Stripers Caught

[John H]

January was a tough month in the kayak for stripers. I made three trips and got one pike minnow and one striper. The water was pretty muddy and could have been the problem on two of the trips but it was still tough. February has started out much better with some stripers caught today. The water is still cold at 47F so I don't think they just warmed up and got on the bite. My guess is some fish moved in from wherever it is they go when they are not in the Delta. I have not seen a decent report so I was not expecting to find any fish but there were some around. They were scattered so it was not just a lucky pod. I guess we will see how things develop but I feel better about striper fishing than I did yesterday which is good news.

Over the last couple of months I did a little steelhead fishing in Oregon and got the goose egg. Not a single touch. Winter steelhead is a tough game. You better like the fishing part of it because the catching part can be spotty. I did get a few crabs off the pier which were tasty and I got some razor clams. I really like going out for the razor clams. I have not been doing it long so I watch other people and ask some questions. People are helpful and I am starting to figure the clam out. This last time out I watched a couple of commercial clam diggers. Those guys really get them but they get pretty wet doing it. I prefer to stay dry but I did see a trick or two I can use.

[guido]

Nice images/post John! Always nice when your faith and persistence is rewarded.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Nice John.......inspiring.


I think that Dan Blanton said March was usually a good month for Stripers in the Delta.

April/May/June is when the bulk of the free roaming Stripers head up the Sacramento river near Colusa to spawn.




I watched lots of YouTube videos on getting razor clams on the OR/WA coast.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3tLY7eJM7ZA

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v-vNWsSjSog

[John H]

I ran into a guide who fishes stripers in Ipswich, Massachusetts. He says he catches a lot, of course. I am wondering if that is worth doing. That is a long way to go for stripers when they are right here. I talked to one person who fished back there and said he caught a bunch of 3-5 pounders. If it is not that good I will be disappointed and feel stupid for flying 3000 miles for stripers. If it is really good it might ruin fishing in the Delta for me and I won’t want to fish here anymore. Either way it ends badly so maybe I should just keep fishing here. It is also counterintuitive to travel to the most densely populated place in the US to fish. We’ll see but if anyone has fished east coast stripers give me the report.

[MThompson]

Well done John. Everything starts with effort and you're always willing to give it. Just need that water to get closer to 55 and it will get even better for you.

[guido]

Last Striper season was a mixed bag for the shore based flyfisherman. Good action early on schoolie 10-20" fish. Then a decent number of larger fish moved up. I caught a 40" fish the last week of May in the Ipswich. But then there was a big rainstorm that just flushed the North Shore estuaries and killed the fishing. The boat guys moved offshore and continued to do ok, but the shore line accessible bite was way off. And what there is is a night fishing game after early june. The Cape fishing was decent (also moving to a night time game after early june) but there are lots of access and parking issues for the non-resident. Again the boat folks did ok.
Against this back drop there are lots of stories of concern among biologists about an impending Striper population crash, the slot limit allowing that age range to be severely over fished and a big die off in Atlantic Canada.
If you want to go out with a guide you will probably have decent fishing. But it is a tough place to drop in and do a DIY trip.

My 2c. HIH.

[John Sv]

If I were going east for strippers I would go for the fall fishery in Chesapeake Bay. Need a boat though. But I am sure there are guides. Iirc the spring trophy. Fishery has bigger fish but is a gear fishery.

[John H]

Guido and John - Thanks for the east coast report and advice. Much appreciated. A 40” striper seems insanely large and it was in Ipswich where I was thinking of going. I have noticed on the east coast they use inches and in the delta it is always pounds. I did read that the striper population is down. The guide I talked to thought is was due to too many fish being kept. He said they shut the fishery down in the ‘90’s and it bounced back really well. There are so many States involved it is probably hard to get people to agree on what to do. Chesapeake Bay sounds interesting. I would have to go guided for sure. My wife likes the Boston area trip. That might end up determining where we go. Sounds like fun.

[guido]

The 40" fish was my best ever on a fly. Beat it on conventional, but that was like 50 years ago.

Let me know if you come out this way. It would be a pleasure to meet you!