My PB DD Striper - quick sesh with newbie (Castaic dam 6/21 am)

[dkinla]

well, didn't have much time to fish this am, but was able to get out for about 4 hours this am with a newbie friend of mine... he had never gone fishing before, so I was hoping to get him on some schoolie stripers at least...

got to the lake around 6:30am and started the walk across the dam! Nice and cool to start the am, but knew it was going to heat up pretty quickly! No cloud cover and hardly any wind at all to start. Hardly any people out there this am... didn't see any of the regulars there this am. Still not much algae/weed growth along the water at the dam, and a bit murky close in, but clearer further out.

view from the top:

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu266/dkinla/9DA671EB-A9F3-4355-8047-3EA01D950C9A_zps5cmdhsvp.jpg (http://s654.photobucket.com/user/dkinla/media/9DA671EB-A9F3-4355-8047-3EA01D950C9A_zps5cmdhsvp.jpg.html)

newbie (David) thought the view from the top of the dam was pretty cool!

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu266/dkinla/1E3ED09C-A157-4A38-BBDA-5DD6A4076263_zpsj0hdugsu.jpg (http://s654.photobucket.com/user/dkinla/media/1E3ED09C-A157-4A38-BBDA-5DD6A4076263_zpsj0hdugsu.jpg.html)

once we got closer to the spot towards end of the dam... can see just how low the water level is:

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu266/dkinla/53362C8F-518E-45EB-A61D-5F9C2CEBB948_zps8vz4twka.jpg (http://s654.photobucket.com/user/dkinla/media/53362C8F-518E-45EB-A61D-5F9C2CEBB948_zps8vz4twka.jpg.html)

so we setup, and I give the newbie a few casting lessons and have him practice casting out his line without any bait until he gets the hang of it and the proper distance/direction :Wink: I setup my 2 rods and have the lines in the water first. Finally he's ready and casts out his line... not too shabby for his first time out...

anyways, we sit down and start chit chatting... and I could see my bite indicator shoot up and my rod immediately gets pulled down almost being dragged off of my rod holder and possibly dragged into the water... grab the rod, and almost immediately, the line starts peeling off the reel for a good 20 seconds! woooooaaaah!! I knew this was the biggest striper I've ever hooked anywhere :EyePop:

after it stops peeling line... I start playing the fish... and it goes on several more good drag peeling runs... all the while walking me about 75 yards to the left of where we started... I yelled at Dave to follow me with the net... and in between the runs... I hand over the rod to the newbie so he could fight the fish and hopefully feel what a huge striper and drag peeling feels like! :LOL: probably not the greatest idea to hand over the rod to a newbie, but I really wanted him to experience that!

here he is at one point with the rod... and he's unsure if the line is snagged or what?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hGbLWbps01I

well, after another few minutes... finally bring it close enough for the newbie to land in the net... and was shocked and excited to see how big the striper was... definitely a PB for me!!

here's a vid shortly after... (pardon the language :Wink:)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E2AOPh6VIEQ

another vid closer up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8B2LZte9qhg

oh man!!! what a beauty!!

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu266/dkinla/CD21B41B-529D-42DB-84B9-F074604E76F6_zpsdiw4ytu7.png (http://s654.photobucket.com/user/dkinla/media/CD21B41B-529D-42DB-84B9-F074604E76F6_zpsdiw4ytu7.png.html)

a fellow fisherman to my right was kind enough to lend me his digital scale:

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu266/dkinla/AD703CCE-4F5A-4F0C-849D-D6998C866517_zpsgzzzwjhm.jpg (http://s654.photobucket.com/user/dkinla/media/AD703CCE-4F5A-4F0C-849D-D6998C866517_zpsgzzzwjhm.jpg.html)

couldn't figure out how to change the scale from kg to lb, so just went with it:

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu266/dkinla/B07C2421-808D-461C-99CD-83772642CAEC_zpsmpgfcpif.jpg (http://s654.photobucket.com/user/dkinla/media/B07C2421-808D-461C-99CD-83772642CAEC_zpsmpgfcpif.jpg.html)

weighed in at 4.97 kg which is 10.9 lbs! my PB striper and first time ever into the DD level!

after all the excitement, finally settled down... and rebaited the lines and tried to get the newbie onto some schoolies...

he missed a couple bites... and lost a couple schoolies while he was reeling them in... probably cause he lost tension on the line... but finally got one to stick and here's his first fish/striper ever:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=acwafZ_0M_w

not too shabby, but small fry compared to the PB :LOL:

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu266/dkinla/46299D23-D539-4E1F-A996-10A8B94E3EC7_zps2xqhhdz8.jpg (http://s654.photobucket.com/user/dkinla/media/46299D23-D539-4E1F-A996-10A8B94E3EC7_zps2xqhhdz8.jpg.html)

anyways, started getting pretty hot... and still hardly any breeze. Started packing up around 10am and made out way back...

one more shot at the cleaning station for good measure. While cleaning the fish, found a big size maybe 2/0 hook in its esophagus with some line still attached::

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu266/dkinla/64D94328-C0E8-4117-8507-9515A5CDFF4D_zpspon01a4b.jpg (http://s654.photobucket.com/user/dkinla/media/64D94328-C0E8-4117-8507-9515A5CDFF4D_zpspon01a4b.jpg.html)

man what an awesome quick am session with my PB DD striper... it's taken me almost 4 years to break into the DD striper level while fishing from shore/dam at Castaic and Pyramid :Big Grin:

Anyways, too bad my dad wasn't with me this am to share, cause I would've handed the rod off to him to fight this big one!

