Port of sac stripers report

Great day to be on the water with the gang and to meet so many new ones.  Jim THANKS  for all the work and planning that you put into this, cant imagine what it takes.  Thanks to Dan at headwaters and all the sponsors for all the righteous prizes, every single one of them BAD ASS.  I am very sorry that I had to split and head off to work and could not join everyone at Pizza.  It was dark, cold and very windy when I loaded the kayak in my driveway the morning of the event.  Got to my baitshop to find out they where out of Jumbo Minnows. thinking to myself that this is not starting off good.  Went down the street and to another shop and found my minnows.  Got to the port and was met by great guy Ron as well.  Got the yak unloaded and rigged, met Jim at the entrance, got signed in and got o the water.  Headed for the bridge and sent down some agents.  Picked up my first striper about quarter way in the basin.  Doubled up my pole and I knew it was a good one just by the steady pressure.  After a good battle I netted it and measured out at 29"  The second one came at about halfway down the channel as I was making my way back to the launch.  This one measured in at 26".  Forgot the camear and didn't want to drop another phone in the water so sorry no pics.  Got back to the launch, met more great people and entered my stringer.  Ended up taking second place for the day that earned me the COOL SET OF WHEELS FROM DAN AND HEADWATERS, THE PORT OF SAC SIDE BET AND THE CROWN FOR KING OF THE PORT 2013.    I will wear it proudly at all port of sac outings.  I will sign the crown, add some swag, and bring it back in defense of 2014.  HAPPY HOLIDAYS EVERYONE FROM MY FAMILY TO YOURS.

Holy cow it was a tit bit nipple out there. 1 lrd on a swimbait and multiply ticks. I headed towards the back near the docks hoping to find some warmer water. I fished there for some panfish for while but no takers. I also got to meet some new members. It was a great series Jim, Thanks for supporting Lowrance! I called Napa Justin and told him the good news on winning the drawing for the Lowrance Elite4 DSI, he was stoked! I look forward to next years series.

Are you taking suggestions on lakes for next years series?

Mike

I had a ton of fun out there, it was nice seeing some familiar faces and cool to meet some new ones! Thank you to the Headwaters folks for putting in all the work to do something like this, it is noticed and appreciated (and DOES influence where I will shop in the future...)

I had a ton of fun, but totally screwed the 1pm check in because of my lack of planning..

Started at 7am, went straight to the locks and right off caught a largemouth and a crappie on the salmon jig... Then snagged an unidentified fish fry (I can't figure out what kind of fish he is?) then hooked a 30+" salmon,, I put in a picture of the salmon, but I will be damned if I am nimble enough to take a picture with one hand while balancing a fish on a hog trough with another,,, so you can just see the end of the trough poking out behind his tail in this pic... I'm sure the salmon wouldn't have counted, cause he was hooked in the fin instead of in the lip anyway.

My Buddy Martin showed up at this time and started fishing with me, he immediately hooked a largemouth, then hooked up a big salmon that wrapped itself around the locks and snapped him off, then he actually LIP hooked a Fat (but chewed up) female salmon! It was his second time ever on a kayak, (second time fishing on one as well, the first time was more like fish n' swim,, unintentionally...) and he brings in not just a fish, but a 20lb+ one!! It was very cool to see him fight it and get to go on what I call a salmon sleigh ride! LOL

A little while later I called it a day fishing, I had released everything I caught, but if I had of had three brain cells to rub together, at this point I would have gone and checked my pictures in...

Instead I decided I needed to bust out the Grim Reaper 12' Trash Collector and start picking up trash.. Well I remembered a few sections of dock float that I had seen the week before, paddled way the hell out into Lake Washington and finally found them about halfway to the cement dock, tied them off to my kayak, then loaded a few bulky chunks of broken totes, chairs and kids toys onto the float, and filled a big black garbage bag with trash to hold everything down, at about this point Martin goes "uhhh, it's 12:30" and I'm like "oh sh*t!" and start paddling back to the launch.

