Castaic Stripers on Fly - 5/2

[Boldfin]

Dave and I went up to Castaic today to see if we could get some more Stripers on fly gear. We saw a few familiar faces at the ramp, said our hellos, and got right to it.

Starting at the West Ramp, Dave picked up the first fish - a decent schoolie.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s163/Boldfin/Stripers%20on%20Fly/P5020557.jpg

The wind came up early and it was pretty snotty for most of the day. We had to tuck in behind points or hide out in coves to get our casts off. But despite the poor conditions, we managed to pick up a fish or two pretty much everywhere we stopped. Dave had the hot stick today, easily getting a couple dozen fish.

Our most productive stop was at a hump in open water, fully exposed to the wind. We anchored up and began the old "chuck, duck, and rotate left" routine. We both picked up a half dozen fiesty stripers on that spot.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s163/Boldfin/Stripers%20on%20Fly/P5020558.jpg

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s163/Boldfin/Stripers%20on%20Fly/P5020559.jpg

We hit several more spots for ones and two's. As afternon turned to evening. We found some coves with good mudlines, and Dave added a few green fish to his daily tally.

We saw what appeared to be a gopher snake swimming across the lake.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s163/Boldfin/Stripers%20on%20Fly/P5020563.jpg

We ended our day right where we started, at the West Ramp. By then the wind had finally died down, and the meter was lit up with fatties a' plenty. We got a few more schoolies, but we both knew there were larger fish around. Finally, Dave hooked into something heavy. An 8lb'er was soon his... A great way to end a great day.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s163/Boldfin/Stripers%20on%20Fly/P5020567.jpg

[Eat Sleep Fish]

great job out there! stripers on the fly. sounds real fun. good job again guys!

[MonsterGuppy]

Very nice!!!

[Fire Ball]

That snake pic really freaks me out, lol. Nice jailbirds on the fly! :Twisted:

[Fishbones]

nice fly slayage...extra points in my book for sure....

[CRESTLINER16]

That's totally fantastic!!! Can you share the type of gear you used ie sink rate of the line, fly pattern and the technique?
do you throw out the line and drift through the schools?

I've always wanted to do it on the fly. Any advice would be great!

thanks

[CAPT'N]

Hi Rob,

nice to see you and Dave.

Knew you would end the day at the W-Ramp!

congrats on the windy stripers.

Scott

[seal]

Ok guys what's the fly of choice? Usually I've had success with clousers, but am experimenting a bit more this year, some new patterns to try out. You are having some real good success out there, 8lbs!!! Nice ride I'm sure. Waiting for them to get a little more active up here at the Wood.

Thanks for the report!

[gletemfeelsteelgary]

nice job on the flyrod's...

Congrats !
Gary

[smokinflies]

HELL YEAH!!! :Cool:

[etaggart]

Me and my nephew Adam saw you out there Sunday and were wondering how you did with the wind - apparently you kicked *****! Great job. Wish we had your touch.

ET

[fishinone]

Nice catch on the fly. I'm going to have to try that.


That snake pic really freaks me out, lol. Nice jailbirds on the fly! :Twisted:

Fire Ball, You should try fishing in the Southeast with the water mocassins. They try to get in the boat!

[kgselect]

That's awesome fly fishing in those conditions. Extremely challenging for sure. I would have given up early, but, you guys stuck it out and were rewarded. Congrats.

[Boldfin]

That's totally fantastic!!! Can you share the type of gear you used ie sink rate of the line, fly pattern and the technique?
do you throw out the line and drift through the schools?

I've always wanted to do it on the fly. Any advice would be great!

thanks

The go-to fly is one we are calling "Dave's Shad Fly". It's basically just a reverse-tie on a Size 1 hook, using chartreuse and white SF Blend fibers. We slap some eyes on, and epoxy the heads. They are really easy to tie, and very durable. Clousers work very well too.

http://i152.photobucket.com/albums/s163/Boldfin/Fly%20Tying/P3290490.jpg

We fish fast-sinking lines - mostly integrated shooting heads in the 250-300 grain range. I throw the 250 on a 7wt, and the 300 on an 8wt. Leaders are simple - 7' of 8lb mono or flouro.

I'm not claiming to be any sort of expert at all, because fishing the lakes is kind of a fallback option for me when the conditions are too rough to fish the salt. But with all the crazy weather we've ended up spending more time on the lakes than usual. I've pretty much learned everything I know about striper fishing from the real experts that frequently post on this board, and just tried to adapt it to fly fishing. The technique that seems to work is to meter fish that are holding at depths up to 40 feet, cast as far as you can, and let the flies sink down to them. It is a lot like fishing a bucktail jig or a hardbait, except you get more of a horizontal presentation because the flyline tends to maintain depth for a good portion of the retrieve. Your goal is to keep the fly "in the zone" for as long as you can. The retrieve you use can vary from short and erratic strips to long, steady pulls.

The attraction is pretty simple. Stripers usually hit a baitfish imitation pretty hard, and even a small schoolie puts up a pretty good fight on a fly rod. Fighting the 8lb'ers is a blast. They burn off a lot of line on their initial run, and dog you hard even inch of the way in. Don't get me wrong - fly fishing in the wind is a lot of work. Dave stuck a fly in the back of his neck, but fortunately, his "Fishing Burka" (also known as a "Buff") protected him from the barb. But we stuck it out, and had some fun.

[BrandonFish]

WOW sweet on the fly! congrats!
:Worship:

[CRESTLINER16]

Thanks Boldfin! I have a friend who live up in the bay area and they target the stripes on flies in the delta all the time but they're rarely going so deep as the Castaic fish tend to be so I never thought it was possible to get them but you sure show the way. thanks for the tips and the awesome pics!!

[MIKE Q]

Hope I don't see one of those snakes down at the Lagoon while fishing from my tube!:Shocked:

[Wingnut]

I love these kind of reports! Thanks for posting it up. :Big Grin: I don't put my fly gear into use nearly enough... fresh or salt. :Neutral: That may have to change... :Wink:
Well done gentlemen, well done!