Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3611 May 12-26, 2017 | Page 26

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May 12-26, 2017
FRESHWATER
VOL.36 • ISS. 11
presents
Troll, Drift Or Sit For
Spring Delta Stripers
T
no problem with you keeping that fish
his may be a bit of a contro-
when it comes and I’m certainly not
versial article because I’m
going to shame for keeping a legal
going to tell you how to catch spring
fish that you caught fair and
stripers in both large and
square.
small sizes. Spring bass are
I just want anglers to be
typically heading up river
responsible. Don’t keep a
to spawn and some folks
dozen big stripers a year.
don’t think you should tar-
And don’t kill 50 or 100
get stripers at this time. My
spawners this spring. Take a
philosophy is that selective
few for the table and let the
and reasonable harvest of
rest go. Do this and every-
this renewable resource
thing will be fine provided
isn’t going to negatively
the CDFW does their part to
impact the fishery.
protect our fish and the en-
Fishing bait with a focus
vironment….Let’s get after
on hooking big bass, say
by Cal Kellogg those bass!
fish over 15 pounds is
also controversial. Some
On The Troll
anglers assert that the big fish should
not be targeted and should always be
For numbers of Delta stripers during
released. They operate under the belief
the
spring you can’t beat trolling with
that the bigger the bass the more fish
deep and shallow running Yo-Zuri
they put back into the system when
Crystal Minnows. Personally, there
they spawn.
was a time when I was a shallow water
Before we go any further I’m in
favor of releasing big bass especially if trolling enthusiast, but after years of
practice and reflection I’ve concluded
you catch big numbers of them. They
that I catch more and bigger bass while
aren’t great to eat and we do want
trolling deep runners…Your mileage
them to spawn, however I’d be remiss
may vary on this point. Maybe I just
if I didn’t point out that research indi-
spend more time trolling deep.
cates that the most successful spawn-
A huge part of trolling success is in
ers are typically females that weigh
the
rigging. For starters, you’ll need a
between 10 and 15 pounds rather than
modern
lightweight rod that combines
20 to 30 pounds.
a sensitive tip with plenty of backbone.
Here’s the bottom line. If you’re an
The sensitive tip, displays the action
angler that fishes his or her entire life
of
the
plug. If your plug picks up a
hoping to get a really big bass, I have
FISH SNIFFER
HOW – TO
Striped bass are one of the most beloved gamefish for California anglers. Anglers that chase
Delta stripers dream of landing big mature fish like these. While larger than average bass are
landed during every month of the year, spring is a prime time for intercepting a trophy
weed or a piece of grass, it kills the
action and you won’t get any strikes. A
sensitive tip allows you to constantly
monitor your plug’s action insuring
that you have an effective lure in the
water at all times.
The rod should be matched with a
high capacity level wind line count-
er reel loaded with 30-50 pound test
braided line. Some folks tip their braid
with a leader others don’t. I usually
use a leader and it looks like this. After
threading the braid through the eyes of
my rod, I put a large bead on the line
and then tie on a swivel using a Palo-
mar knot. To the swivel attach a 4 foot
leader of abrasion resistant 25-pound
monofilament and tip the leader with a
medium size lock snap.
The main reasons I run a leader are
that if I snag up and need to break off,
the leader will snap before the line
does and I won’t lose a bunch of ex-
pensive braid. Second. I think the bead
and swivel at the top end tends to pick
off weeds and grass before they get a
chance to work their way down to the
bill of the plug.
In terms of lure colors and finishes,
plugs in rainbow trout, chrome/blue,
chrome/black, chrome/chartreuse,
metallic gold and red head/white body
will all put fish in the boat.
It isn’t always necessary, but most
of the time you’ll want to run your
plugs tipped with a 6 to 7 inch white
Trick Worm pinned on the back treble.
Gauge your trolling speed by the
action of the plug. You want them
vibrating violently. In terms of depth
you want your plugs within two feet of
the bottom at all times.
I typically run shallow runners 140
feet back. Deep runners I keep from
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