Braving The Summer Heat

In the heat of a Northern California summer we ventured off to two destinations in hopes of some big fish.  We had two spots in mind, 2047 and The Sac River in Colusa. 

We (Me, pops and rigo) arrived at 2047 at around 3:00 with some chicken livers and nightcrawlers for some big cats. The only problem is that the catfish didn’t get the memo. Not only did we not catch any but they didn’t even bite our baits. An hour went by and nothing!  I got bored and went to a shady area where Ol Pops was fishing. I saw a snake swimming around in the area so I dropped my slip bobber rig in and when I pulled it up, something chased my chicken liver. I realized right away that there must be some sort of panfish in the water. A little history, we have fished 2047 since I was 4 or 5 and NEVER, not even by mistake, have we caught a bass or a panfish.  You would think that in all those years we would have accidentally caught some other species but only c atfish and carp.

 

Well anyway, down goes, my bobber so I put on a smaller hook and after a few tries, out popped the first bluegill we have ever seen in 2047. And not only did I get one but  4 more hand sized panfish.  I have also heard rumors of Largemouth bass being in 2047 and this is only a step in the right direction. 

After about 10 minutes of gilling we stopped by the store for some anchovies and then went to The Sac. I was hoping for another fatty striper to take home. I started the day with a pretty fat pikeminnow that put up a pretty good fight.  I noticed the bite at this hole has slowed down quite a bit but still productive. 

 

Unfortunately the biggest striper it produced for me was a 12 incher. My dad also ended up catching one just as we were running out of bait. Unfortunately nothing of any real size was caught. 

Total Fish:5 Bluegills + 5 stripers + 1 Sacramento Pikeminnow = 11 fish

Spring 2014 Totals

As of this moment, I am 107 fish into the year. This is without many Largemouth trips or trips to the bee hive. What can I say, spring was good to me! I can’t even compare this to last spring, I think I was barely into double digits. I feel like I’m learning a little more about fishing by putting everything I learned last year into practice this year. Yes this spring was panfish heavy but I like the various other categories I dipped into as well. I am specifically proud of my striper total which is starting to look like it once did.

 I really think it’s time to start focusing on more of my fishing goals; specifically my trout, largemouth and striper goals. Also, Salmon season is opening up soon and this year I WILL be getting into my first five kings, this is a promise! Anyway, These are my fish totals for Spring 2014.

Carp/ PM = 02 pikeminnows

Pan Fish = 29

Catfish = 02

LMB = 08

SMB = 04

Trout = 00

Striper = 15

*Steelhead= 00

*Salmon = 00

*Sturgeon = 00

________________________

Total: 60 Fish

Get Back To My Roots By A Full Moon Glow...

Can I admit something? Prior to last week I had lost confidence in catching stripers. The last real striper I caught was last April and that was my personal best 24” striper. But after I got skunked a few times and then focused on bass and pan fishing I started dwelling on how difficult it started to seem to catch striper even though I’ve done it so much in the past. Later on my original striper fishing spot closed and that made matters worse.  I did end up going striper fishing a few times with my dad but getting skunked or catching shakers didn’t help the matter. 

Last week’s realization that my dad’s honey hole had closed almost added insult to injury but then last week’s 16 fish day made things a little better. At the very least it gave me enough confidence to be able to go back out to the same fishing hole and try for a striper again. And that is how it all began. 

I picked up Pops and Rigo and we hit the fishing hole on the Sac River. 4:30 in the afternoon we found ourselves settling in the shade and setting up our rods. I had my big river rod baited with anchovies and my smaller ugly stick with a nightcrawler. Since my ugly stick is lighter and has 10 lb test on it, I only use a size 3 weight. This is important because the majority of my bites came on a lighter weight that seems to get swept up more by the current and ends up closer to shore.

 By 4:45 Ol pops got into the first striper of the day, about 9 inches. Then I got into the second one, about 7 inches. And so continued the day until I began breaking ahead. Second and third small stripers came on worms on my ugly stick. A while later I was baiting my river rod and my dad yells that my rod is being taken into the water. I look up and if it weren’t for my pole holder my ugly stick would have been long gone.  I went over, set my hook and I had a fish on! I reeled in and adjusted my drag because it was super tight, which contributed to almost losing my rod. A few minutes later I pulled in a 16 in. Sacramento Pikeminnow. I was a little bummed because I wanted striper but it was still a fun little fight. Plus that fish made me adjust my drag, once again, this is important.

 

My dad and Rigo ended up with a couple more shakers a piece, which was great. I’m always happier when my fishing partners are getting into fish as well. A few more fish ended up coming to hand and then I got a big bite. I love when your hook set is met by a large tug in the opposite direction. I ended up reeling in a 14 inch striper which was better but still not I was looking for; nonetheless a step in a positive direction.  I got a snag on my river rod and it was getting late so I switched to only one rod.

