2005 Striper season predictions !!!!!!

[David Lee]

As most of you know .... I have "other-worldly" powers when it comes to reading Tea-leaves/entrails/bumps on the head/what girls are thinking when you look into their eyes ....... SO - Here are my predictions for the coming Striper season ( roll on the Kettle Drum , please )

#1. - Fishing for Stripe will be slower than "normal" this year - mainly due to colder/higher flows than we have seen in the recent past . Most of the season will be hard on the flyrodder that cannot adapt to the conditions .

#2. - Stripes will turn out larger than average this year . I believe this will happen because they have been smaller than average the past two years ..... And , because we will be gettin' fewer fish , they will be "stretched" :P .

#3. - A very large Striped Bass will be caught on a fly this year , maybe several . I have predicted this because most of you chasin' them will get pissed-off 'cause you're not gettin' them , so .... you will quit the American and go to the Yuba (more like wishful thinking ??) - thus , leaving Stripe un-molested so the "hard-core" fisherman(woman??) will have to deal with LESS SPOOKY FISHES .... less-spooky=more easy for me !!

#4. - I predict smaller flies will be the killers this year . With the colder water , Trout and Steelhead fry/Parr/Smolts/Fingerlings will stay in Sacramento LONGER before they chance the Delta/Ocean , thus providing feed for door-sized Linesides .... Enough said .

#5. - Stripe will stay active here longer (later) than normal . I predict fish will be taken WELL into November/December (they are getting used to the cold water , remember ??) . The resident Stripers in the American will , over time , "evolve" into huge , "don't mind the cold" , SUPER-STRIPES !!!!!! Everything gets bigger in cold climates , right ?!?

There ya have it - five visions of a future that will come to pass !! Keep in mind .... NOTHING in fishing (or life , for that matter ...) holds hard and fast - except maybe death and taxes . As to the former , I hope you cheat it another year . The latter ?? Everybody's gotta pay , right ??

If you've read this far .... it means you're thinking about proper stuff - Have a good year out there , maybe we'll see each other on the water ..... NOW , GO GET 'EM

David

[Adam Grace]

Those predictions sound good but what are the next loto numbers gonna be?

[Hairstacker]

All right David, I expect you to top that one you got last year.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

We have seen more 20# plus fish already this year so it might be a year for bigger fish?

[SullyTM]

Adam...4-8-9-16-19 MEGA # 5!!!!

[Darian]

Hmmmm,.... Strippers..... Freudian slip :P

Anyway, it's odd, the timing of this, as I was talking about alterations to the river environment over the last few years with Mike Bias at the Expo.... My thinking is that all fishing in valley rivers is about to undergo permanent change due to a lowering of water temperatures due to modification of dams to provide cold water for endangered Salmon/Steelhead spawning areas, downstream. Folsom/Shasta dams have already been modified. Not sure about Oroville, yet. Mike probably thought I was a nut case but....

Not sure cold water translates into problems for Stripers but it may for Striper nurseries or their food sources near the delta.... East Coast Stripers endure cold water, are numerous and grow quite large. So, maybe David's predictions are right on.....