Newbie had a great time out and said he wants more fishing!

thanks for reading guys... I know lots of you here have caught 10+, 20+, 30+, and even 40+ lb. fish (Gary?), but I was pretty stoked to finally at least get into the 10+ category! :LOL:

[EfrenM]

Nice fish congratulations on your pb.......

[seal]

The first DD is tough to crack, congratulations!

[catchingsomefish]

Nice Catch, congratulations...................Dave

[cutbait]

Awesome and congrats..
Great post

[Which Way Out]

Double D's :Shocked: Nice..
Congrats
WWO

[trail blazer]

Congrats on your new PB,,,,You earn,d it for sure,,,

TRAIL BLAZER

[TroutOnly]

welcome to the d/d club, you have more than payed youre dues.....................t/o...........

[radray]

Congrats bro. Nice fish for sure.

[trollmiester]

What a great story.your friend will be a fisherman for life now.thanx for letting him feel what it feels like.

[jaggerbub]

Congrats on the pb. Gotta say that I enjoy your reports and love the way you share fishing with people, especially your pops... Well deserved DD for sure!

[basshole1]

What an awesome report. Major props on the double digit stripey, congrats!! What a great first session for your newbie friend; landing a fish of his own and witnessing you hook into a personal best. Good stuff and thanks again for the fun report!!

[alpine8fisherman]

Your report is always full of great colorful details with nice photos. Castaic is a long ways for me to go but I can vicariously live of enjoyable report such as yours! Thanks and well deserve Double D !

[fishingboysdad]

Very nice fish.congratulations.hopefully ur buddy gets hooked on fishing

[dkinla]

hey thanks everyone for all your nice comments and congrats for me! definitely wasn't expecting to hook into a DD striper... cause it's taken me almost 4 years to land one that big... pretty much was just expecting the usual schoolie or two :LOL:

yeah when all the line was peeling out for the 1st run for about 20 seconds as it made a run towards the middle of the lake... I thought for a split-second would I run out of line! :Wink:

Oh man I should've video recorded the reaction and look on my dad's face when I showed him the striper in person at their house last night!!! :EyePop:

I think I enjoy seeing other people catch fish and sharing in their enjoyment more than I do these days... just getting older I guess...

anyhow... thanks again... and who knows... it might be another 3-4 years before I break into the 20+ lb. level :LOL:

[seal]

I think I enjoy seeing other people catch fish and sharing in their enjoyment more than I do these days... just getting older I guess...

I love this response! I'm with ya dude.

[tommibear]

Dkinla, that is a very nice fish!!!

Congrats on the PB! Where you using Sardines or Worms?

We also fished the Dam from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm yesterday (close to the 1st sign). The bite was "average" until 12 pm. I was able to bring in two schoolies.

However, after 12 pm, the bite completely died and the weather got hot. Didn't get a single hit from 12 pm to 4 pm.

With the low water levels, the day-to-day fishing at the Dam has been unpredictable.

[dkinla]

Dkinla, that is a very nice fish!!!

Congrats on the PB! Where you using Sardines or Worms?

We also fished the Dam from 9:30 am to 4:00 pm yesterday (close to the 1st sign). The bite was "average" until 12 pm. I was able to bring in two schoolies.

However, after 12 pm, the bite completely died and the weather got hot. Didn't get a single hit from 12 pm to 4 pm.

With the low water levels, the day-to-day fishing at the Dam has been unpredictable.

hey tommie,

thanks! and yeah I was just using some old bloodworms that I had in the fridge (and that the Mrs. didn't appreciate having in there)! :LOL:

anyways, I can't believe you stayed out there all the way through the afternoon hours until 4pm... it was pretty hot for me by 10am :LOL::LOL:

[DEVOREFLYER]

I don't think there is any greater joy or satisfaction than putting a family member or someone new onto a fish the first time. Getting a PB on the same day is a great reward. Hoping you have many more.

[ibom]

Congrats! And thank you for the reports , gives a bit of hope and confidence in fishing from the damn. Caught my first stripper last week with your advise, Thanks!

[MikesOcean]

Congrats on the DD!

Good for you for all that hard work you
Put in. Nothing better then to be rewarded
With hard work. I'm sure you will have many
More great days with fish or without.

Mike

[flyman]

awesome bro! your friend is lucky to experience that, hope hes hooked.

[CrouchingNinjaHiddenFish]

wow awesome catch man! great job taking your buddy out for fishing.

[SO818CAL]

Congrats on the PB!

[dkinla]

hey thanks again fellas for the congrats! yeah it has been a long while... but I definitely had many great/memorable trips with my dad, couisin, and friends over the past 3-4 years... looking forward to some more (...maybe in a few months once the cooler weather comes) :Big Grin:

[Hitts0n]

Welcome to the DD club buddie i'll be out there real soon for some schoolie action !!