Showing posts with label Striped Bass. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Striped Bass. Show all posts

Saturday, October 29, 2011

Tiki Bass Boat

Got a call Friday to go out early Saturday on my buddies, new to him bass boat. Got up at 3:30am to drive back down to Tiki, only to find their launch ramp under construction. We went up the road a little to launch at Turner Resort. We were on the water by 6:30am. Our plan was to target Strippers and Black Bass. I would have liked to soak some cut bait off the bottom, but the new boat did not have an anchor. So we were confined to artificial lures, a definite disadvantage due to season, tide, weather, and location. After going around Mildred Island with only a Largemouth to show for it we went north to a 50ft hole to do some jigging.
Just as we are about to leave Kat gets a fish on, that shows us some great acrobatics. She gets it to the boat only to find we have no net, so I tell her to loosen the drag a hair but keep pressure on it, so I can grab it. A couple or runs later it was fish off. It was roughly a 26" Striper. Shortly after my buddy reels in a huge 10" Stripper. Then we went down to Whiskey Slough for some more Black Bass action. I missed two blow ups on top-water. Kat and our buddy brought in two each, including an under-size. At 3pm we decided to take off, get some pictures and pay for the launch. Going 50mph on the water is a nice relief from paddling at 4mph.

--Ryan

Sunday, October 23, 2011

2011 Yakhopper Kayak Fishing Series, Delta (Tiki) Striper

Arrived at Tiki a little before noon on Saturday the 22nd, got the kayak rigged up and headed on the water. First stop was right over to the docks to drop half a night crawler on a size 10 bait holder hook for some Bluegill. Should have brought some split shot as they were right off the bottom, it took awhile for it to flutter down. Once I had my bait bucket full I proceeded further into the delta to pre-fish the tournament. I had one rod rigged with a 1/2oz lead head and white with yellow tail Fish-Trap. The other was rigged with a spreader and 3oz banana weight to slow troll my Bluegill right off the bottom.

I was out on the water for around three hours, it was a rough day of fishing, though I got the intel I was looking for. I managed to land a 15" Striper on the Fish-Trap and a 24"er on a Bluegill.
Sunday the 23rd, Kat and I stopped at a local bait store to pick up some live minnows, but alas they were sold out. So we picked up a pound of 1.5" fresh Shad instead. We hit the water in an awesome fog, I trolled the Bluegill she trolled the dead Shad behind a Wiggle Fin. About a half hour into fishing her rod went down. Fish on. She lands a nice 24"+ Striper, I tell her thats the winning fish and sure enough it is.
It was another slow day of kayak fishing at Tiki here in the California Delta, but this 24.75" Striper got her first place amongst 90 other kayak anglers.

--Ryan