Thursday Stripes..

Sunday Stripes

A few photos from a Striper session this afternoon and a little San Francisco Bay from Last week.

South San Francisco Bay

Glassy SF Bay is pretty rare



Spent this afternoon chasing Stripers



River fishing..

Smallies, Largemouth, Spotted Bass and the elusive Squaw fish. Squawfish are so misunderstood and get no respect..Ha. Largemouth fishing was pretty damn good once we found them. Everything else we had to pick and scratch for. Awesome weather and great California Delta sunset!

Honey Mustard?

Local..

I worked this morning until about 12:30. I decided on the way home I wanted to stalk some fish with light 2 & 3wt gear. First stop was a nice little pond to load up on Gills and small Bass...

After the fourth or fifth filthy Tick I pulled off my body it was time to go. I went up the hill and looked over some Mtn Trout water. Lots of small fish mixed in with a 12-13in fish. 6-8" little bows are the norm, 12in fish are a bonus and anything above that is a donkey.

Santa Cruz

The ocean has been snotty for what seems like forever. Seems like every time I can go, the winds or swell is  honking or we have another front moving in. With the weather so unpredictable this year, i'm not taking chances in my skiff.  When I looked at the weather yesterday it was looking like today was my day so I jumped on it. A few in Flies first thing and then I switched to swimbaits and thats what caught the quality. Plenty of  Rockfish, Lings and especially Halibut. I was able to scratch four Halibut in as many hours. All of them were quality and fun as hell on light tackle. I took the one pictured for the table and let the other three go. We;ll eat good tonight. Beautiful day on the water with light weekday traffic all along the coast.

Santa Cruz Harbor

Baby Ling

Santa Cruz Boardwalk

California Halibut



Fishing..

Has been a bit of a struggle the last few days sight fishing Carp. Conditions are almost perfect and I've had a couple of good shots on nice fish most times out. Bait fishing pressure, clear water and heavy trail traffic on my local water makes things tough. These are city fish and extremely sensitive to movement, clothing color and shadows. Really edgy bastards!. The windows are short and perfect presentation is a must.  I think the challenge and quality keeps me coming back. Certianly not the numbers. Early morning grey light is best, which goes against traditional flats fishing for Carp, but it is what it is.

An early morning cell phone snap shot as I lay in the gravel to close to make a move.

Most average 10-14lbs with shots at high teens to low 20s possible at any time. Clearwater and bare man made banks make it tough to blend. These fish can really feel you and will bust you if your not stealthy.  There are much easier fish to feed local but I really enjoy the challenge of these and fooling one is is always satisfying. I usually only manage a half dozen fish out of the area yearly but they are almost always excellent quality.

Always some bass around but frankly i'm not that into targeting them on a fly rod. Not sure why, just enjoy gear fishing for Bass more. To each his own I guess.