Personal best Delta Striper 10-13

Naaaiiiieeeeeeeeecccee!!!!

what a thrill.  I got goosebumps just reading your post.  WTG!!

Allen

wow! strong work X and great photo presentation. arms clearly bent for the anti-fishsniffer position.

Amen to that!!!

Nice catch 

Mendo striper (at least this year) = delta bait size. 

-Brian G

Awesome fish, Kevin!  That is your reward for not being able to hit the water in a while. 

Very nice fish. Good going on the catch and the release. Way to go: keep the plentiful little ones (legal size though of course) if you need to eat, but let those big smart genes back in the pool for the future. You have to watch the mercury and selenium levels in the Delta though.

I know a guy who caught a 48 lber in a float tube on a 7 wt at the Forebay--eventually kicked to shore and waded out to finish the fight. Took  nearly an half an hour if I recall correctly. I always worry about punctures with a big fish and float tubes--not that I've _personally_ had to worry in practice yet  <sniff sniff>. Just another reason to use a kayak.

Curious: where do you launch and fish given a lot of the Delta is full of powerboats from Hell?

Anti-fishsniffer pose, funny but so true!  99% of the pics in there are the fish in your face with somebody hiding 3 feet behind it.

I'll launch just about anywhere in the delta Surfing Marmot.  I prefer ramps now that I have the 14 footer with way too much gear on it.  I just try to keep my head on a swivel out there and keep to the sides when I hear big motors running.  I've only had one encounter with a di@khead in a bass boat that came running full bore at me and decided to be funny and veer off at the last minute.  Made me think of creative places to keep a flare gun.  That could happen on any random lake though really.  Mostly I don't cross channels past a blind curve and sport as much yellow as possible.

I was looking at that pic again and thought it's a shame the pic wasn't clearer being such a massive fish. So inspired by chuck and hojo I gave it a whirl in Photoshop.

Z

Thanks for the info. I definitely need to get up there and try it now that I know the "secret pattern" for trolling <wink> though I'll bring the fly rod too because I love slinging T-14 and Clousers for Stripers.

I know you were kidding but it is worth saying for the forum in case some don't know: careful with the urge to use the flare gun--they are considered a deadly weapon--mine's a 12 gauge shell as yours is probably also. Of course I suppose so is a bass boat deliberately heading straight at you having seen you and what that boat did was a serious citable offense--they might have thought it was all play but a miscalculation could have made a tragedy. Ask Frank S about being swamped and flipped by a power boat at HMB last year. It would be a landmark case to use a flare gun in self-defense after a warning shot but I don't think anyone wants to be the test case for the courts.

Good gawd that is a BEAST!  Way to let it go, that is major karma.

Bummer about not having your own camera, but with so many talented individuals on the board, they've darn near made it look like a top notch photo.  Good work gentlemen.

Michael

That last photo touch-up is great, thanks.