A trophy Striper Hunt that turned into a bass smackdown!
Went out trophy striper hunting on the Sacramento River with Shawn Anderson (Fishawn Guide Service). I rarely target striper and I think my largest is like 8 pounds lol. Fished from sun up to sun down throwing glide baits (mainly a G-Ratt Sneaky Pete) for miles and miles as we drifted down stream in his jet boat. Within an hour I had a monster swirl that followed my glide for about 20 feet, but wouldn't commit. Shortly after that I had probably a 5lber swipe it and I did what I always do and set the hook....oops, can't do that with the pool stick I was using! Hours went by and without another follower or bite. We passed a section where the current slowed a bit and I called out that there has to be a smallie right on this pipe...sure enough about a 2.5-3lber slammed my guide and guess what I did? Yup, you guessed it I set the hook and sent that fish flying in the air for about 2 feet LMAO...
It's mid day now without a fish in the boat so I switched over to a jerkbait and within a few minutes I caught a shaker, finally a striper. At this point we were near a cut and decided to bass fish for an hour and we ended up putting on a clinic! This section had a few laydowns and some duckweed and Shawn's 1st cast with a frog gets a violent blow up, but the fish just missed it. He switches to flippin and I stay with a Snag Proof Poppin Phattie in the Cali "Liger" color and a fish takes the legs down..no connection. Shawn sets the hook and lands a 4 pound spot on a Missile Baits D Bomb and I land a 3 pound spot on a jerkbait and the bite turns on! He gets another one on a frog and I'm still blanking on a frog until a smallmouth smashes my frog! That's my 1st ever smallmouth frog fish and I was pumped. Shawn turns back to the D Bomb and continues ropin'em in. We turn back to where we started and my frog gets smashed by a 5lb+ largie in the duckweed and that girl pulled! Get her in the boat, take some pics, fix my frog, and made the exact same cast. As soon as the frog hit the water it gets smashed by a 3lber. Shawn casts in there while I'm swinging that fish in the boat and catches a 2. We pulled 5 back to back fish out of the exact same laydown, it was so awesome!
After that smackdown it was time to go back out after trophy stripers and run up river for about 25 minutes. I'm still throwing a glide and a few more hours go buy when a giant came up quick, got a look, and took off. Now I fish the delta a lot and my 1st thought was it was a sea lion before I realized it was the trophy fish I was after. I was pretty bummed at this point, but continued to fire that Sneaky Pete back out there and a while later I watch a fish come out from under a branch and smash the glide. Unfortunately, it was a Squawfish :( (it was a good one though). A couple more hours go by and then it finally happens and catches me off guard. A good size striper hits the glide, not hard, just hits it and of course.......I set the hook and probably rip the hooks out its mouth. Awesome, I finally had the opportunity I worked all day for and blew it. So bummed, so hard on myself!
All in all, I had an awesome day with Shawn. I ended up catching all 4 species of bass and a big squawfish, we laughed pretty much the entire time like we had been friends for years. I learned a lot about river fishing for giants and I'm in awe of those like Shawn that can navigate that water as it's pretty gnarly in some areas. The super hot weather we had didn't help the bite, but I'm sure the bite will pick up. If anyone is looking to hunt some trophy striper on the river, I highly recommend Fishawn Guide Service (www.buttebassin.wixsite.com)! I will for sure be back out to do it again! #striperfishing #snagproof #stripedbass #trophystriper #largemouthbass #spottedbass #smallmouthbass #daiwareels #sacramentoriver