on the same wall. Often schools of similar size fish will stay together and we might just luck into another good fish. Not today though, and we move.
So, this is the routine. We move from spot to spot. Hit every favorite wall and likely looking piece of water, and keep at it. Soon enough you'll come across some nice fish. Some of the water will look soo promising, but there'll be nothing there. Other times you'll find them unexpectedly but you keep moving. You don't waste a lot of time one spot unless you're getting those little taps and grabs that sometimes turn into better fish.
There are a lot of these in the river now but you have to find them. Keep moving and keep searching until you do.
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/008-1_zps3a10076d.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/008-1_zps3a10076d.jpg.html)
As we wound down for the day Jim suggested one more stop before we quit. It's already noon and fish don't usually bite when the sun's high but we decide to give it a try anyway. A lot further downstream than we've been lately we again set up our drift and are rewarded with a quick hook-up and our first double of the day.
And it's noon, and the fish are still biting, and I'm tired. It's time to go home.
Tony