Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3810 April 26- May 10 2019 | Page 7
Apr 26 - May 10, 2019
VOL.38 • ISS. 10
5
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Spring Time is Striper Time
by Ernie Marlan
It’s spring time and the striper season is here. Although, we got off to
a slow start, the water conditions are starting to shape up and fishing is
becoming more consistent. The slow start was due to the tremendous amount
of the rain that we have had this winter. The water was much needed and is
really good for the fishery long term. However, in the short term the high
water conditions make it challenging for anglers. The debris and muddy
conditions in the river and the delta often make it
unfishable. The water is still a little high but it is
stabilizing and we should start to see epic fishing
very soon.
I recently took a trip to the delta and found it
quite challenging first thing in the morning. I
only had three fish by 9:30 in the morning and
the bite seemed to be getting tougher. I hit
all of my normal spots but things just didn’t
feel right. I was fishing a big incoming
tide with about 3 feet of water coming in.
However, I didn’t have the current that I
usually like to see. I like to fish ambush
areas such as tule points, shoals, turns in
the levy and the more current I have the
more predictable I think the stripers are. With
the high water conditions, the amount of
water coming down the river almost
cancels out the current. The
water still comes in but
the current is not as
pronounced in these
areas. The best bait to
use when trying to cover
a lot of water is a lipless
crankbait like a Pro Ripper
75 by Livingston Lures. This is my go to
bait when I’m fishing a large area and
searching for fish. Like all Livingston
Lures when this bait hits the water it
emits Electronic Bait Fish sounds that
often help when bites are tough to get.
The tough bite sent me on a hunt to
water I haven’t fished in a long time.
Around 1:30 p.m. and I found a
spot near a tule island that had four
breaks in it and the
water was pushing
through these
breaks really good.
Another advantage to
this spot was that after the
water pushed through the breaks, it pooled up
into a nice little hole that was approximately
five feet deep. This was a textbook spot
where the stripers should be and even on
this challenging day it did not disappoint.
Lipless Crankbaits
like this Pro Ripper
75 by Livingston
Lures is a necessity
when chasing stripers!
I positioned my boat behind the pool of water and casted into the breaks of the
tule island then allowed the bait to naturally work itself into the hole. There was
a huge group of fish in this spot with almost every cast producing a schoolie size
striper up to 8 lbs.
I enjoyed catching and releasing these fish for a while then made a cast
that was just like all the others. This time, as soon as the bait hit the
water, a fish crushed it and I knew immediately that this was the fish I
was after. The Quantum Smoke HD drag started to sing and the fight
was on. After a good fight, unfortunately, the big one got away!
I was hoping I’d have another opportunity at one of the larger
fish again but unfortunately my luck had run out. In fact, I fished
this
spot for at least 30 more minutes but didn’t get
another bite.
Since it is spring and the stripers are in
spawning
mode, there are several male stripers that stay
close to the female. I’d caught many males in the beginning then when I hooked
the larger female and lost her, she swam away quickly and took all the males
with her. That’s my belief of why the hole was empty after losing the female.
It was fun while it lasted and ended up being a good day on the water. The bite
was tough in the beginning but after covering a lot of water, it was productive
and rewarding to find this nice group of fish. Until next time…
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