Striper Hunt 2, Canal, 9/30/2010

[VietReefer]

My favorite type of fishing is surf, or lake .. with ice blue water and scenic environment. But here in the desert, I'm lucky enough to be able to find some water to cast my lures and actually catch something. Salton Sea is only 30 minutes away, but the last time I visit couple months ago, saw thousands and I really mean thousands of talapias floating dead on the surface and the smell was bad and flies were so thick I couldn't stand 3 minutes outside.

I thought I was satisfied after I caught the long-wished striper in the canal and said that's it, the hunt is over but apparently it was not because I woke up in the middle of the night and feel that itch and a voice told me to go wet my line.

Got up at 5am and had everything tied up and ready to go. @ the canal around 5:45am, couple of rain drops started falling, in the desert? at this time? weird. The thunder and lightning scared the crap out of me a couple times. It really a lot more frightening when you're in the middle of the desert, pit black, can't see anything around you, but I refuse to back down.
Stated with my KPN, the only lure I tried that caught me my last striper at the canal, swooshhhhh and reeled in .. why does it take so long to feel that tight light .. just reel and reel until it took me flashlight to tell me the lure was gone :( Shoot, damm it, my favorite weapon for the hunt is gone. Bad knot?? Yeah, I think so.

As sad as I was losing my KPN .. fish on. Going through my lure box, was gonna choose Wingnut's LC FM110 metallic sardine or the gold color but decided I'm gonna go with the shiniest LC I just got since it was still dark, choose Slender Pointer 112MR Nishiki. Carefully tied my lure with a palomar knot, reenforced with a uni-knot just to be sure. If I loose another expensive lure, I'm gonna cry .. hehe.

My very first cast into the dark water after loosing the KPN rewarded me with a biggun to make it up. Man, was he a drag burner. I couldn't see him but I couldn't hear he came atop the surface and splashing water all over the place. A lot of loosening and tightening of drag were done to tug-o-war with him. He gave up a good 5 minutes fight then I tightened my drag and reeled him in. I could see him with a flashlight in my mouth about 10 ft from me, then he decided to make another run and my rod went bendo hard and I hear a "crack", holy crap, my rod broke, I couldn't see where it broke but first instinc I lifted the rod up high to keep line tight. Landed the dude and recovered the broken rod tip about 1-1.5". He's the biggest striper bass I've ever caught, not DD, but my PB. No scale, so I measured him at aroung 25-26".

I always bring 2 rods when I go fishing, for some reason, I only brought 1 today cuz I thought I've always used only one. Now, don't tell me I have to go home after just 2 casts, even though I've caught something. Fish on, I cut the live, remove the tip and put it in my pocket, retied the SP 112MR Nishiki and fish on without the tip. It make it a lot harder to cast without the rod tip, and I can't cast as far .. but what the heck. I managed to pull one more, a lot smaller striper out of there after 15 casts or so .. then the water level started to drop, and my lure would snag bottom on every cast so I called it a day and bagged the stripers for dinner.

Went home, contact Amazon, told them how come the rod tip broke on my first session (I lied, it's my 5th session hehe), and the replacement rod is on its way to my house. Amazing customer service, and I didn't have to call & talk to anyone too, just did online. :)

It was still dark when I caught them, so the pictures were taken at home :)



Bonus shot: My other fishes which I don't fish for

[Lunker1979]

Damn, nicely done...where abouts is that?? I'm in Beaumont and usually travel to Hesperia to fish the duct. Maybe have to drive out there one day. Are you picking up any moss on your casts and retrieves?? It's relly bad up this way. Congrats on the fish!

[VietReefer]

Damn, nicely done...where abouts is that?? I'm in Beaumont and usually travel to Hesperia to fish the duct. Maybe have to drive out there one day. Are you picking up any moss on your casts and retrieves?? It's relly bad up this way. Congrats on the fish!

Thanks Lunker

This is somewhere between Indio and Coachella Valley. If you're in Beaumont, it will take you approx 50 mins to 1 hr. :) Maybe it's about the same distance from Beaumont to Hesperia. I've been wanting to try the duct too but haven't got the chance. There is no moss on the canal, at least where I fished at I think because they have a lot of grass carp there which clear out the moss. It's just that the canal is rather small in size maybe 1/3 to 1/4 the size of the duct, that's why you can't cast across the canal cuz you'll hit the wall on the other side. You can only cast 45 degree or less downstream or upstream and after 15-20ft retrieving the line, you'll hit n snag the wall of the canal on the side which you stand on, and you want the lure to stay in the middle of the canal where it is deepest. It's a touch place to fish with swimbait or harbait and more suited for bait-n-wait unless you find a bent section but I'm after those stripers, so :)

[yolo]

Very nice! Have you tried jigging the bottom and sides with a bucktail or a lead head with a swim bait or soft jerkbait? With that canal so narrow and shallow, I bet they hug the bottom almost all the time. Try bouncing some stuff around down there. At least the jigs are cheaper if lost although you will snag less because the hook is on top unlike two or three trebles on the bottom like with the hard lures. Just a thought to expand your weapons.

[VietReefer]

Very nice! Have you tried jigging the bottom and sides with a bucktail or a lead head with a swim bait or soft jerkbait? With that canal so narrow and shallow, I bet they hug the bottom almost all the time. Try bouncing some stuff around down there. At least the jigs are cheaper if lost although you will snag less because the hook is on top unlike two or three trebles on the bottom like with the hard lures. Just a thought to expand your weapons.

Thanks a lot yolo, never really thought (or knew) about that hehe even though I always brought some jig heads and some jerkbait with me, just started fishing and there are a lot of stuffs I need to learn. Is that what you caught your monster striper with?

[kpn]

You did it again bro! You're starting to become a striper's killer/hunter like me now .
Welcome to the club bro .

KPN.

[VietReefer]

You did it again bro! You're starting to become a striper's killer/hunter like me now .
Welcome to the clud bro .

KPN.

KPN
I'm far away from becoming like you .. maybe in another 10 years hehe. Thanks for all the tips you gave me about striper hunting :).

[fishinone]

Nice catch.

Is that a limit out there or is the limit 10?

[OnDaHunt4Fish]

Give me a location, turn by turn , please i will be that way this weekend, email me if you dont want to post

[yolo]

Thanks a lot yolo, never really thought (or knew) about that hehe even though I always brought some jig heads and some jerkbait with me, just started fishing and there are a lot of stuffs I need to learn. Is that what you caught your monster striper with?

Yes it is. I don't know what kind of bait fish in there now but the fall and winter in the duct has the silverside minnows growing and the stripers stuff themselves on them. The soft jerkbaits and bucktails imitate the long and skinny bait fish and work awesome from now until spring when they switch to the tule perch and the KPN and other lipless cranks imitate those really well in the spring through fall when they are more active.

I have used slug go's, soft sculpin, soft swimbaits etc and nailed many stripers on jig heads. I don't see why they would not work in the Coachella. Try it out with different sized heads depending on flow and water elevation.