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Thread: A Bass is a Bass is a Bass,,, Until It's a Striper

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Yuba City, Ca.
    Posts
    2,229

    Thumbs up A Bass is a Bass is a Bass,,, Until It's a Striper

    Okay, I've had enough of this talking about the homeless and gun totin' destitude along our river banks. Maybe move it to FF Travel, or Conservation, or even Cheap Camping locations We're here to talk about striper fishing not government negligence .

    Yesterday Jim and I hit the river again hoping for some stripers to show up. It's been a strange year so far with weather and water conditions. We saw smolt coming down over a month ago with little or no action to trigger those stripers. We saw the hatchery dumping more smolt like always at the boat ramps but still no major explosion of stripers gorging. This always used to be a dinner bell for the start of the spring striper run. But not this year.

    We'd already made several trips out unsuccesfully until last week when Jim went out with Andy from the shop and they got one. One. But at least it was a start. Some guys having been getting a few while bait fishing for sturgeon. Some guys have been trolling and picking up one here or there, but for the most part it's been slow. The other thing I forgot to mention is the temperature. The water has been running at 48 degrees. Yesterday the Feather came up to 53 degrees, with the Yuba still running at 48.

    We get to our first stop early and begin our drift as usual. We see the usual geese and beavers doing their spring thing but suddenly there's a sizeable boil just a few yards from the boat. We make a couple of casts close to the rise and Jim gets a grab. Fish On! Great to see a bent pole and knowing you're going to get a grab next. Them Jim kind of disappointedly says “It's a bass”. We get “bass” often in the Feather and the Yuba but this isn't what we came for. Is it a “smallmouth” or a “spot” Jim asks? I don't know for sure either. Maybe a hybrid?



    So off we go drifting along nicely enjoying the sunrise and the beautiful spring morning. Not a breath of wind, and not a fish either. We try our normal spots that have been successful in years past, but not even a tap or a grab. We drift quit some ways down the Feather and then move up the Yuba hoping for something to happen. Still nothing here either, and the water temperature has dropped to 48 degrees. Not opportunistic findings and decide to head home. Lets just give one more spot another shot before leave. The sun is up now shining on the water. I decide to change flies and put on a RED Clouser. Yep, the old striper favorite Red and White.

    Just then Jim says “Gotta grab” but couldn't get tight. I make a cast to the same spot and get that wonderful arm jerks everyone wants. I'm hooked up! And then a second later Jim yells he's hooked up too. A double! Yahoo! Finally after hours of nothing we're both hooked to fish. I start to get mine to the surface and can see, “It's another bass!” Jim too as he gets his in says the same thing, “I got a bass too”. Nice fat smallmouth / spotted / hybrid bass.



    Fun as they are, they're still not stripers. Still with my red and white Clouser I make another quick cast and get hit again right away. This one pulls a lot harder and with a little help from Jim we get to the boat. Finally a striper. My first for the season. A nice schoolie male full of milt and ready to spawn once the temperature warms and gets to the mid sixties.



    So, it's a slow start to the season but they're on their way. Tony
    TONY BUZOLICH
    Feather River Fly
    Yuba City, CA.
    (530) 790-7180

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    chattanooga, tn
    Posts
    45

    Default

    Looks like a good time! No smallmouth in the photos. The top fish looks and has scale counts of Alabama bass, but I can't tell on the pair of smaller fish. They may be "good" spots, "good" Alabama bass, or hybrids. I haven't heard of anyone running genetics on the California populations, but the two don't always hybridize into a mess when they both co-occur...

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Yuba City, Ca.
    Posts
    2,229

    Default

    Hi Ptycho,

    Nice to see this board gets all over the country. As for the bass, we get them all the time while fishing for stripers. Sometimes they really look like smallmouth with tiger stripes and bars on their cheeks. Even these have faded bars I think because of the cold water. In the summer colors are much brighter. Some of the others we get look like real largemouth with that bold dark side stripe.

    So, without adding to confusion and argument we simply call them all "green bass" or just "bass" non of which hold a candle to a striper.
    Tony
    TONY BUZOLICH
    Feather River Fly
    Yuba City, CA.
    (530) 790-7180

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Location
    the Lost Sierra
    Posts
    750

    Default

    Hey Squawfish!
    Getting back to Russia this year? As they say "get back, get back". If not Russia, how about the left coast?

    Quote Originally Posted by ptychocheilus View Post
    Looks like a good time! No smallmouth in the photos. The top fish looks and has scale counts of Alabama bass, but I can't tell on the pair of smaller fish. They may be "good" spots, "good" Alabama bass, or hybrids. I haven't heard of anyone running genetics on the California populations, but the two don't always hybridize into a mess when they both co-occur...

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    chattanooga, tn
    Posts
    45

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Ralph View Post
    Hey Squawfish!
    Getting back to Russia this year? As they say "get back, get back". If not Russia, how about the left coast?
    Sadly no on Siberia, but maybe on back west... will yell if I'm anywhere close!

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