Yeah it took me 45minutes to get back to the launch because, well turns out when you try to "tow" a small trash scow of garbage back into the wind, it don't like moving too much... So by the time I got back into the dock, the awards were half over already... Meh my bad.

Some very kind gentleman saw the load of crap that Martin and I had towed in and very kindly gave us a yellow hog trough and a dry bag for our efforts anyway, which was completely awesome, because Martin is fresh to the madness, and didn't have a hog trough, and I was looking for something to stow clothing (that I wanted to keep dry) like the drybag that Martin has,,,,on the deck of my Ride!

So while my pride took a little hit for not being able to put in at least a few points for the record (if nothing else) I was pleased to be able to get rid of a big chunk of trash from a place I fish often, and happy to have a new fishing partner, and happy to be able to meet a bunch of great folks!

Well the bite was on early at low tide, and I lost my first three take downs to break offs (25b floro carbon) And one straitened Gamakatsu hook!!!! Nothing in the boat but got to see them in the water and all 3 were in the 30" range The fish that were caught were absolutely beautiful. Striper is one of my favorite fish to catch! Nothing for me to enter and lost my claim to King of the port and the awesome crown Ricci made. Brought in a pile of garbage and won a net and fishing pole slip cover. Dan, it's amazing you can ride a bike at all! When you were standing and fishing on the kayak I knew you had a huge set of b--ls. So cold and one pole in the pole holder while casting a second out... If a striper hit the millow you'd have been swimmin Thanks for the awesome prizes you donated. Jim, Such an awesome job on this series of events. Wish I could have made them all. Can't wait till clearlake and berryessa next year!!!! Thanks all for coming out to play in the COLD and for the warmth of Friendship felt by all!

I PICKED UP TRASH!!!

I PICKED UP TRASH!!!

How many homeless became even more homeless after you were done?    

Nice work everyone...and congrats to all the winners!

I PICKED UP TRASH!!!

How many homeless became even more homeless after you were done?    

Nice work everyone...and congrats to all the winners!

I know right, james straight up steals their possessions 

Haha, good stuff James. Congrats to all that participate and scored. Sounds like a success to me. Would've made it, but nowadays I can't take anymore time off from work.

In his defense... It was strait up trash this time and the area looked great after he was done!!!! Thanks James (it was so bad when we got there ) Good to make a difference...

Looks like everyone had a fun time even though it was cold as carp.

i wish i could have made it but i had prior obligations

Awesome report guys.  And man it looked cold.  Way to persevere.  I had previous commitments but next year I'll be sure to be there.....boot warmers and all.

Wat a FUN FUN AND COLD COLD DAY OTW IT WAS. Weeks of prefishing only left me with barely 2 soft bites and that was it. It was very impressive to see how many fish were still caught in those brutal conditions...which goes to show THE PORT IS LOADED WITH FISH. Major Congrats to my bro Ron for taking 2nd place and CROWNED, KING OF THE PORT. Well deserved and way to represent. Congrats to the series winners as well job well done. Super thanks to Rider James for help cleaning my local fishing hole ..and lastly Congrats to the CanoeER's and hopefully new ncka brothas for taking first.  I had a helluva time out there and even better time at Wicked west pizza. A great last event for the year. It was also very nice to see so many fellow ncka bros come from out of town to fish with us at the port. HOPE TO SEE. YOU ALL AT BERRYESSA IN APRIL.

Headed for the bridge and sent down some agents.  Picked up my first striper about quarter way in the basin.  Doubled up my pole and I knew it was a good one just by the steady pressure.  After a good battle I netted it and measured out at 29"  The second one came at about halfway down the channel as I was making my way back to the launch.  This one measured in at 26".

I would love to hear more details. How deep were you drifting the minnows? Close to shore or not etc. I was drifting minnows and mud suckers near the bottom and half way down and didn't even get a nibble. Ay secrets you want to share?

I waited for the fish finder to light up and would troll or drop a minnow to them. Had a ton of short strikes and a few on the line and two landed.

find the school... drop a minnow, jumbo for striper, trust your fish finder and keep moving till you find them. @low tide they chase bait in vthe barge canal