Don't Quit Yet
For the past week or two the stripers in the Sac and the Feather have been in full spawn mode. When this happens it seems like all of the bait guys dragging minnows just disappear and the river looks almost empty with hardly any boats out and about.
I will say fly fishing has been tough but not totally dead. There still are hungry stripers around. It just takes a lot more searching to find cooperating fish. That, and also a lot of really good casting where shot placement is very important to getting into their zone.
The stripers we've picked up most recently appear to be downstreamers that have already spawned and are now working their way toward the bay and ocean for the summer. Some have become very thin from the act of spawning as well as leaving their deposit of eggs and milt. But, once this occurs, they begin to feed again with a passion as they build up their body stores.
Today we hit the Tisdale area while a couple of my friends hit the upper river and we all ended with fairly good days. Not great days, but good.
Now take a look at the belly of one of the stripers I took this morning and tell me what you think. Is this a fat female that hasn't spawned yet, or one that has already spawned and is gorging on food as she returns to the bay?
Note too that as the sun gets higher in the sky sometimes other colors besides chartruese/white work well if fished deep.
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