Get the net! Oh wait....

Arrived at the closed gate to Oakdale Rec at 4:55 am with one truck ahead of me, no biggie. Im not bank fishing this time  . Got the yak unloaded right about when there was a hint of light in the dark sky. Put on my headlamp and pushed off. I worked the upper pond with a Super Spook for about a half hour with no hits. I went down the chute to the larger lower pond and threw the super spook around for a while for no hits. Tied on an Xrap and threw it around for a while and finally got a short hookup that came off. Didnt see what it was. I gave up on the stripers and tied on a senko and worked the rocky bank. Got a hookup on a small fish and it came unbottoned. By now it is 8:30 am and its getting hot and the sun is getting high. I power paddle way upstream and tie on my next weapon. I get a hookup on my second cast, saw the fish an undersized striper and it came off. Sheesh. I finally float down to a slow moving pool and cast out, fish on! Peeling drag and heading downstream fast. After a good 5 minute fish I get it to the yak and it is hooked well. A solid 22" striper. Wow these fish fight a lot harder than in the delta!   
I threw her back and headed in. Got my satisfaction. Pics below.

Jeff

That looks like a cool place.  Good Times to be had there.  Thanks for the report.   

Where's Oakdale?  That looks like a sweet spot, nice striper.

Jim

thanks for the pics&port Jeff!  that place looks strangely SWEET! 
got wet AND got FISH!

Nice area and fish great report. I used to stay at Knights Ferry and fish the Stan a lot been dieing to get the yak down there.

nice man...

Way to go Jeff. Way to get out there and use your spare time to do what you love and are good at it. Frank

Awesome report, Jeff.  I am definitely jealous.  That looks like an awesome place to fish.  Is the water like that in the summer, or does it lower significantly?

It drops a little bit, but not much, the big pond is somewhere around 20 feet deep or more, not sure, cant see the bottom. Lots of easy largemouth and bluegill in the summer, water is in the mid 50s right now according to an online site.

NICE!!!  Way to get the local striper action going!  Did you go over those rapids in the pictures?  That would be a wild ride!

Hobieblue

NICE!!!  Way to get the local striper action going!  Did you go over those rapids in the pictures?  That would be a wild ride!

Hobieblue

No! It was like a 3-4 foot drop. It's waaay bigger than it looks. It would be bad news. the 14 foot kayak is tough in the current, it whips you around very quick. Gotta be smart out there. My 10 footer was a lot more controllable but my 14 footer moves way quicker upstream.