Sac. Stripers and Retirement

[Tony Buzolich]

This morning I took two old friends out on the Sac, Sturmer White and Larry Lee. We got on the water at the crack of dawn and there were already several boats out on the river. Barely light both of my guys were ready to go and surprisingly the water didn't look bad considering the storm we had a couple of days before. Water temp had dropped from 66 to 58 degrees with the cool weather.

We got to my first HPS (high percentage spot as Dan calls them) and got only a small tap after a couple of passes. Okay, let's move upstream and do a little searching until we find them. Grimes had several boats working the area but I knew a few walls that usually hold fish and again we work some favorite spots. Still nothing. Move some more and keep trying until we find them. Both Larry and Sturmer are great casters and it's just not starting out very fast. We're having to work for these fish and we haven't yet had a solid grab.

We try all the usual spots, we change flies, we watch what other boats are doing, but it's just not coming easy this morning. Finally the sun is up and hitting the water and I suggest we move over where the sun might throw a little more flash on the fly.
BINGO! Sure enough Sturmer gets the first grab and it's game on as the fish takes off under the boat and heads for the deep. Soon we have the first fish of the day in the boat, a nice 10 pounder.



The morning continued along this pace and we brought five stripers to the boat. Not a great day for numbers, but it really was a great day. Just to be out with a couple of old friends, no wind, not too many other boats. It was a good day.

I got to thinking about that post the other day about retiring as soon as you can. When else can a couple of old guys take off and go fish any time they want. Even if the fishing isn't red hot it's still better to be outside casting and hoping for that sudden stop of a grab, whether it comes or not. And as Sturmer said several times throughout the morning, "a day fishing adds a day to your life".

So with that analogy, retire as early as you can, fish a whole lot more than you do, and who knows how long you'll live ?
Tony

p/s You'll have to ask Sturmer about his Skunk Fly

[SeanO]

Great post and pic, Tony.

Good to see some river fish coming in. Gonna be crowded this weekend in that reach with the Knights landing derby going on.

[Frank Alessio]

As always Tony hits a positive note... Right on Tony...