Striper Report Lake Pleasant, AZ 12/20/14

[VinnieTheFish]

Sat afternoon I received a call from my buddy Derrick Franks if I wanted to fish Lake Pleasant one more time before the end of the year. Derrick is a full time licensed guide on Lake Pleasant called "The Striper Snatcher" and in 2014 has logged 225 days on the water this past year guiding clients on Lake Pleasant. We launched the boat at Castle Creek boat ramp around 1:30PM and fished till dark.

After this last bout of rain storms the lake has come up over 10 feet in the past few weeks with more water coming in every day. Water temps have started to dip a bit as the fish start to settle into their typical winter patterns. Even though we found lots of newly flooded trees/brush most of the fish we were catching tended to be in the 15' - 35' zone on the northern coves of the lake. The most productive technique for us that day was throwing Reaction Innovations Little Dippers in any shad color with the tails dipped in Chart dipping die on 1/4oz dart heads and 8lb spinning rods fished at all depth levels. Some fish on the transition areas had their belly flat on the bottom barely noticeable on our depth finders that wanted it dragged on the bottom, others mid depth suspended about 15' over 35'-60' of water and a few would take the bait fished almost at the surface as we cast towards the striper boils around dusk. In addition to a few largemouth and white bass we caught about 30 stripers between the 3 of us (definitely a slow day). Biggest fish of the day was this chunk white bass which Derrick is holding up and Derrick's gf caught me having a great time in the background.

If you find yourself in the Phoenix, AZ area and want to get in on the striper and largemouth action at Lake Pleasant feel free to book a guide trip with my buddy Derrick Franks "The Striper Snatcher" for a great time on the water. All baits, rods, etc are all inclusive with his guide trips and he's sure to put you on fish. To book a trip you can contact Derrick for his availability at http://www.thestripersnatcher.com or via Facebook on http://www.facebook.com/stripersnatcher