Josh

Here is a picture of Josh with his first Striper.

Jim, Alex and Rupe

November 26th, 2008: Cloudy and Cold, Water Temp 45* and Clear.

Picked the guys up at the dock at 6:30 and caught bait. Set out a spread of 10 Boards and two free lines. First fish Alex grabbed the rod and put the Striper in the boat. Had two more fish on before Jim caught a 12 pounder. Rupe was up next and after the 3rd hook-up he put his fish in the boat and then the fishing died. A cloud covered the sun and it appeared we would only get strikes the rest of the day if the sun was out which seemed like not very often. We went forever with just a couple hook-ups and then in the afternoon I hit a brush pile and we had 3 fish hook up at once. I turned and hit it again and popped another nice fish. Rupe was having issues today, seemed like every time he was up to reel in a fish he had to get 3 hook-ups before he would get a Striper in the boat. He was doing absolutely nothing wrong, some days that just happens. The fish were very lethargic today, I had 3 other good fisherman friends out today and only 1 of them caught a fish, the other 2 did not get a strike. Today we had 23 hook-ups and the guys got to take a few home for the weekend.

Zac Hammond

This is a picture of a future Striper Pro Zac which was sent to me by his father Bob. I took them out about a month ago and they have been trying weekly to crack the code to catching Stripers on the lake out of their own boat. This fish is just fuel to the fire in Zac's heart in pursuing the elusive Striper. Congratulations Zac!

Greg, Ed, and Will Whitlock

Sunday, November 23rd, 2008. Sunny and Cold, Water Temp 45* and Clear.

Woke up this morning , it was 18* out, I did not have a trip, rescheduled my trip from yesterday due to bad weather, had a good friend Anthony already out on the water catching fish so I moped around the house for a couple hours this morning and decided to call some friends up to go fishing. Left my house at 12 and went to the lake. Caught some "sweet baits" and put my spread of boards out right at the ramp. Before I got 4 lines in the water the fish started banging our baits. I had to move out of the boat traffic to put out the rest of my spread and once I did we had constant action for 2 hours straight. We had 20 hits in a couple hours this afternoon and kept these for an appetizer for Thanksgiving. The guy with the lights on his jacket is Ed, his wife Betty did not want him to be out after dark without being lit up.

Troy Hall and Father

November 21st, 2008: Partly Cloudy, Windy and COLD, Water Temp 49* and clear.

Met the guys a little after 6 and went and caught bait. Checked the area that I fished yesterday on a large school but there was no bait or fish in the area so I set up in the mouth of a creek that was full of bait. Before I got 4 boards out one got hit but it got tangled in another line and we lost the fish. I was seeing fish deep also so I put out some downlines and on the first pass we got 3 hits on them. I turned back and hit the area with my full spread, catching a couple fish but the fish were already moving for the channel [Stripers don't feed well or at all when they are over the channel]. The wind was getting up and it appeared a front was passing through. We fished the area and a mile around it only catching 1 more Striper. By now the wind was gusting to 30 mph so I went looking for a place to get out of the wind. Looked for about 2 hours, set up in a couple places and got blown off, decided all we could do to fish was to tie up to a bridge. After 4 failed attempts Troy decided it was useless to fish and we came in early. You may wonder why I did not warn Troy of the wind and possible bad day. I called him last night to advise him to reschedule but he said " every time I go fishing the wind blows and the weather is bad, last trip we took on the bay the waves were 15 feet high, I am use to fishing in foul weather". I told him I would feel good if we caught 3 Stripers tomorrow but he still wanted to go. I guess the day was successful, We caught more than I predicted!

The Saghafi's

November 20th, 2008: Partly Cloudy and Cold, Water Temperature 48* and Clear. Went out and caught bait and picked clients up late at 7:30. Found some fish prior to picking the guys up nearby the ramp so I set up on them and started putting fish in the boat within 100 yards of starting. Second fish was this nice 14 pounder. We got right on the school with fish all around us , boards getting pounded and a boat runs right into the school. I make a turn to go back on them and another boat comes roaring in, sees a couple of boats fishing and thinks he's on the now and sets down and proceeds to fish. Well, two outboard motors turned that school off. We fished for awhile with no more luck, jump fisherman running all around so I decided to pick up and leave. We worked other areas the rest of the day, trying to stay away from jump fisherman, and caught a few more fish. A cold front is blowing in tonight, may have an interesting day tomorrow!

Earl Mielke

Nov. 17th, 2008: Cloudy, Windy and Cold, Water Temp 51* and falling.

With a major cold front just passing through [70's on Saturday, today upper 40's] and another coming in tonight [only 40* tomorrow and 20 MPH winds] Earl wanted to get out for a couple hours this afternoon so I picked him up, caught bait and went fishing. We pulled boards over points and humps, caught enough Stripers for him and Millie to eat for a couple weeks, put the boat back on the trailer and went home. It would have been a great few hours but on the way home a deer jumped out into the road, I avoided hitting it with the truck but the trailer got it and pulled off one of my fenders. Tis the season!

Travis, Bobby and Randy Via, Jeff Baskin and Jeremy Lisenby

November 14th, 2008: Cloudy, Water temp 58* and Stained.
Clients were a tad late this morning [ Travis grew a tail on the way to the marina] so we got a late start. Made a bunch of casts for bait and finally caught 30 by 8 and went fishing. Set up on shallow mainlake flats with a spread of boards pulling gizzards. Worked a 500 yard pull and hooked up 6 times without putting a fish in the boat. After almost throwing Bobby and Randy out of the boat we finally got one in to break the ice. We pulled another 1/2 mile and turned back too pick up a board we had lost, by 9:30 we had had 14 fish on and only put a few in the cooler. These fish were on, pulling the boards across the water! I could not figure out what was going on, the guys were doing everything right, the fish just not wanting to inhale the baits. We went and caught more bait, I found an area where I made 2 casts and caught over 40, and relocated further downlake. Set out the same spread and continued to get bit, catch ratios getting a little better. By 2 o'clock the guys were nailing the fish and everyone was able to catch their share. Today we had 30 Stripers on [only broke 1 off on the boat], the guys keeping 12 to take home. Naturally, the big ones got away, OK by me, my clients will catch them next week!

Rick Chisholm, Dean and Derek Fyfe

November 9th, 2008: Sunny and Pleasant, Water Temperatures 58* and Slightly Stained.

Picked the guys up at 6 am and went to catch bait. Checked usual deep places but the bait was not schooled tight enough so I kept looking shallower. Threw 40 times to catch 30 and went fishing. The day did not look too promising due to a 75 boat Bass Tournament . We set up uplake where I thought there would be little traffic but after pulling a 500 yard stretch we knew it would be tough fishing in a Zoo of maniacs. Every point we went to hit a boater would race to hit it before us. Before long every point within sight had a boat on it. I should have known to check before booking a Sunday in Tournament season. Anyway, we survived and caught a few fish up there and then moved downlake and set up over deeper water pulling Boards. Fish were defiantly spooked but the guys did well boating 10 of the 12 Stripers we had on today. By the end of the afternoon everyone was happy and the guys took home a few Stripers for some good meals.