Another schoolie session for pops - Castaic dam (6/26 am)

[dkinla]

Well, a few days after landing my new PB DD striper... my dad had some time Thurs for a morning session... thought it would be a good idea to get him on some schoolies again... and maybe his PB DD striper too :LOL:

anyways, got to the lake around 6am, and started the long walk across the dam again... but got a new 4-wheel cart that is so much easier to take across the dam than the hand cart we used to use that was pretty heavy leaning it over with all of the gear we take. This looks like a granny cart, but hey, makes it a breeze to walk across with, and folds up nicely:

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu266/dkinla/54B3C4D2-A529-48CF-925C-8A42C29741D1_zps31hrygeo.jpg (http://s654.photobucket.com/user/dkinla/media/54B3C4D2-A529-48CF-925C-8A42C29741D1_zps31hrygeo.jpg.html)

http://youtu.be/lQWiC3zcr60

anyhow, we setup again maybe 3/4 across the dam and get our lines.

here's my dad eagerly waiting for the first bite:

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu266/dkinla/E32E97A4-2C2B-430E-ABE3-70A74D8A7635_zpsbwcowixa.jpg (http://s654.photobucket.com/user/dkinla/media/E32E97A4-2C2B-430E-ABE3-70A74D8A7635_zpsbwcowixa.jpg.html)

great conditions to start the am and lasted most of the morning... nice and overcast conditions... definitely kept the heat away until about 11am or so... with a gentle cool breeze.

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu266/dkinla/C2DA5C46-D7F9-4BDF-9694-24997D175AEF_zpsh0berkt5.jpg (http://s654.photobucket.com/user/dkinla/media/C2DA5C46-D7F9-4BDF-9694-24997D175AEF_zpsh0berkt5.jpg.html)

Water still pretty clear along the shoreline and of course the water levels continuing to drop:

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu266/dkinla/8BFA98F5-955F-41B8-9127-24D393508F89_zpse19a1sc1.jpg (http://s654.photobucket.com/user/dkinla/media/8BFA98F5-955F-41B8-9127-24D393508F89_zpse19a1sc1.jpg.html)

got the 1st bite maybe 10 minutes later and here's a quick vid of an above-average size schoolie that peeled some drag for him :Big Grin:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yV3vyh5ljkc

here it is in the net:

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

in between all the action, my dad found time for a sweet nap... not sure about this napping position, but he said he felt good afterwards :LOL:

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu266/dkinla/DE354380-7326-40FE-A246-ACF0B64620B5_zpszfiu58tq.jpg (http://s654.photobucket.com/user/dkinla/media/DE354380-7326-40FE-A246-ACF0B64620B5_zpszfiu58tq.jpg.html)

We got pretty steady action the whole morning... missed a few bites... and tossed back a few dinks... had to keep a dink bleeder though... but either my dad was able to hook up some stripers himself, or if my rod got bit, then handed it over to him, while I played net man all morning... always great to see my dad hooked up!:

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu266/dkinla/3AB66AA5-4BA5-4B78-A053-54245805ABED_zpsviwd2jjc.jpg (http://s654.photobucket.com/user/dkinla/media/3AB66AA5-4BA5-4B78-A053-54245805ABED_zpsviwd2jjc.jpg.html)

here's another average schoolie that peeled just a little drag at the end, but dad had a great time anyways.. a stronger breeze kicked up by this time, but it sure felt good with the heat starting to pick up:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tyzzfPVU0UY

fed my dad some Gallion's italian sandwich and a nice cold Coke about mid-way through the am session... tasty!:

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu266/dkinla/AA9CF087-8E30-4398-B79B-579A07AD435D_zpst3ofn2wi.jpg (http://s654.photobucket.com/user/dkinla/media/AA9CF087-8E30-4398-B79B-579A07AD435D_zpst3ofn2wi.jpg.html)

well, another great am of fishin with my dad and packed up around 11am and made the long walk back... having that cart sure made a difference going back too! He didn't land his PB DD striper, but I think he had a great time out there again.

here's my old report with my dad's PB.. didn't have a scale, but maybe 4 or 5 lbs??

http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/showthread.php?76841-I-love-the-smell-of-stripers-in-the-am-%28dad-s-PB%29-Castaic-dam-11-10-am

got to the cleaning station and had 8 in the basket... 1 decent grade schoolie, 6 average schoolies, and 1 dink bleeder...

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu266/dkinla/0404FC52-FB3A-48B0-B4E6-D9278473AC57_zpsogzbtwd7.jpg (http://s654.photobucket.com/user/dkinla/media/0404FC52-FB3A-48B0-B4E6-D9278473AC57_zpsogzbtwd7.jpg.html)

biggest of the bunch:

http://i654.photobucket.com/albums/uu266/dkinla/23FD01F1-5E4E-4392-9FBD-8B53BCF491A3_zpsqjctktov.jpg (http://s654.photobucket.com/user/dkinla/media/23FD01F1-5E4E-4392-9FBD-8B53BCF491A3_zpsqjctktov.jpg.html)

well thanks for reading everyone... hope you guys have a great weekend!!!

