Thanksgiving Wk on the Striper Piper
So, Paul was out on the delta every day of Thanksgiving Week (Sun, 11-22 thru Sat, 11-29). It was cold and foggy all week long, including one day of rain. Some days the fog didn't burn off until after noon, only to return at dusk. Navigation proved to be difficult at times, but we managed. Thank GOD for GPS!
So, on Sunday, one of our fellow club members, John, went out with us.
He landed this little guy (~4lbs):
I picked up a 4 lb'er too, along with a nice 2+ lb LMB, and several dinks.
Monday, Paul took our club president, Mike, and another younger club member, Austin out.
Austin landed this guy on a fly that he'd tied the night before:
They got a couple 3-4 lbs, a few dinks, and Paul picked up a 7 lb'er.
TUESDAY was my big day! Jordan went out with us this time.
I started out the morning landing a 6 lb'er, but it slowed way down until mid-afternoon, when I found this 8.5 lb'er:
NOTE big cheesy grin
Then, just after sundown, while patroling the side of a very secret flat, I tossed my PINK bubblehead to the weed edge, and began the monotonous stripping ritual I had been at for over an hour already. STRIP...... STRIP...... STRIP...... when out of nowhere, SPLASH! The whole head of a stripe comes out of the cold, black water, and I squeak "I got a bite!" promptly lifting up the rod to set a fish that had missed the fly completely. DAMN! Paul screams as quietly as he can "KEEP STRIPPIN'!" which I did. About 2 strips later, SPLASH again! And, again, he missed. (thinking to self, ok keep strippin). This fish was damned determined to get his picture taken, cause 2 MORE strips, and he hit it again! and, this time, I got 'em! And, the fight was on! WOW, what a fight it was! (well, for those of us who've never fought anything more than a 4-6 lb'er).
Turns out, he was 8 lbs, 28" long, and ON TOP BABY!
Note the PINK fly, PINK hat, AND I was using my purple CFR rod =D>
Safely released....
NOTE big cheesy grin
So, we get to Wednesday, and my adrenaline is ready for more big fish action.
Although, we didn't get out on the water until afternoon, Jordan met up with us again.
and we were double trouble to these guys!
NOTE big cheesy grin
We bounced around, fishin' more of the rock walls. It had been pretty slow, except for the brief action on the double. So when Jordan came tight with only about 10 ft of line out (on what Paul believes to be a 20+ lb fish) it was a surprise. This fish hit the fly on a dead run for Frisco, ripping at least 70 ft of line through Jordan's tight grip. The rod was pulsating..................... then nothing. OMG!
Thursday, Paul went out by himself. It had been crowded in some spots, so he explored some other areas. But, first he got stuck at his mom's and he didn't get on the water till way late. Only fished a few hours. He found a few willing schoolies, and the top-water didn't produce. But, it was a nice calm afternoon/evening.
Ok, so now we're at FRIDAY. Paul was supposed to take his brother out with Tony (another fellow club member), but bro had the flu, so Paul twisted my arm, and I went again.... LOL. Friday was probably the slowest day we had all week. Tony got a schoolie early on. Saw "wasatch" out there late morning. Although he'd been catchin' 'em, we hadn't had nearly as much luck
. Tony finally got into a nice 29" 8 lb'er, and Paul got a keeper-size and a few dinks. I got ONE bite, a pounder LMB on top on that huge bubblehead I'd caught the stripe on a few nights before.
WOW, is it SATURDAY already? The last fishing day of his vacation, Paul took Austin and his dad out. FOGGY, FOGGY, FOGGY. They fished the main river, picking up a few. Moved into the honey holes, and got pushed off of several spots by trollers, bait guys and EVEN FLY-FISHING GUIDES. There was just a ton of boat traffic. Someone spilled the beans on where the fish were, I think.
Art caught his first "big"stripe on a fly-rod (3+ lbs):
On a fly he tied... the ugliest Super Minnow Paul had even seen. Thread covering the eye on a jig hook, almost no tail, just two or three strands of straggly flash. But, it worked!
Austin got one too:
He was giving his dad a hard time about catching the bigger fish
They decided to move to some vacant water, and two casts before he was to call it a week, Art comes tight on a nice one. It ran them back and forth. He got to feel a fish rip line through his hand, but managed to hold him tight. It was an epic battle!
7lb stripe vs. rookie w/ 7 wt rod:
On a PINK Super Minnow. And, it wasn't even in Hog Slough!
The last fish of the week, and, a nice one to boot!
As Paul says:
Tight Lines To All...
and To All a Good Fight!!!!
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) in almost every pic, no matter who is posting. Is it normal this time of year? I haven't done a whole lot of Delta fishing the last few years, and when I did it was late spring/summer. I remember PRAYING for water like that.
I keep telling him he should write for one of the fly-fishing mags...
Originally Posted by wasatch
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