Sacramento River Grand Slam ?
Sometimes mid to late summer on the rivers up here we get a few big stripers. August and September have been good to us at times as the shad have finished their run in the river and the bigger stripers go on the feed. These are not the spring run fish that have come up to spawn, but the bigger resident fish that stay here all year.
Jim and I got on the water just after 5:00am and headed upstream to one of our favorite starting spots. Water flat calm, good green color, and 69 degrees. Perfect conditions,,,,, or so it seems.
We work the banks and rock walls like always but we're not getting anything. No taps, no grabs, nothing. But we continue on always optimistic. Prime spots in the past are holding nothing today. Our optimism is waning fast after several miles of nothing.
Finally I get my first grab, and it's solid. We've broken the ice. This fish is strong but doesn't take long fast runs like most stripers. It stays deep and I joke saying "Maybe I got a carp?". It starts to come up and we get our first glimpse but still can't identify for sure what it is.
Now at the boat Jim gets the net and in comes a 7 lb. CATFISH. Damn ! That's the biggest catfish I've ever taken. Yahoo, and we've got the skunk off the boat.
We continue on for another mile without anything till we get to the drain pipe. Wham! again and I've got another hook up. This one swims toward the boat and comes in easy. This time a sucker. Uugh first cousin to a squawfish. But it ate my red/ white clouser, and I tease Jim about them both wanting a red/white fly. So Jim puts on a red/white fly and after another mile gets his first good grab. Finally, a Striper.
Still moving on we continue downstream with little or no action. Jim gets another grab and in comes a small-mouth bass. This makes fish number four and jokingly call it our Sacramento River Slam. Maybe a salmon would have made it a Super Grand Slam?
We continue on for another hour but that was it for today. We're done and time to head home before it gets hot, and maybe tie a few more red/white flies :)
Tony
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