Last Day of July Stripers

[Tony Buzolich]

Yesterday I posted about stripers still being around all summer. And I'll repeat,,,,,they are.

This morning Jim and I got out early. Have you noticed the days are already getting shorter? It used to start getting light around 5:00am. This morning it was still black at 5:30. Good time to start.

The water was high and moving fast as we approached our favorite starting point. Jim almost immediately gets a hook-up to a small schoolie. I'm getting grabs and bumps but can't get tight.

We move along with the current and Jim seems to have the lucky rod today hooking one schoolie after another. Then another but a little bigger, and then more small ones come in as we drift along.

What's going on? I haven't landed a fish yet and Jim keeps hooking one after another. We're both using a small whitish fly on 8 wt. rods but all I'm getting is a few bumps and short grabs.

We make another pass around the same channel and Jim gets tight on a much better fish. This one needs the net.

We're fishing close to shore in only about a foot or two of water. Lots of snags and willows and lost flies (at least for me anyway). While I tie on a new fly Jim continues to bring in one after the other of these small stripers faster than I can tie a knot.

As we continue our drift the bite slows down a little as we get into a little deeper water. Those stripers are crowding the bait up against the shore in the shallowest water.

Okay, lets make another pass around the same spot. This time we start casting a little farther up in faster water and Jim gets another big grab. This one is taking drag in the fast water as his reel screams. I get the net again and another really nice striper comes in.

But I'm not done yet. We decide to move up river a ways and try some new area. The water is crystal clear and the bottom can easily be seen 12'-15' deep.

The sun has started to get higher and the bite has slowed as the fish seem to have moved off the shallows and into deeper water. I change flies again and finally get a decent grab. Finally in the deeper water I get my first keeper. A little ways farther and I get another. Yahoo! It's about time.

I won't say what was different with Jim's set-up but he definitly had the hot rod today.
Tony

[Langenbeck]

Tony,

Always love your posts. No hype, just facts and excellent pictures.

[John H]

Tony - that’s good action. You tell a good story. I went to Sherman yesterday. The morning wind was rough but it calmed down. We made a lot of casts but got some fish 18” to 24”. That was my first striper outing of the fall season. I would like to try the bay. We went there twice last year. I liked the cool temps, the scenery and the salty water but the traffic coming back can be nasty.