[basshole1]

Another good report. Being Korean myself, I watched the videos and chuckled a little with the dialogue being Korean. Good stuff, thanks for sharing.

[dkinla]

Haha! Good to hear you got a kick out of watching the vids!

Of course my parents like to make that spicy jjigae with the stripers :LOL:

[ela]

I love your videos. Can you give me your recipe for jjigai ? I love Korean food!!!

[basshole1]

Man...Koreans make spicy jjigae out of everything!! Doesn't matter what kind of fish it is, lol

[SO818CAL]

Nice schoolies. I was also there that morning. I landed a single LMB.

[Butch]

Is it just me or should you release most of these young fish to grow up and renew the resource?

[MikesOcean]

Is it just me or should you release most of these young fish to grow up and renew the resource?

Kill them all!!!!

Good job out there dkinla

[basshole1]

Is it just me or should you release most of these young fish to grow up and renew the resource?

Butch, there are more stripers in that lake than one can imagine. I'm with MikesOcean, fish tacos all day everyday.

[fishinone]

Is it just me or should you release most of these young fish to grow up and renew the resource?

In Southern California, that would be the case with most species, because of the fishing pressure but striper have some breeding dynamics that overrule that.

Here's a webpage that discusses some of the breeding dynamics. http://www.arkansasstripers.com/striped-bass-life-cycle.htm I would take one exception to the webpage, they apparently do breed in lakes. Here's a paper that indicates that they do. http://www.wayneswords.com/misc-documents/gustaveson.pdf California doesn't stock striper.

The survival rate here in SoCal is apparently pretty high. We have to choose between to many striper and way too many striper. I was out there in a boat with a fish finder last weekend. We found big schools of 2 to 4 pound striper half way around the lake.

Two years ago there was a layer of little fish 100 feet deep that covered about half the lake. I got curious about what they were and tried fishing for them with bloodworms. I caught as many 6 and 7 inch striper as I could stand catching. It looks to me like there's another layer of fish in the lake now at 20 feet. They are probably dink striper.

If anything the limits on striper in Southern District lakes should be lifted.

[Butch]

Thanks Fishinone, very intelligent response. I'll be we all learned something. I'm from back east where we had a moratorium on stripers for many years because of overfishing. Then catch and release became the norm and now we are flush again. Ditto salt water out here. Didn't realize this stuff about the lakes. Thanks much.

[Stumpknocker]

In Southern California, that would be the case with most species, because of the fishing pressure but striper have some breeding dynamics that overrule that.

Here's a webpage that discusses some of the breeding dynamics. http://www.arkansasstripers.com/striped-bass-life-cycle.htm I would take one exception to the webpage, they apparently do breed in lakes. Here's a paper that indicates that they do. http://www.wayneswords.com/misc-documents/gustaveson.pdf California doesn't stock striper.

The survival rate here in SoCal is apparently pretty high. We have to choose between to many striper and way too many striper. I was out there in a boat with a fish finder last weekend. We found big schools of 2 to 4 pound striper half way around the lake.

Two years ago there was a layer of little fish 100 feet deep that covered about half the lake. I got curious about what they were and tried fishing for them with bloodworms. I caught as many 6 and 7 inch striper as I could stand catching. It looks to me like there's another layer of fish in the lake now at 20 feet. They are probably dink striper.

If anything the limits on striper in Southern District lakes should be lifted.

Thanks fishinone for the link to the paper about stripers successfully reproducing in reservoirs without current...I've wondered if anybody had researched that, and how it worked without current, since they're obviously reproducing successfully.

[anguyen]

Dkinla: I really admiring you for caring for your dad and for giving him plenty of love and happiness. I wish I could do same for my father (he passed away two months ago). You are very nice person. I hope I will meet you when I can make it to Castaic lake some time in the near future; will surely look for you and say hi. Thank you for posting an uplifting story.

[dkinla]

Dkinla: I really admiring you for caring for your dad and for giving him plenty of love and happiness. I wish I could do same for my father (he passed away two months ago). You are very nice person. I hope I will meet you when I can make it to Castaic lake some time in the near future; will surely look for you and say hi. Thank you for posting an uplifting story.

Hey thanks for your kind words... And sorry for your loss...

I've said before that having been away for many years for college/med school/residency/fellowship... Having finally returned to CA.. I can see just how much older my dad looks now... Funny how parents don't change much during their 40 to 60s I guess... But my dad is now 76... And I'm just happy to be back.. And able to spend some time with my parents now...

Haven't gone fishing at all lately though...

It's always good to meet a fellow FNNer anywhere I go...