Diaper stripers

[Charlie Gonzales]

So for a while whenever I would hear of guys targeting diaper stripers it would just make me furious, but this morning on the way to work I had to ask myself...is really any different than fishing for half pounders? I guess not. As long as your useing small flies that arent stickin them in the eye or brain, then whats the harm. Darian, David lee, Mark what your thoughts?

[Bob Laskodi]

I am a bit perplexed and confused with your statement "targeting diaper stripers". I don't understand how you can target little stripers to the exclusion of bigger stripers and vice versa. Yeah, some spots may hold a majority of one size fish over another at any given time, but the beauty of the Delta to me is that you never know if your next cast is gonna result in an 18 incher or an 18 pounder. Sure there are some spots that regularly produce only little fish, and some that regularly produce big fish, but day in and out, most spots can produce both size fish on any given day. A few weeks ago in the Delta, I caught four small stripers in a row from one spot, and the very next cast resulted in a 10 pounder. So was I targeting "diaper stripers" or bigger fish????

[Dabalone]

I have never read a post where someone said they were targeting juvenile stripers. Are you referring to posts where people report all they caught were small fish? I don't much care what other people are doing as long as its within the law and agree totally with Bob Laskodi on this one.

[David Lee]

Good timing you have , Charlie .... I'm in the middle of Baja tyin' (#2 Olive/White Jiggys) and can sure use a break to chatter !

I LOVE beating-up Diapers - as long as the flyhook isn't huge (a 3/0 hook WILL brain those lil' devils ....) I don't have an issue with it . I haven't seen too many that looked wasted upon releasing them , so I figure I'm not hurting them much . I fish circle hooks quite a bit , and have had only two gill hookings/zero eye punctures (both gill 'hookings were the hook bend AROUND a gillraker , no penetration) while using them .

Targeting Smolts on purpose ? Nope , I don't like to see it , and I'll tell you why ....

Trout are tender fish , Stripes are not tender . In the past , I have had a large ratio of Smolts/Stream Trout-sized Steelhead that did not look so good on the release .... so I'd rather leave them alone instead of taking the chance of killing them while playing . CFF mag ran a bit a few months back on specificly targeting Smolts on the American (they ARE Smolts , not native resident holdovers) , I didn't think it was a real good idea (still don't) .

Fishing , even C&R fishing , is a blood sport - the only way to ensure you don't kill anything is to NOT fish for them . I feel Striped Bass are hearty enough to take it , shrimpy Trout are not .

Just my opinion .....

David

[STEELIES/26c3]

From a gear guy perspective... well gee I dunno 'bout the ins and outs of flies in mouths...

On rare occasions when I use live bait, I never use a trailer hook.

For the remaining 99% of the time, I use plugs the majority of which are 6-9" long. These have relatively big (1-2/0) treble hooks but I can honestly say I've only had a couple out of thousands of fish swallow a plug or a hook to the point of no return and I can count on one hand the 'diaper stripers' I've caught in our river.

That would likely change if I fished the delta and/or the Sac with any regularity but I don't.

Two days ago I found the skeletal remains of a merganser (fish eating duck for those not familiar) with a 4 ft. leader of what had to be no less than 60" monofilament... draped along ts sternum and emanating from within its tracheal rings... not good!,

Even if you don't like/appreciate the fish eaters... it is a sad reminder of how certain methods of fishing can cause co-lateral damage/death.

When I catch a smolt and it swallows my number 6 8 10 or 12 hook, I don't screw around with hemostats but rather cut it at as close to the hook as possible, get the fish back in the water and retie...

In all aspects of life... It is of great and noble virtue to never judge another. I unfortunately, am not that great and noble, lol... but I DO look closer at a person's intentions rather than his or her actions and that seems to work for me.

FISH ON!
M

[Charlie Gonzales]

Bob, Dabalone, to explain further, for the past month the Delta has been filled with fish in the 10" to 14" range and people were talking of using 5 or 6wts for them. Prior to that it was on the Napa River. Correct me if Im wrong, but in some of Tony B's(no disrespect intended Tony) recent post he was talking of doing just that.

David, I wasnt really refering to smolts but rather half pounders(12 to 16 inch fish) and comparing them to stripes in the same size range.

[Darian]

Charlie,.... It's good that someone among us thinks about this stuff.

For me, part of the problem here is that these terms do not hold the same meaning for all of us. For example, a classic definition of a half pounder was anything from 1 up to 3 pounds plus. Now it seems to apply to anything under 3 pounds. Where does the Smolt fit in I'm not sure where the Diaper Striper size limits are....

To try to answer the original question, if a species existence is being threatened by targeting/fishing for young among them, then I would see that as a negative.

At any rate, I don't know anyone who deliberately targets baby Stripers. Like Bob says, they may catch a bunch but are really looking for bigger prey. If catching a bunch of diaper Stripers was causing personal conflict in that process, it seems their only option would be to quit fishing. That doesn't seem practical.

As to Half Pounders, I would and do target Trout from 13" and up. I don't find anything interesting about catching Trout of any sort under 12" in length. Altho, many others do. Part of my lack of interest comes from not wanting to hike in to small waters where it's likely that smaller Trout will be available. So,.... I can make a choice to fish waters that hold the size Trout I like. To me, smolts are baby Trout and hold little or no interest for me. I'd rather target Sunnies, Black and Striped Bass.

[Charlie Gonzales]

Darian the reason I was conflicted with the situation is the rapid decline in stripers and the need to help them. And I know some will say if I feel that strongly about it then dont fish for stripes at all, but Im an addict and I need my fix(joking).

Maybe I think too much, or maybe I think outloud too much.

Thanks for everyones input.

[Bob Laskodi]

Well Charlie, with all due respect to the guide you mentioned, I was fishing the specific location the guide mentioned in his post (they probably even saw me!), and we caught the two biggest fish of the day from that very spot!!! As I said, sometimes you smack little fish and sometimes you don't! After carefully reading the post, the guides definition of diaper striper appears to be different than mine, in that mine is any sub-legal fish (< 18") is a diaper striper!!! If I get in a "honey hole" that doesn't have any bigger fish in it, I usually move on after a few minutes. If I'm getting some bigger fish mixed in with the diaper stripers I usually stay until I believe I've nailed all the bigger fish out of the hole. That's my way, and I'm not saying that my way is the right way, it's just my way!
As far as decline in striper populations, fishing pressure has little to do with it, it's all about habitat loss, especially huge water diversions down south.

[David Lee]

David, I wasnt really refering to smolts but rather half pounders(12 to 16 inch fish) and comparing them to stripes in the same size range.

Sorry , everyone .... I should have been more clear -

A Smolt/stream Trout-sized Steelhead is a sub-16 inch fish in my book , diaper Stripes are sub-16 inch , as well . For me , Half-pounders start @ 16 inches and run to 24 inches . Schoolie Stripes are 18-inches to 5 Lbs. . Hope this clears up my position .

D.~