Early season delta striper

Nice job on the Striper , I can't Wait to get the fly-rod out there this year.

Pat R

Thanks.  C&Ring large stripers is the way to go.  Much better quality meat in the smaller guys (without the scary level of toxins to boot).  There is no need to turn the large breeders into fish tacos!

Agreed on the idea of slot fishing to ensure healthy breeding stock and a strong fishery. And kudos for the C & R.

But don't just think fish tacos for Stripers. They are a very tasty fish: I've grilled them, broiled them, baked them, and smoked them and was never disappointed. Especially good brushed with Olive Oil grilled and topped with a fresh salsa made of Cilantro, Red Onion, Mango, Jalapeño, and Lime juice. Dang it, now I'm hungry. 

Awesome fish Kevin!  I like the last picture before the release.. 

Great catch and even better release.    Thats a nice looking fish.   Cant wait for the stripers to get in thick in the delta.

nice job out there. i've been noticing the people on the fishsniffer mentioning schools of keeper sized stripers in the rio area. wont be long until the big girls follow them up.  hopefully we get a big year - not sure since the party boats seemed to do a pretty good number on them this summer.

i just picked up a boat specifically for long distance trolling adventures - the delta is probably where she will get wet first.

Went out for a few hours this morning at low tide.  I was set up for largemouth and wasn't really expecting alot of action as the topwater bite has been a little off (for me at least) this year.  After the sun rose, I noticed bait busting and some bird activity, usually a good sign that stripers are around.  I traded the buzzbait for a sammy and worked around the activity.  As I walked back a cast from the shallows it got smacked, then line started coming off in bursts, nice!  This fish was spunky and put up a nice fight, a good 5-7 minute battle.  I had a couple oh sh*t moments, it took me into a big weed bed then out the other side.  Luckily my line followed and I was able to remove the clump of weeds from the rod tip.  I almost lost it while trying to lip it as well.  Time to carry the lip grippers again.  Sorry for the crappy pics, I need to build a camera mount instead of holding it with adrenalized hands.  After a quick measurement to a reference spot on the yak, she was CPR'ed (let the bigguns go / keep a 5 pounder for the Q   ).  The spot measurement came to approx 35".  Got a few dinks to the boat as well.  Pretty soon good numbers should start showing up.  

 

was doing a search for delta stripers and came across this post.  what bait were you using?  trying to figure out what lures work best for others.  I'm gonna fish for stripers for the first time and could use some advice on lures.  thx.

Hamachijohn,
   A four inch clear/grey paddletail swimbait worked for me a couple days ago at Big Break. Today, at whiskey slu, where the bite was off,  I saw two keepers taken on 3.5 inch soft swimbaits with skinny forked tails.  My paddletails  in clear grey and white, which had a little bigger profile, saw no bites at all this time.
                           Good luck, Opie

man im feeling longing to mbe striper fishing!

Nice fish!

Dude that is one serious hog!

thx for sharing your knowledge, Opie!

This is what worked for us at Big Break last weekend: http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/descpageSWMSTORM-SWE.html#pImage

We used Pearl 3".

Good luck!