Great Day with an Old Friend
We're going to be losing an old friend soon. Doc Cedar is moving.
Doc called me a couple of weeks ago and wanted to know how fishing was up my way. He said he was getting his house ready to sell and was planning on moving to Santa Barbara to be closer to his daughter and grandkids. He's getting older now (79) and wanted to get things in order while he still could. He said the one last thing he wanted to do was get another striper trip in with me before he moves.
I told him the weather had been so lousy we needed to wait a bit till the wind and rain calmed down and the forecast was decent. Today was the day.
It's been an early morning bite and I told Doc to get here early. He arrives at my house at 4:20 AM after an almost two hour drive. After a quick cup of coffee we load up the boat and head out.
On the water by 5:00 AM is perfect. You can almost see. We need to watch for snags and other boats as we mosey across the river looking for favorite spots. First spot, Doc casts and gets hooked up right away to a nice schoolie about five pounds. I straighten the boat's drift and before I can cast Doc is hooked up again. Another nice one about the same size. Then another, and another and all I'm doing trying to keep the boat in the drift line and take Doc's fish off the hook. He's up to 9 or 10 keeper stripers before I get my first grab. “Geez” he says. 'These aren't like dinks down in the delta”. Nothing wrong with the delta but these are mature fish wanting to spawn.
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As we drift down stream we see exploding stripers spawning on the surface every few minutes. Normally spawning fish don't hit flies while in the throughts of having sex. But I figured if there are that many spawners here some are going to want to eat between their activities.
Sure enough, cast where there were and hope one of them is still hungry. Wham bam! fish on again. And so the morning went. Spot after spot, repeat the run and go back up steam and do it again. Doc is got the hot rod today. And it's barely 6:30.
The water temp on the Feather was 64 degrees and the spawn is in full swing. Over on the Yuba side the water is 52/53 degrees and muddy. That bank up stream at the orchard must still be falling in making water conditions terrible. No one is talking about shad up there yet though I'm sure they're there.
We move around a bit trying to get away from some of the boat traffic that is building up, Boat after boat are now in our drift line. Some are in the middle using live minnows, but there are more fly guys now than ever. Glad to see fly fishing has taken off up this way too.
As the sun is getting higher (now 10:30) a lot of boats have left and the bite has slowed down . Doc's getting a little tired by now (remember he's 79) and we decide we've had enough. As we make the turn in the bend of the river the boats are ALL gone where we started. “Feel like making one more pass before we quit”, I ask Doc. “Sure “he says, and we move on down to see if any fish still want to eat.
A couple more casts and Doc is hooked up again. “This is a better fish” he says. And I try to get the boat out to mid river. Around, under, and back again we finally get this beautiful male to the boat for a quick picture. This makes fish #36.
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What a great way to end a day on the water with an old friend.
Tony
