11 for 3 at Mendo 10/20 PM

Fished with Pelican and Marmite at Mendo this eve.  We launched at the SBR @ 3:30 PM and trolled off of the Boat in Campground.  Hit 3 solid fish on bait (7-10#s) and then spied topwater even further to the north near Rocky Point.  We ran it down and finished the day with 8 more fish.

I greatly enjoyed watching Pelican load up his flyrod on topwater...very fun.  Ended the evening with 5 for me, 4 for Pelican (and one that broke off) and 2 for Marmite.  Excellent weather, and a DARK paddle in...bring a light!!!  Pelican was gracious enough to hand off some hand tied flies back at the car so I can try it myself.  Great session.

Hey Sean - What a little Trophy of a lake you've got there in your back yard! Thanks so much for showing me some of your tactics for taking Mendo stripers. Kind of cool and fitting that the first fish to come on board my new yak was a healthy Mendo striper! I'm looking forward to doing that again. Really nice to meet Marmite and his wife and check out the craftsmanship he puts into his "tinkering" on his Tarpon 140. You set the bar pretty high, man! Yak fishing is really something special.

How did your self portrait come out?

Nice going gys! That's a good session of therapy with Mr. Linesides.

Pelican, curious as to waht flies you were using for topwater. I use a BassBug taper (10-weight) on a 9-weight rod) and mostly Lee Haskin's Gurgler foam poppers.

I have to get up there somehow soon unelss the FOrebay starts opening up--but the weather is a 8 degress above normal for this time of year and the water is warm on top and the winds are rolling still.

Marmot - I was using an 8wt shooting head, a type 3 sinking line and a Polar Fiber streamer tied to imitate threadfin shad, about 3 - 4" long. The thing was, when the stripers started bustin on top the fly had no time to sink, they just nailed it! I would like to do that again with a floating line and a Gurgler or Crease Fly, then you could actually watch the fish crash down on it! Next time!                          Scwafish - My camera is a film dinosaur so no pics yet. I'm worried that I probably cut my head off in all the excitement. You want to stop and get a good shot but you can't stop when the blitz is on! Hope to do it again soon. Gotta get the car in to the shop, it wouldn't get into high gear at all on the way back, I didn't pass a single vehicle for 100 miles!

The same thing (regarding fly and line choice) happened to me when the FOrebay exploded a month back. I had my fast saltwater rod, t-14 (9-inch per sec) shooting head and a CLouser on. No time ot change since my other nine-wieght was broken. SO I jsut cast out and stripped immediately. As you said, you miss the top wter crash but you still hook up.

For anybody considering it: Off shore windows forecast for Sunday (tomorrow) which usually means calm winds at teh Forebay. I am committed ot the ocean for the AM, but intend to do a double header and go to the Forebay for the afternoon and evening bite. Long fishing day but I should have a real big smile on my face Sunday night--a grin that might last all week.

Had a great time at Mendo and got to experience being in a famous Mendo Boil several times. 

I'd scheduled out 3 days to fish, hoping the weather would now be cool (like in Sean's videos).  Just my luck, it was in the high 80's ! Arrived Friday, 7 AM; fished all morning for nada.  Sean's right, when it's warm with clear skies, the morning and miday at Mendo is a waste. Later hooked up with Sean and Pelican around 4 PM.  Sean lead us to a cove where he and then pelican hooked up several good sized stripers.  As the sun was getting low Sean spots a boil about a mile away.  As we debated about padeling the distance so near dark, the boil grew larger and lounder, we could hear the cacophony of slapping tails a mile away!  Sean figured there were hundreds of fish. We decided to go for it. Seemed like a long paddle to me, but I haven't had the occasion to sprint that distance.  When we got in the boil the fish were everywhere.  Pelican hooked up and so did Sean, I got a double but only got a schoolie on my Kastmaster.  The larger one on my bait got off, I think because I didn't really set the hook because I was messing with the schoolie first.  Then I got another schoolie.  I kept my dinks because I had to show my wife I got something for all the effort and expense.  I'd lost precious time snarled during the boil.

Next day, stayed in the hotel with my wife since I could see the hot sunny day would be a wash.  Around four, headed out following KickingBass and Mahi Mahi.  Within minutes of reaching Barnes Cove, a fish splashed 30 feet from me.  Reeled in my Kastmaster to target the spot, suddenly water errupted 70 feet from me, paddled over and immediately hooked up the Kastmaster.  Then my live bait went bendo.  A second Mendo double!  I had two fish circling my kayak and wasn't sure which to bring in first.  Brought the spinner in first alongside the kayak and he seemed fairly tired so I thought I'd bring the other one up.  Was a mistake.  As I got the other up, he was a little larger than the first and I brought him alongside and tried to grab his lip like I'd seen Sean do in his video. Dumb!  He shook the hook and I grabbed his tail as he slipped away. I realized that, like the night before, I'd failed to set the hook on the second fish because I was excited and distracted playing the first.


Learned several valuable lessons:

1) Don't waste time fishing when it's clear and warm (even early in the morning according to Sean).

2) Make sure you set that hook on the second fish of a double, even if he's been swimming  around for awhile before you can attend to him.

3) Don't use spectra on a spinner in the midst of a boil (at least for me).  I found that in the excitement of a frenzied boil, with low light,  it's ever so easy to snarl spectra. Even a simple wrap around the rod tip or guide can require a manual undoing when the line is wet.  Wasted precious time during the first boil. The next day I using mono I lost no time hitting the boil.


Would have been great to catch both of my second double but it was still a great time.  Thanks to Sean for all his advice, topography lesson and boil spotting skills and to Pelican for some great company.  Hope I can learn some striper skills from you on the Bay sometime once you get accustomed to your new yak.

Hey Pelican... what do you think about this fly for Mendo... it's a threadfin shad pattern.  Think they'd work?  I suppose in a boil, they'll inhale almost anything shad-like.

I purchased a few of these a while back and haven't used them yet... always thinking about bringing the fly rod with but haven't done it yet... might have to do it next time.

KZ  that fly looks awesome!  A friend of mime makes one very similar and nails them at mendo.  The only different is his has a of that shinny mylar ribbon trailing off the back side????

Great Minnow!!!!

Thanks for the"Monday Morning Envy Breakfast" Sweet pics and report....now I got to put a Mendo-run into the weekend-plan-mix!?!?

Nice going Marmite! I wish I could have hung around for another day and hit it again in the evening. I'd like to hook up for some striper fishing on the bay. I'm out of town this week but November can be good.                                                                               KZ - I'm sure that fly will do the trick, and for sure in a boil! Generally, I think silhouette is the most important factor, especially in low light or at night. Using the fly rod in the yak is a bit of a challenge - I think I'll have to figure out some sort of a stripping basket like guys use for fly fishing in the surf only adapt it to fit between the legs or over the left side on the water. I had a couple tangles during the boils too and that can be frustrating. But, solving problems like that is all part of the fun! Right?

Great report. Cant wait to get back up there.

Jason

I just need to post that I finally hooked up and landed a striper this year. I couldn't shake the striper off my line last year, but this year has been tough. Now that the cruse has been broken, I have to razz Jelly (Chris) because he's in a striper slump as well. I'm sure I'll see him on the lake soon.

My striper ended up at 9 lbs. What a way to break a slump!

CHEERS!

Don't waste time fishing when it's clear and warm (even early in the morning according to Sean).

Only in the fall.  In the spring a sunny early am can be insane.  Glad to show you guys a good time.