Mike Anderson
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Hey Cameron thanks. BTW, SC is a Striper Mecca with Santee Cooper, Murray etc. As for the floats, yes it takes two to float them. I think I got them at Wal-Mart but I haven’t seen them there in awhile. Check your local Pool Store for the rope floats or google Boga floats.
BD my hand placement conceals the sagging belly on this fish. Look at the upward curve on the top of this fish and look at the top lines on the Striper pics. The Stripers curve down from behind the head where this one curves up. Same grip same size fish. Look at the pic from TK’s site. If that don’t look like a Hybrid then I don’t know what one looks like. Something to also keep in mind regarding body shape is that these are river run fish and not the lazy well fed lake pigs. Also they were hitting like Hybrid. We had a Double once and a few other double opportunities where the second fish spit the Skippy. I really don’t know the answer but I do plan to look into it further.
Bryan You ready for that trip I promised? You can see for yourself if a particular rig would work. You just might get hooked and forget about that salty water…I did try a fly during the later part of the day but casting a 10 wt while pulling 2 planer boards in generation with trees and buoys everywhere is not ideal. I lost my intermediate line when I had it coiled up on the floor and a fish hit. The line got wrapped around everything in the boat including the trolling motor so I just cut it. :'( :'( Yea I had a little temper tantrum. ::)
Yes Bryan that is also a good indication of a Hybrid. The fish pictured above has all broken lines. Here are a few pics of Striper where the lines are straight and not broken. Very clearly a Striper as soon as you see them. Note the lines above and below the lateral, all are mostly straight and not broken.
A friend of mine caught one of these Hybrid looking fish and had TWRA confirm it was not a Hybrid (would have been the world record if it was). ). He said the answer they gave was that TWRA did not thoroughly clean the vats when they were fertilizing the Striper eggs and there was Hybrid sperm left in the vat? I have no idea how true that is or even if it’s possible but that’s how the rumor began.
The fish from Sat. all have broken lines but still have the long Striper body except one. I think it needs to be investigated further. If indeed these are Hybrid that have locked thru then the next world record is just waiting to be caught. We might have even released it Sat.
Here is a pic of the fish my friend caught. Should be a record as far as I am concerned. If it’s a Striper, Hybrid, Hybrid. then it would still be a record.
I lost a few pics (crappy $4.00 camera) but I think this is the one. My hand placement kinda negates the football shape of the fish but follow the top line of the fish and you can see the curve up near the head and curve down towards the tail also the Head/gill plates are a bit smaller.
My immediate impression when I saw this fish was, wow, this is a big Hybrid. Other then the countless Hybrids I have caught to compare with I know of no way to positively identify or differentiate between the two.Zach Sat was a good reminder of how mean these fish really are. The two that got away were able to pull a saltwater grade drag system set by Boga’s to around 40 pounds like it was nothing. Your pretty much at the mercy of the river. I stand by my statement that if hooked, a very large Cumberland Striper would simply take your line on a fly rod.
A 20 pound “schoolie” class fish would “maybe” give you a chance since they tend to head for deeper water but the larger fish always seem to head for the bank where they spend so much of their time. The Percy Priest lake fish would be a much easier target since there is so much room to run. That will start in a couple of weeks.
I like to see what they are eating by using two or more flies. Scuds for example, I tie a couple of different colors to see which they prefer.
If you are like me and you refuse to pay $600+ for a nice fly rod but you are never satisfied till you have the best, then you should learn to build your own rods. There are some awesome lesser know blanks out there. If you have a rod shop near you and you get to know the owner you might get even the “name brand” blanks cheap. I can build a Sage SLT or XP just like factory for about $250 to $300. I usually go with a little higher end components for a little extra $$ on my rods.
Otherwise get the Sage SLT 3 or 4 wt.
Gee thanks Zach! You don’t have any idea had bad it sucks to sit in an office cubicle listening to country roads take me home do you. I was just getting back into work mode and you completely ruined it.
Once again I enjoyed this podcast, thanks!
Mike
Zach the above pic is one of my favorite of all your work. You captured the magic of fishing in that shot.
Jose Wejebe chums them up with live bait then throws a fly out. In Venice LA Capt Peace Marvel chums theTuna up with cut bait and toss a fly out. Yep, it has be ok if they do it. ;D
BTW if anyone is interested in sharing the expense on a Yellowfin Tuna fishing trip to Venice let me know. I have been wanting to fish that area for years now. It runs around $900 plus gas and tips for a guide trip.
Here is a link to some of the best charters in the LA area. Things have slowed a bit there since Katrina but its starting to pick back up.
I’ll give you the same deal I gave BD. You buy the gas and I’ll provide the boat. In all this trip would cost you about $50.
I would love to go up there and fly fish and we will. But beware; it is Hawg season so I might sneak a bait out the back whilst you are up on the casting deck. This could work to your advantage as you can cast to one of the many Stripers that make a run at my bait. I might also get you to run the trolling motor with the remote while I cast a fly.
If we don’t get too slammed with rain, they run 1 generator, and it rains or is very cloudy, I have a feeling you will get your line broke! :'(
If you’re interested, Keep both days open so we can adjust according to generation.
Yes the tippet has to be less then the breaking strength of the knot connecting the fly line to backing for sure.
I am a catch and release fisherman almost exclusively. On a rare occasion I take a fish for a meal but that’s a once or twice a year type thing. I do however support the keeping of fish as long as it is done legally.
Nope!! And to make matters worse I lost my Loomis hat in the monsoon I encountered on Priest Sat. The wind was so bad I would have been a fool to try to drop the boat off plane for a 20$ hat.
Yea I know it can be done but the odds here are stacked against you. Unlike lake or ocean fishing this is a relatively narrow river, under heavy Generation, full of fallen trees, rocks, Navigation Buoys, with an average depth of
Naw, I am back to my old evil ways. Besides these fish would make a fly rod beg for mercy and forgiveness. If they can put a strain on a meat stick with 50# mono, a fly rod would be a stretch. I really think I could have gotten one on a fly today as we were in fish all day but I had my top up on the boat, it was raining, and I just wanted to get some fish on film. BD caught another close to the same size and broke one off. We literally had fish blasting baits all day. Once I get it out of my system I’ll switch back over to the fly.
I am working next week but the weekend might be open.
Good Luck on your tests!!!!