A bit later I realized we were running out of night crawlers. This is important because I decided to try anchovies on my light line and my drag was loose. I tossed my line in, sat down, looked up, saw my pole almost being taken into the water again but this time, the line began to peel. I picked up the ugly stick, set the hook and then the fish on the line took off upstream making my reel scream.  Upon watching this fish surface down river with my heart going a million miles an hour there was an adrenaline filled moment of perfect clarity for me. I was going to stay calm and this fish wasn’t going to get away. I was going to play him and he was going to come to hand. I adjusted my drag and kept cool while the fish peeled line in an upstream direction; my ugly stick doubled over and was tested more than ever in the past. Finally it came closer; pops netted it up and I celebrated! We measured it up and we had a scrappy 22” keeper that brought my confidence level back. 

 

My next cast felt large as well and I envisioned a limit but it was only a 16 incher. My last fish of the day was another little shaker on worms. My dad caught 2, Rigo caught 2 and I had a 15 fish day including a fatty 22 inch striped bass that will be fish tacos by the end of the week! What a huge boost of confidence for me in striper fishing.  A 20 fish day = success for my folks, a great way to spend a Sunday afternoon and an outstanding way to kick off my summer fishing experience! 

** I must say that my striper count being the second highest total in my fish count brings everything back to normality for me.  Also, I’m excited to say that I surpassed the 100 fish mark this year! I’m excited to try for 200!

Total fish: 13 Striper + 2 pikeminnows = 15 fish

Father's Day Striper Fishing

On father’s day I drove out to Williams to meet with Ol’ pops and instead of hitting boss pond we hit the sacramento river. Ol’ Pops is a striper fanatic and since we haven’t been out to fish for striper a whole lot this year, I figured we could do that for father’s day.  Lately I have been focusing more on bass and panfish so I also figured this might be a nice change of pace. 

Sac River Bank fishing has been changing quite a bit for us. As of last year they closed our favorite fishing hole because it was near a weir and all weir areas are now closed to fishing. We have yet to find another fishing spot on the sac. 

As you go up river there are three spots. Spot #1 is a beachy area but the problem is that a lot of swimmers and tubers like to hang around there. Plus it doesn’t fish very well so I’m not a fan. Spot #2 has a big pump through the middle of it and I had never really caught anything so we skipped it and went directly to what I will call “Old Spot.” 

Old spot is a spot where we used to go back in the day when I was a kid. My dad still swears by that spot because he used to limit out all the time when he went there in the past. We drove up to old spot and we were surprised by a no trespassing sign. So that makes two of our spots in Colusa that have been closed. Bank fishing in Colusa is getting much tougher. 

We finally decided on spot #2. I had nightcrawlers set up hoping for some big catfish so I tossed in that line while I put new line on my striper rod. I tossed my line in and within minutes I had my first fish on, only it wasn’t a catfish it was a small striper.  I was pretty happy because it was my first striper of the year even though it was a small one. I tossed it out again, set up my second line with anchovies and before I could put it down I had another fish on. Sure enough it was another small striper. Unfortunately this time the little guy was bleeding badly. I tossed him in and he started floating so I caught him with the net and tried to revive him. I also heard that Coke cauterizes wounds in fish and I just happened to have a coke and gave it a try. When I tossed the fish in again he began to swim around a bit but eventually began floating. I felt terrible. 

For whatever reason the small striper catching continued. At one point I had a double and I set both hooks, Caught my biggest fish of the day (which didn’t make it big) was 12 in. on the striper pole off of anchovies and another on my catfish pole. I didn’t even realize that a boat of skiers was watching me and they all started clapping when I did that! Lol I gave them the finger… and by that I mean a thumbs up! 

It was getting ridiculous. It got to the point where I couldn’t even set my rod down before it was already getting hit. I tossed both rods in the same area hoping for at least a legal striper but there only seemed to be small ones in this school. I’m sure the big ones were hanging around but they weren’t biting my bait. At one point I got a bigger bite and originally I thought and hoped it was an 18“er but it wasn’t. it turned out to be a 16 in pikeminnow.  I felt terrible because I was catching all of the fish and my dad ended up skunked. I attempted to give him my spot but he refused, he was only going to catch fish on his own terms. Oh that pesky man pride! 

I ended the day with 16 fish but unfortunately not one keeper.  Even so it was a blast to catch all of those stripers and a great father’s day for me, maybe not so much for ol pops. What can I say, he got the father’s day gifts and I got the father’s day fish.


** I realize that this 16 fish day put me over 80 fish which was my total for the entire year of 2013. Let's get to the 200's!!

Total Fish: 15 Stripers + 1 pikeminnow = 16 fish