I'll first say they are dinks, But it was fun. Thers a lil creek down the street from me that at certain times of the year at certain tides the stripers come in to feed on these little smelt. Decided to give it a try for the first time with the flyrod this evening and it was alot of fun, 7 stripers to hand in about 2 hours on a white wooly bugger. All of em were about the size of the one in the pic but they hit hard and fight well. I have in the past caught em around 20 inches on spinning gear but like I said the conditions must be just right. Hope to get some more this week as the conditions are near perfect right now, The best striper fishing of the year always is around the time of the world series, people in the know call it the world series bite.
Shon, Fishing for stripers is so much fun. It's great that you have a place to fish just down the street. I bet that you'll be spending the last hours of daylight at that little creek.
Got a couple more this evening on a bass topwater popper, Man they just smashed it ! Couldn't get a pic standing waist deep in tules and mud. Good boils going on just outside the mouth of the creek, This evening's tides were just a tad weak to bring alot of fish into the creek.
Fall is the time for stripers usually october is the best. Some call it the world series bite because usually the best striper fishing is around the time of the world series. Its actually alhambra creek near martinez. A 5 weight may be ok but a bit light for tossing a big wind resistant popper or streamer.
Guys, LOTS of juvi stripers off of HWY 37 over at Cuttings Wharf, Napa River, Petaluma River, also Corte Madera Creek (frwy bridge & boat docks), back end of Richardson Bay near Sausalito and Mill Valley/Strawberry (both frwy bridges), etc, etc.
Fast action 6Wt rod, floating WF line and add a sinktip if neccessary with small chartuese and white clousers and you're in business. And Shaun's right, poppers baby! Especially in waning light. Too much fun.
Thanks for the tips. I have tried to fish in the Bahia( Novato) area for stripers in the past but for no luck. Any stripping techniques, should I let the fly hit bottom before I bring it back in and do I need to wait for a specific tide for the canal areas. Thanks again for any tips. I live in Petaluma do you know of any spots to hike in to in my area. Craig.
Kokaneejr - No, no reason to let your fly sink to the bottom since most of these fish are mid-depth or at the surface chasing smelt. Look for "slashing sliver" at the surface or just below. You'll notice that Shaun mentions taking them with top-water poppers too. They will blow up on hair, plastic or cork poppers, as they think it is an injured bait fish struggling at the surface. That's when it gets really fun.
As I mentioned though, clousers are the ammo of choice. They jump on them any day, anytime, especially adult stripers. Watch the tides for best results. Stripers move about with the tides, as do bait fish, and this can determine whether it is the right time to fish or not. Fading light is good too.
As for stripping techniques, the typical "3-strip and pause" and strip again technique is always a standard, though don't be afraid to mix it up until you find exactly what they want in fly movement. These striper "juvies" usually want it fast. Obviously, when using a popper fly pattern, heave it and leave it for a moment, then jerk strip just enough to "pop" the fly and create a bubble effect and sound. This will alert any striper around that somethings struggling at the surface... come get it! Also, "walking the dog" top water techniques work well sometimes. This is accomplished by keeping up a continuous softer jerk strip method, so the popper fly walks across the water leaving a very noticeable deliberate wake. This is another call to action technique which will draw an explosive strike if done properly. Just occasionally let the popper stop, then walk again. This is when you typically get hit.
As for areas to striper fish. Check out the Petaluma Rver, especially around the marina section near HWY 37. There's lots of ambush cover for them, such as, pilings, old wood dock stickups and concrete walls and grass cover for bait fish. You will often see them "flashing color" or breaking surface just beyond the shoreline, which means they're rounding up bait and rolling on them. Also, any of the areas I recommended in my previous response should do the trick. There are even less conspicous tidal creeks and estuaries that will hold fish. One is near a golf course in Novato! Also some salt ponds near HWY 37 for smaller landlocked stripers.
