Advice on striper fishing

[Jigslinger]

Hi all. I'm seeking advice from all you knowledgeable anglers on fishing for stripers at Castaic. I'm a saltwater fisherman 90% of the time. The only freshwater fishing I do is trout during the Winter when nothing is going on in the salt. Trout are ok but they just don't pull. I've been reading all the striper reports from you guys and it seems really fun. I'd like to get in on this type of fishing.

Is a boat necessary? It seems like it is from the reports. I don't have a boat so I'd have to rent one. How about tackle? What kind of tackle do you use to cast topwater lures? What do you use for deeper lures? How about the lures themselves? What kind of lures do you use for topwater? What kind of deepwater lures?
And soaking baits...what's the best way?

Sorry for all the questions. I'm hoping to be as prepared as I can. With all your help hopefully I'll be able to pull on a few this Winter.

Thanks!

[cutbait]

Fishinone has a bait related post, though its from a boaters POV..

I would suggest fishing off of the dam with bait for a cheap start. The other option is to hire a guide, your guaranteed to catch for the most part and better yet you will be 100% informed on how to do it.


Now if your adamant about not doing the guide thing, then rent a boat, take sardines, spooks, flukes, and scrounger heads. Right now those should wok. But again rental boats do not have fish finders and since you have no knowledge of tha points that hold fish or how and where to fish you will be "looking" almost the entire trip.


So I advise to hire a guide or walk to the end of tha dam and soak bait to get started

[twin22s]

Think of striper as small landlocked tuna. they school around following the bait and tend to hold in deeper water when not actively feeding. A solid med/med-heavy bass rod with 12-15lb line would be a good start. if your going to toss some big lures no more than 20lb IMO. any walk-the-dog style baits will work so long as you are able to walk them. some are easier than others. white is right when it comes to stiper. light nat colors work best. the stiper will come and go throughout the day but seem to be consistently there from dusk til dawn. If you want to catch a striper, especially one of any size you have to be patient and persistent. Ill be trying my luck at silverwood this weekend with a spook and some big trout pattern swimbaits. Zoom flukes and swimming flukes work great on the "schoolies".

[lucky1]

Fished Castaic from a rented boat and had luck using the Lip Ripperz Z Spoon. The larger top water lures weren't being chased. You might want to match your lures closer to the size of the shad in the lake, if they aren't eating planted trout.

[Jigslinger]

Some really great insights! Thanks for the input.

Hiring a guide will probably be too much of an investment. I was planning on getting a portable fish finder like Hummingbird for the rental boat.
If they're like schooling tuna that would be awesome! Spooks are cool. I'll get those along with the Zoom flukes. Would poppers work?

It sounds like it's a matter of motoring around looking for the right signs. Meter fish, birds, boils, etc.
Are there any particular areas that are better than others? Depths?
What about trolling? I'd imaging that would work. What kind of lures? Depths?

How about rigging with baits? Sliding sinkers carolina rigged?

Thank you again guys!

[cutbait]

Some really great insights! Thanks for the input.

Hiring a guide will probably be too much of an investment. I was planning on getting a portable fish finder like Hummingbird for the rental boat.
If they're like schooling tuna that would be awesome! Spooks are cool. I'll get those along with the Zoom flukes. Would poppers work?

It sounds like it's a matter of motoring around looking for the right signs. Meter fish, birds, boils, etc.
Are there any particular areas that are better than others? Depths?
What about trolling? I'd imaging that would work. What kind of lures? Depths?

How about rigging with baits? Sliding sinkers carolina rigged?

Thank you again guys!

Whats a rental boat 80$?

Whats a portable fish finder? 100$?

Your more than half way to the cost of a guide right there. Have a friend go and split the cost and your money ahead already. AND GUARANTEED to catch and learn all you asking as your catching

But hey, if you want to do it the hard way, good luck.

[Fishbones]

Castaics been good and any of the above lures or baits will work. Many many fish are caught from shore so don't count it out. The dam and rocks left of the ramp will produce as well. They are eating machines so don't over think it just have fun..