Tony Buzolich
01-26-2015, 10:17 PM
Winter time is tough fishing and the rivers up valley are no different than the delta when it comes to lethargic fish that don’t want to cooperate. The thing that is different up this way though is the constant moving water and a resident population of big fish. Winter here also brings steelhead into the system and fry and alevins from the fall salmon run coming down. Soon too they will begin dumping smolt into the rivers for another added feast to nourish this resident population of big stripers.
Here too we have to contend with water conditions of both clarity and temperature like everywhere stripers roam.
Last week my buddy Jim May and I finally got on the water after the rains in December muddied the rivers so badly making them unfishable. The water though lower than ever was a nice green with a temperature of 50-51 degrees. With these lower temps fish are slow to react and a slow strip is required to get them to eat. We each had a couple of small taps but not a real grab like we were hoping for. After two hours of casting Jim finally thinks he has a snag,,,,,, but this one shakes. That wonderful big heavy feel of a head shake. Set, set, the rod bows into the water and off she goes. Jim is yelling, “Good fish,,, Really Good fish”, and I grab the camera for some action shots. The fish turns toward the center of river and just as quickly Jim’s line goes slack. “I couldn’t turn her at all” says Jim. “She was big”.
This is what we had come for,,,, those big resident fish that don’t seem to migrate and are always around. And now with water temperatures coming up they’ve started to become active. Nothing like the spring migration that will be here soon, these all seem to be trophy fish.
Though few and far between, after another hour of casting Jim hooks up again to one of these winter trophies. This one hits harder and faster and takes off like the other one toward the center of the river. Again I grab my camera, and again Jim’s line goes slack. Geez,*%%# you get the idea. “What’s going on?” Two big fish grabs and both come undone. ???? Maybe I should leave the camera at home next time?
After tying a few bigger flies (7”-8” on 4/0 SP600 hooks) I went out again this morning by myself. Still cold but with a little sun peaking through things seemed optimistic. I got to my first spot and made only a few casts before I get slammed. Yahoo! Fish on and it’s heavy. No sooner do I smile with excitement and she heads straight into the trees. Now wrapped round limbs six feet under water she breaks off. Damn! I couldn’t turn this one either. And “damn” a few more times as the adrenaline winds down.
I move along working both banks as I head upstream toward some faster water. As I start my first drift Bob Boucke (my old boss from Johnson’s Bait) pulls up and asks how things are going. He’s bouncing minnows and I try and move away quickly to avoid his noise and stay out of my back-cast range. A moment later I get a big solid grab and I’m hooked up, right under the face of my old boss. I can hear him talking on board his boat saying that I’m hooked up. My fish races around the boat still in fast water but doesn’t want to take off. Instead she goes deep and stays under the boat. I’m holding fast and tight but still she doesn’t move. Suddenly, like the others she takes off for the center of the river, and I’m left with a slack line and a wadded up ball of a fly. Why? Why did these fish come off when everything seemed to be going just right?
I’ll go out in another day or so, and maybe tie up some in 6/0
Here’s a few pictures of upriver fish taken last winter in January and February.
Tony
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/005_zpsef3807fa.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/005_zpsef3807fa.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/FeatherRiver3-25-13013_zps386c0dd9.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/FeatherRiver3-25-13013_zps386c0dd9.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/002upload_zps59e47f1b.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/002upload_zps59e47f1b.jpg.html)
Here too we have to contend with water conditions of both clarity and temperature like everywhere stripers roam.
Last week my buddy Jim May and I finally got on the water after the rains in December muddied the rivers so badly making them unfishable. The water though lower than ever was a nice green with a temperature of 50-51 degrees. With these lower temps fish are slow to react and a slow strip is required to get them to eat. We each had a couple of small taps but not a real grab like we were hoping for. After two hours of casting Jim finally thinks he has a snag,,,,,, but this one shakes. That wonderful big heavy feel of a head shake. Set, set, the rod bows into the water and off she goes. Jim is yelling, “Good fish,,, Really Good fish”, and I grab the camera for some action shots. The fish turns toward the center of river and just as quickly Jim’s line goes slack. “I couldn’t turn her at all” says Jim. “She was big”.
This is what we had come for,,,, those big resident fish that don’t seem to migrate and are always around. And now with water temperatures coming up they’ve started to become active. Nothing like the spring migration that will be here soon, these all seem to be trophy fish.
Though few and far between, after another hour of casting Jim hooks up again to one of these winter trophies. This one hits harder and faster and takes off like the other one toward the center of the river. Again I grab my camera, and again Jim’s line goes slack. Geez,*%%# you get the idea. “What’s going on?” Two big fish grabs and both come undone. ???? Maybe I should leave the camera at home next time?
After tying a few bigger flies (7”-8” on 4/0 SP600 hooks) I went out again this morning by myself. Still cold but with a little sun peaking through things seemed optimistic. I got to my first spot and made only a few casts before I get slammed. Yahoo! Fish on and it’s heavy. No sooner do I smile with excitement and she heads straight into the trees. Now wrapped round limbs six feet under water she breaks off. Damn! I couldn’t turn this one either. And “damn” a few more times as the adrenaline winds down.
I move along working both banks as I head upstream toward some faster water. As I start my first drift Bob Boucke (my old boss from Johnson’s Bait) pulls up and asks how things are going. He’s bouncing minnows and I try and move away quickly to avoid his noise and stay out of my back-cast range. A moment later I get a big solid grab and I’m hooked up, right under the face of my old boss. I can hear him talking on board his boat saying that I’m hooked up. My fish races around the boat still in fast water but doesn’t want to take off. Instead she goes deep and stays under the boat. I’m holding fast and tight but still she doesn’t move. Suddenly, like the others she takes off for the center of the river, and I’m left with a slack line and a wadded up ball of a fly. Why? Why did these fish come off when everything seemed to be going just right?
I’ll go out in another day or so, and maybe tie up some in 6/0
Here’s a few pictures of upriver fish taken last winter in January and February.
Tony
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/005_zpsef3807fa.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/005_zpsef3807fa.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/FeatherRiver3-25-13013_zps386c0dd9.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/FeatherRiver3-25-13013_zps386c0dd9.jpg.html)
http://i22.photobucket.com/albums/b320/buzolich/002upload_zps59e47f1b.jpg (http://s22.photobucket.com/user/buzolich/media/002upload_zps59e47f1b.jpg.html)