The big adult stripers are currently staging outside and inside coastal wave lines feeding on perch and easily ambushed bait fish in the breakers. From the Cliffhouse down to Monterrey, they're there. You can sometimes see them inside a wave darting across. These are much bigger adult fish than we have been talking about here and require a different set of techniques to get at them from shore. But, they will be moving into our river and estuaries in October. You can target them now with a boat in some areas of old docks and stickups in the bay area and along sections where birds alert you to bait fish. A boat provides the immediate movement necessary to target these fish. Unless you walk the sand shorelines at beaches with a stripping basket, they're impossible to get to right now.
That's it. Go tear 'em up! They're small, but fun. Good practice for the real deal in October.
My favorite and most productive striper spots are always shallow flats around 3 to 5 feet deep on an incoming tide. The water is much clearier on the incoming tide so the fish can see your fly. Remember to take the tides into consideration when fishing a tidal water, It pretty much dicatates alot of what the fish do.
Shaun's got it going on. It is about tides. That "incoming" tide is the key. These little dudes, and the BIG dudes, will follow bait fish into these water ways, ambush or round them up as the tides comes in, and then lags, before heading back out. Get a tide book or research tide movement online. Good to know.
Shaun, any epic fish travel stories of late? I didn't even fish this week. Holiday crowds, the busy ranch and a pile of laundry played hell with my decision.
Had to edit: Kokaneejr - that fast-action 6wt rod I was speaking about is fine for these smaller striper "juvies" we've been discussing, but when the big boys of fall move in, its time to bring out heavier artillery. An 8wt rod is perfect for any striper fall/winter West Coast situation you can find. In the East, well, they like their 9wts in Chesapeake and Montauk.
Though shorter than most, Sage's Largemouth Bass rod is awesome for stripers too. The heavy belly, 360 grain floating line that comes with the rod makes it great for handling big clousers, poppers and sinking tips if needed, and heavy fish! Just a quick plug for this rod. Works very well
-- Edited by iFish on Tuesday 8th of September 2009 07:29:35 PM
-- Edited by iFish on Tuesday 8th of September 2009 07:32:14 PM
Shaun, any epic fish travel stories of late? I didn't even fish this week. Holiday crowds, the busy ranch and a pile of laundry played hell with my decision.
Shaun could have had an epic story... If the fish didn't break him off! I'm sure he'll tell you about it.
Well work went a little long but to no avail. I looked at the posts and saw that tide makes a difference so I changed my mind and will be going during incoming tide tomorrow morning. One more question for the experts...What do I do about a leader. When I fished for surfperch I just used a 7 ft length of 6 lb test. Do I do similar or should I use a tapered leader.
Well I tried it and had a good time although my licence tore off on a bush and I am not sure I can find the old recipt. Hopefully some kind fisherman finds it and mails it back.
It was an interesting morning as I began about 9 as the tide was coming into the marina. I fished in the middle of the 2 end boat storage places. I saw a few small fish jumping so I started there. I threw a green and white clouser on a 4 ft 15 lb leader and added 3 feet of 12 lb tippet. It seemed to work well. I tried a few spots(unfortunately one was near the licence stealing bush) but didn't catch a thing.
I saw a large 36" fish and sight casted to it but it wasn't interested later I saw what I believe the same fish chasing bait at he surface on the other side. No takers on my side and I spent the last part of the day before 12 checking for that darned bush. No luck on either end .
I will try again soon after I wait a week for my licence to return or I buy a new one. I guess it goes to a good cause. Oh no I hope I didn't stir up a can of worms!!
Keep pounding the local waters around HWY 37. You are looking at the right stuff, so keep it up until you start to get results. Yes, watch for the tides. Also, your terminal rigging sounds fine. Do explore around the actual river areas (Petaluma, Napa), channels and back sloughs if you don't mind walking a ways. Access is all along HWY 37.
That area near the golf course is near McInnis Park in Novato. You can walk along the estuary channels and toss clousers and poppers to moving fish. Also, there is a public catch & release Bass Pond near the actual golf course. You have to walk to it after parking at the top of a paved road. I'll let you find it. More fun that way.
Thanks ifish. Funny I worked at McInnis for years before moving on to the Open Space District. I knew about the pond even built the turtle resting board in it. They planted catfish in it last year.
I had someone tell me they caught some huge carp on flies in the canals behind Costco that's why I guessed it.
