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Thread: Stripers are Here....Maybe

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    Default Stripers are Here....Maybe

    I found a spot today with some stripers that looked like new fish. I thought this could be the big breakthrough and a tsunami of stripers could be moving into the Delta but I fished a few other spots and nobody was home so maybe it was just one pod and I was in the right place at the right time. The funny thing was the fish I found had a boat on top of them for about an hour. I was at a spot nearby fishing and watching them and when they left I went there. I figured there was no way those guys left any bites for me but they did. I am not sure if they missed the fish or the fish moved in after they left but there was definitely a pod of biters. Whatever. I am happy to have found them.

    I was feeling pretty good about my day until I chatted with a guy who fishes live bluegill and got a look at his stringer. If you want a ten pound striper live bluegill for bait seems like a pretty good way to get one. I could do that once just to see how the other half lives but I might get caught on the dark side and never make it back. If you choose to fly fish you impose limitations on yourself that generally result in you catching fewer fish. If you like what you are doing it is worth it. I think for stripers it is worth it but a bunch of ten pounders is tempting. I have spent days scouring the delta for just one ten pounder which I don't have and he has a pile of them that he got in one afternoon with little effort. He said he got a 23 pounder a couple of weeks ago. I am out there casting all day hoping for a 23 incher and he is battling a 23 pounder. Whatever. Tie on a Clouser and keep casting.







    Last edited by John H; 11-16-2021 at 01:39 PM.

  2. #2
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    Default Stripazzzz!!!

    Great photos and report. Ya know, bluegill pattern(s) work on Stripers, too. Thanks for sharing.
    "America is a country which produces citizens who will cross the ocean to fight for democracy but won't cross the street to vote."

    Author unknown

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Dec 2020
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    Stow, MA
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    Default

    Beautiful images John. Nice fish! The Sonny Corleone pattern should do the trick for you...

  4. #4
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    Jan 2005
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    Sebastian, FL, USA, Earth
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    Default

    https://www.flytyer.com/the-sunny-corleone-sunfish/


    Thanks John......I guess everyone needs to get going.



    Most believe that November is the top month for Stripers in the Delta.
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  5. #5
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    Dec 2020
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    Default

    That is the one...

  6. #6
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    Feb 2019
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    Stockton
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    Default

    Around a decade ago I gave the live bluegill thing a try out of curiosity. I would have my boys load the livewell up with bluegills, (redears actually), and fish the down current end of tule berms at the start of the incoming. Flipping stick with 20lb line, an octopus hook with a split shot 18 inches up. Hook em through the nostril and pitch it into a current seam. First fish was an 8. For a couple weeks I hammered 7-12lbers on this rig on several occasions. Every fish hooked in the corner of the mouth and released before you conservationists lose your mind.
    Big picture in my opinion is that the flyrod still rules for overall success. Those cats that haul out donkeys on live bluegill are spending a whole lot more time than most of us for those fish. As far as flies go, chartreuse over white closer is all you ever need. That and brown over yellow over white.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    Davis
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    Default

    Interesting. You may have saved me a trip to fisherman’s warehouse for baitfishing gear. The thing that drives me crazy is he gets them in a spot I have fished hard many times and only caught two small ones. It is 25 feet deep and my thinking is I just don’t get deep enough with the fly even though I give it a long sink. It seems like I need to be in 15 feet of water at most to get them. I am definitely going to spend some more time getting the fly deep in that spot. Maybe even with the bluegill fly I have had in the box for a while. If that does not work I will electroshock the place and see what floats up.

  8. #8
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    Sep 2020
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    NorCal
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    Default

    Ever tried any big, articulated sunfish patterns?

    Also how far up the delta are they? Not looking for your secret spots or anything, just a general location...

    NK

  9. #9
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    I don’t know where they are. You just have to show up and fish. Sometime you find them sometimes you don’t.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Dec 2020
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    Stow, MA
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    Default

    There seems to be two schools of thought on fly fishing. The match the hatch/bait school and the attractor/confidence school.

    At the end of the day one needs to be fishing a lot to catch a lot of fish.

    Are you using a sinking line?

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