Mendo 11/17 PM

Fished with Mahi and Pelican.  I was working flies and or jigs.  Got intel on topwater to the north and ran after it.  Mahi and Pelican decided to hang out where they were.  Topwater had fizzled but came back briefly right before dark.  The school sunk out before I could get them on the fly so I switched to the jig as I passed over the school.

Ended up with one fish at about 31 inches and very game...

Sean -

Nice fish especially on artificials. Bet those stipers don't seem as tough compared to YT. 

Scott

Lots a drag sizzling on the 6# but no not the same...but WAYYYYYY better than TV!!!

I was driving through yesterday on my way to Santa Cruz and stopped to shoot 18 holes of disc golf out Low Gap road - what a nice afternoon.  I would've gotten in touch and swung by for a visit, but I only had an hour before I had to get back on the road...  No AOTY points to be secured at the course, but it felt great to jog through there and work up a sweat - nailed a few birdies too.    Nice fish and report - I was figuring you guys were on the water.

Eric

That was fun yesterday. I'm kind of glad I left when I did, as I got called out at 10:30 pm and didn't get back home until 03:30 am.

From today's posts, it looks like we were on the lake a day early!

one is ALWAYS better than none!     and you gettin that lure-thing DIALED bro!

thnx for da' port&pic!

 Kinda late report - Had a great day at Mendo on Sat. met up with Sean and Dan late in the day. It was crazy Beautiful weather! Flat calm, tee shirt paddlin time in the middle of November. I hear the fishin was better on Sun. - Oh Well. I saw big bustin at the East end of the dam and started over there then realized it was an Osprey workin the corner. Just watched for awhile - he'd hit the water hard and then power off to the side and maybe ten wing beats up he'd do a shudder and the water vapor would blow off him like a Sonic Boom! Really sweet stuff to watch.                                     

    Finally hooked-up on a striper while trolling a minnow, heading back twords the South ramp and the little red Mutu circle hook did it's job - right in the corner of the mouth. I wanted a fish for some tacos so I kept it, but maybe I shouldn't have. This fish was 28" but only weighed 6#, Big Head but a real snake! So, when I cleaned him there wasn't much fillet and it was kinda soft. Sean said the fish are kinda stressed by the low water and long season. Maybe this one was a little more so than most - I know there are plenty of robust stripers in the lake. Anyhow, I think I'll be more selective in the future as to the condition of a fish before I decide to keep it or not. I know about down stream steelhead but this was a first for me with stripers. BTW, the tacos were O.K.       

    Mendo is a great place to kayak, I love it! It's a 2 hour drive for me but worth it. May be hitting it alot more - who knows what will come of the oil spill here in the bay. Looking forward to Turky-Day!   Tom

Nice one Tom!  those skinny ones still fight good don't they?! I agree on the " more robust" statement, a month ago three of us came upon a school of those FATTER ones, we all thought we had a 20lber on, because they fought LONG and HARD!       
...I was wondering if it's a lack of native-baitfish that never happened in spring, that's making them so stressed/skinny?

thanks for the pic Tom..... were you solo and had to click a self portrait?   

My Son noticed that some of the fish we have caught recently "Fought Like They Had Something To Live For".  It is near impossible to guess what size striper you have got on your line until there's a visual, all the more exciting.

Tom, Nice to see you on the water, with a fish to boot! It was good talking to you at Mendo.  I hope to connect again on art topics.

Way to go fellas.

Can't wait to get back up there myself!

Adam - Thats a 'self-click' with the Optio. I need to work on the set-up to compete with you. I guess that means ' More Fishin!'                                                                                                    Also, this fish didn't really fight very hard, maybe another clue I overlooked. When you're hungry - you're Hungry!

It's a good one! just remember to:face the sun, extend the elbow, click then peek, if not good? click a few more, you'll get it down....oh! and don't forget to FOLLOW THROUGH!