I took the family to a near shopping center and while I killed time I went to the Sports Chalet there, a guy showed me some pix of a lake close home, he had caught a 10lb (or so) stripper and a huge bass too. He said he caught the stripers on top water lures and that they were really aggressive.
Now, I have never fished for stripers but I’d like to try. I own an 8 and a 10wt, the fist has a Rio mainstream sinking line and the second floating line. Which would be a better option?
I’m not sure if I can use my bass bugs or if I need to tie specific flies for striper, if so, can anybody share some recipes?
I fly fish for stripers all the time. If your 10 wt has a fighting butt on it, use that one. Use sink tip line. If you don’t have any, floating line will work. Make sure you have at least 100 yards of backing on the reel. You’ll need it…
One of the best flies I have ever used for Stripers is a Puglisi Shad, in Grey and White. Next choice would be a N.E.W. Shad. And my all-time favorite is a Bunny Leech in gray or white.
Here are some tips: Look for seagulls diving and circling a particular spot. Then, zero in with binoculars. If you see fish jumping, and tearing up the water, you’ve found Stripers and White Bass. Get over there quick and cast right into the middle of things. And hang on tight, because they will slash your fly if it is close to the right size. If you are not hooking up, then go a size smaller or larger, until you find the right one. Once you find it, it will work for the rest of the day.
Also, don’t power directly into the school. Shut off your motor when you get within 40 yards or so, and drift the rest of the way in, so as not to send the school down. When the school goes down, just get your binoculars and and search the area. They will be back up in a few minutes, close by. You can follow a school all day like this, or just find another. Your choice.
This is called ‘jump’ fishing, and is loads of fun. It works all-year round.
Oh, yeah…I forgot to mention that I don’t own a boat. I guess that narrows my chances to catch them, doesn’t it?
Yeah, my 10wt is loaded with Cabela’s Prestige floating line and the reel is a Plueger Trion 9wt loaded with around 150 yards of backing. What size of Clousers do I need to tie and do I need saltwater hooks?
Not having a boat just means a narrower window of opportunity, and probably casting into the wind a bit. Find places like rocky points, jetties, any place that will concentrate or funnel baitfish. A good wind blowing into the shore will help keep the baitfish within casting range. As to flies, it’s hard to beat Clouser minnows (deep) or deceivers (closer to the surface). I would keep the sink tip and floating lines both handy if it were me.
Color schemes for the clousers; White/white, chatruese/white, olive/white, pink/white. Sizes 2/0 through 4 work well for me. Have some with a lot of flash too, sometimes it makes a difference. Good luck, striper fishing is a sickness. Usually the worst the weather the better the striper fishing is.
Great, thanks a lot guys…I thought it would be crazy with so little time to get ready but I do have some Clousers with such description. And weather has been really bad, we haven’t seen the sun all day.
A last one. What about leaders, what length and size should I use? I got plenty of bass leaders that are around 0x and from 7 to 9’.
Again, thanks.
Not at all. I do my best Striper fishing behind the tailraces at various dams. Just cast upstream and work the fly across as it drifts down. Concentrate on riffles and eddys.
All you have to do to adjust is get salt-water shooting heads and running line, for distance. That’s what I use, and I seldom come home without my limit.
Either the 8 or 10wt will be fine. I use 8 and 9wts for all my striper fishing in California. If I didn’t have the 9wts but had a 10wt I would use that too.
Most of the time, shooting heads, or integrated lines (S.A. Streamer Express, Rio Striper or Outbound, Orvis Depth Charge, Teeny, etc) are most effective but floating and intermediate lines are useful too in the shallows or when the stripers are pushing bait to the surface.
With the sinking lines, a 5 or 6 ft leader made from a straight piece of mono works fine. For surface presentations tapered bass leaders work well.
Try to have patterns that match the size of the local bait. This could be 2" long clouser minnows or 10" long Decievers and anything in between.
Many good patterns have already been mentioned. Many of the baitfish here in California are deep bodied (threadfin shad, trout, bluegill) and thick bodied flies that push water are often just the ticket and better than sparse patterns. Aside from those already mentioned, one of my favorites is Dan Blanton’s Flashtail Whistler. Instructions for one variation are here : www.danblanton.com/spswhistler.html
I have probably caught more stripers on the red collar, white tail/wing with grizzly side hackle whistler than any other pattern, but I often use chartruese, all white, and black versions. The snag guard can be omitted if not being used in snaggy areas. I also use the Sar Mul Mac in various color combinations. See www.flyanglersonline.com/flytying/fotw/092799fotw.php for instructions for one example (you can use .030" or .035" lead wire in place of 3amp fuse wire). And of course Clouser Minnows in various sizes. Even big white woolly buggers where threadfin shad are present.
For topwater, try Gartside Gurglers, Crease Flies, Dahlberg Divers, Pencil Poppers and just about anything else that creates a disturbance.
I’m tying some deceivers tonight and hopefully, hopefully I will get a break and will be able to go fishing like the big boys. lol. It has been a bit frustrating lately, if it wasn’t for you guys I’d be crazy by now.
…wow, it seems like sadly I was right, the darn car started giving me problems today, I called the mechanic and he said he want’s to check the transmission (sigh) but can do it until Saturday morning, I guess that when it rains it pours. I can’t go fishing as planned.
I have seen rod tips broken when hit by large deceivers. The mass of the hook is enough if it strikes the rod; a 4/0 hook in an 8" long deciever traveling at high velocity will take out a tip just as well as a weighted fly. Casting weighted flies should be no more tiring than unweighted if matched with a proper line and rod for the weight and size of the fly.
The jigging action of weighted flies often provides and important trigger that draws strikes when non-weighted patterns do not. Unweighted flies like deceivers and sea duecers are often just the ticket in shallows or over weed beds. It pays to have a good selection of weighted and unweighted alternatives.
