Nor Cal Striper Fishing Tips/Info

[DEPS_250]

I live in So Cal so I mainly fish for lake/land locked stripers. Our stripers in So Cal are pretty small compared to Nor Cal. I want to start targeting larger trophy sized stripers. I want to make it a goal to try and catch a striper that is 20+ lbs and see just how powerful a 20+ lb striper is. I also want to make it a goal to catch a striper from the surf in salt water since its pretty rare to catch a striper from the surf in So Cal.

Therefore, I want to start making it a habit to come up to Northern California a few times a year in order to chase some trophy sized stripers. Some questions...

1. Can someone explain to me the 'routinely/customary' striper migration/spawn pattern in the Ca Delta + Sac River drainage system?

2. Do ALL of the stripers vacate the area when its time to go back to salt water? Or, are there resident stripers 'always' living in the Delta and Sac River all year long and do not go out to salt water and are always easy to target/fish for? Since the Delta and Sac River system is so expansive/massive, I would imagine that there would be smaller class stripers that stay in freshwater all year long and it is only the larger trophy sized stripers that make the migration out to saltwater right?

3. If ALL of the stripers vacate the delta + Sac River system, which months will you never see a striper until the next spawn/migration cycle?

4. Are there land/lake locked stripers in Nor Cal also? If so, where/which lakes?

5. Does anyone know where the most southernly point/beach where its possible to catch stripers from the surf? I have heard numerous stories of people being able to fish for trophy sized stripers from Goleta Beach in Santa Barbara. I would much rather go to Santa Barbara than make the long trip out to San Francisco.

6. How far North do the stripers usually go/travel when they come into the Sac River system?

[Dave Brabec]

Most of the really big spring Stripers during the spawn are caught up river past Colusa . Stripers are in the delta year round. Fall / winter in the west delta can be great for big ones on topwater and ripbaits. Sherman Island area. All of SF bay can be good and bays up river . August can be good in the surf with big topwater from SF all the way to Monterey. Hogan reservoir. Lake Del Valle. Lake Mendocino all have Stripers in them. My PB is out of Del Valle in October and I lived on the delta for a long time

Dave

[Solidpoop]

San Luis Reservoir along HWY 152 also has striped bass, along with the forebay next to it. Good sized fish are caught there regularly; but please release the big ones. Fish are friends.

[Mitch]

oops !!

[Mitch]

Millerton Lake near Fresno has Stripers also. I think the lake record is somewhere around 52lbs. My PB is a 21#er cught by accident while Bass fishing, on a LC Jerk bait !! There are also some in the Mendota sloughs and in the Cal Aqueduct.