Stripers north of Colusa

[Bringsfire]

I usually try to avoid the current bait shop "hot spot", but had a couple of friends in town for the weekend who came to Striper fish. They had called around or whatever and were convinced we had to go as far north as Colusa on the Sacramento if we where going to catch any fish. After much debate I went along with it and off we went at 4:30 AM the next morning. Well the ramp was every bit as crazy as I imagined, the parking lot a nightmare, and the river was crowded close to the launch. Basically I just kept motoring until we were pretty far upriver from the crowd. The guys that were with me are new to fly fishing, so we had some initial tangles etc. unitl we worked out the logistics of fishing 3 out of a boat. I was feeling a bit frustrated at this point (certainly the combat parking at the launch ramp, and the new rip in my seat upholstery had not helped) and had moved into that state of being that anyone who has taking children or folks new to the sport very many times finds. It's that "okay I'm not here for me today" state. I figured we could work on casting, knots, reading water, etc. and had actually put my rod away entirely.
So I find a stretch I think looks good except the water is only 8'-10' deep, but hey we are in practice mode anyway so what does it matter right? I tell the guys I'm going to float this stretch; cast there blah blah. and BAM fish on!, BAM another! motor up above the run and float it again...same results... I ended up anchoring and we did this sporadically until almost 1 that afternoon. So what started out as a pretty rough day ended up being one of the most productive days I have ever had striper fishing. I have never caught stripers on a fly in the middle of the day like that either, what a treat! We didn't catch any fish of size, all males about 20", but that was just the right size for a day like that!

I'm already over the upholstery

[Tony Buzolich]

Hey BF (real name),

Glad you found some cooperating fish. This weekend there was a big tournament and the word from the baitshops was to go above Colusa where a lot of fish have been taken. Some of the guides are hitting the area between Butte City and Chico and doing well on bigger fish.

The Sac is still running high(12K cfs) and muddy and fast with visibility of barely a foot and fish seem to be holding close to the bank a bit away from the strong currant.

With this new rain coming in tonight and tomarrow it may blow all out again as Shasta is almost to the top.

[thepeacockspecial]

well, i might end up chasing some stripers at my usual stretch near chico instead of crappie at black butte lake. anyone wanna join?

[Gulicemo]

Just a word of caution... you might avoid the stretch between Scotty's and 32 this saturday.... supposed to be a slough of college kids and keystone light... Don't ask me how i know

[thepeacockspecial]

oh i dont fish between there. i fish below. cant get out to wade in those areas. finally found a spot a few weeks back .

[huntindog]

Just a word of caution... you might avoid the stretch between Scotty's and 32 this saturday.... supposed to be a slough of college kids and keystone light... Don't ask me how i know

wow, it is still pretty cold for a massive tubefest, sounds like a recipe for disaster

[Bringsfire]

I fished yesterday between Tisdale and Grimes. I landed two fish, lost one. The other two in the boat never even hooked up. The water is extremely high and so full of floatsom that it made the fishing pretty difficult. I'll be waiting for the flows to drop before heading out again.

[Gulicemo]

wow, it is still pretty cold for a massive tubefest, sounds like a recipe for disaster

Yup, I avoided the area like the plague. Reports say nearly 30 out of 3300 or so got hypothermia...

[huntindog]

Yup, I avoided the area like the plague. Reports say nearly 30 out of 3300 or so got hypothermia...

yes, from a source within the law enforcement world there were far more rescues than what are being reported. sounds like a bunch of stupid idiots