Tony Buzolich
08-17-2014, 08:58 AM
Most of the guys know that summer time is not the best of times to go chase stripers. Spring they're up in the rivers looking to spawn and fall they're in the delta feeding and growing into mature fish. The spring run is always the biggest deal going up river and people crowd the ramps and docks looking to get their boats in the water and go chase this wonderful fish.
Around about the end of May things seem to really slow down up here and the rivers go back to being like they are most of the time until salmon season starts in the fall.
A few diehard striper guys know though that there are still a few big fish around,,,,,, even in summer. And often enough August and September have proven to be pretty good for an occasional trophy. But, for the most part the rivers are full of little dink stripers that are working their way downstream to the delta where they'll grow and mature before returning again as a part of their natural cycle.
Using a standard 8 or 9 weight rod in the hopes of hooking a mature fish this time of year is often ended with a juvenile fish impaling himself on a 3/0 fly by accident while trying to get this big fly into his mouth. Try as they may they often do. Schools of them will chase that flashy tail on your Clouser and pick away at it until nothing is left. And should you hook one of these little guys, barely larger than your fly, it's not much of a fight on an eight weight.
A few years ago I was talking with Sturmer White about fishing in the delta. He told me that a few of his friends from the Granite Bay Fly Club go there every year on fishouts and use " 6 weight " rods. "Why such a small rod?", I asked. He said that with so many small stripers there at times it was great fun on a lighter rod. I continued to use my 8 weight as usual but this thought stuck with me.
Well, for the last month or two we've been out looking for that occasional summertime time trophy but it seems we're ruled by the downstream migration of these smaller fish. It kept sticking with me though about Sturmer's use of a lighter rod and I thought this is about the right time to try such an idea out up here too.
So, for the last couple of weeks I've been out using my 6 weight with a 250 grain head and scaled my Clouser pattern down to a 1/0 and I've been having a ball. The 1/0 is still plenty big enough to handle an occasional bigger fish but at the same time small enough that these little guys have no trouble grabbing it. Any smaller size of a hook would result in too many of these guys taking it down their throat. The 1/0 seems just right.
Now, with all of that said, what do you do when you actually hook a "bigger" fish on a lighter rod? Hang on and have fun:) Play them like you would any other big fish. Get them on your reel if you can and have fun. Two weeks ago I managed a 10 pounder on my second cast of the morning, and yesterday I brought two more legal size fish to the boat all on my 6 weight :)
Really a lot of fun until you do hook old Mo.
Tony
Around about the end of May things seem to really slow down up here and the rivers go back to being like they are most of the time until salmon season starts in the fall.
A few diehard striper guys know though that there are still a few big fish around,,,,,, even in summer. And often enough August and September have proven to be pretty good for an occasional trophy. But, for the most part the rivers are full of little dink stripers that are working their way downstream to the delta where they'll grow and mature before returning again as a part of their natural cycle.
Using a standard 8 or 9 weight rod in the hopes of hooking a mature fish this time of year is often ended with a juvenile fish impaling himself on a 3/0 fly by accident while trying to get this big fly into his mouth. Try as they may they often do. Schools of them will chase that flashy tail on your Clouser and pick away at it until nothing is left. And should you hook one of these little guys, barely larger than your fly, it's not much of a fight on an eight weight.
A few years ago I was talking with Sturmer White about fishing in the delta. He told me that a few of his friends from the Granite Bay Fly Club go there every year on fishouts and use " 6 weight " rods. "Why such a small rod?", I asked. He said that with so many small stripers there at times it was great fun on a lighter rod. I continued to use my 8 weight as usual but this thought stuck with me.
Well, for the last month or two we've been out looking for that occasional summertime time trophy but it seems we're ruled by the downstream migration of these smaller fish. It kept sticking with me though about Sturmer's use of a lighter rod and I thought this is about the right time to try such an idea out up here too.
So, for the last couple of weeks I've been out using my 6 weight with a 250 grain head and scaled my Clouser pattern down to a 1/0 and I've been having a ball. The 1/0 is still plenty big enough to handle an occasional bigger fish but at the same time small enough that these little guys have no trouble grabbing it. Any smaller size of a hook would result in too many of these guys taking it down their throat. The 1/0 seems just right.
Now, with all of that said, what do you do when you actually hook a "bigger" fish on a lighter rod? Hang on and have fun:) Play them like you would any other big fish. Get them on your reel if you can and have fun. Two weeks ago I managed a 10 pounder on my second cast of the morning, and yesterday I brought two more legal size fish to the boat all on my 6 weight :)
Really a lot of fun until you do hook old Mo.
Tony