Finally took Lea's advice...

[86 inches]

... and did the Protec sealant thing this morning. Timing was finally right. Wednesday, I got into the Striped Bass big time. Filled two coolers. Boat looked like a war zone. So, instead of a BBS wipe down, I brought her home for a full wash. Figured it was time for a re-wax so I got up at the crack a$$ of dawn this morning to beat the heat. Now, just needs a second coat of luvin' on Monday. Then it's back to the lake for more fish tacos...

[Lea]

Congrats on those fish...Yum!! I love fish tacos!!!!

You won't be disappointed!! Pro-tec prods are great!

[Materman2007]

86inch u caught those at Lake perice

[Royjulius]

Nice catch! I wish we had those in SD.

[EmiliNickson]

Good catch!Congrats!

[Mr Gambler]

Nice catch! I wish we had those in SD.

NO YOU DON'T !!

[86 inches]

Well they are a hoot to catch. They come in numbers and fight hard with long runs of the drag especially when you get em deep. I love it when they were busting shad on top in huge boils. They’re quite often big fish with a good chance of being really big. They eat ok. I was worried when they were first introduced that they would mess up the largemouth fishing but they haven’t. I’d say this lake is very healthy for a wide range of species. Lake Pleasant just north of Phoenix

[Mr Gambler]

How long have they been in the lake? I grew up in Phoenix, back in the 50s my dad & I would fish pleasant, we would see schools of 6-7 inch shad there. Do you see that any more? A lake 20 minutes from here has stripers in it, 10 years ago you couldn't find shad, bluegills, or crappie in the lake. Tournaments were won with 6-8 pounds, now that the striper population has decreased all species are coming back, and tourn. are won with 10-12 #s. I'm sure the Aqua Fria fiver has enough flow in the spring to let them spawn..

[86 inches]

How long have they been in the lake? I grew up in Phoenix, back in the 50s my dad & I would fish pleasant, we would see schools of 6-7 inch shad there. Do you see that any more? A lake 20 minutes from here has stripers in it, 10 years ago you couldn't find shad, bluegills, or crappie in the lake. Tournaments were won with 6-8 pounds, now that the striper population has decreased all species are coming back, and tourn. are won with 10-12 #s. I'm sure the Aqua Fria fiver has enough flow in the spring to let them spawn..

They came with the CAP aqueduct from the Colorado after they completed the new dam in 1994. The threadfin shad population is extremely healthy and the gizzard shad maybe too healthy. I'm not recommending striped bass for any lake just saying that while I thought it would ruin Lake Pleasant, things have turned out fine. The lake has nice populations of largemouth, black and white crappie, and even the whites are still there. The top three finishers in the last Wild West tournament in April each had bags over 21 pounds averaging 3 pounds a fish. Not bad. I don't tournament fish anymore but I'm on that lake a lot and I do very well in the 3 to 5 pound class. I occasionally get a big one still... at least often enough to keep me interested.


This is a typical threadfin from Pleasant.




The gizzard shad get much bigger. This one is just over 12". Caught it on a dropshot last fall. Crazy!

I wouldn't say I'm much of a striper fisherman. I take a cooler or two when I go out looking for them. The real striper guys take 50 gal drums! The guides must love 'em. I see them out there all the time.

[86 inches]

No, I didn’t stuff that fish in there! That’s a 3# striper (the eater not the eatee)

[Lea]

They are in Kerr (Buggs Island) on the NC/VA border, as well as having been long known in the Santee Cooper lakes. Bass fishing in all these areas has been just fine! And makes for some fun when a big striper hits during spawning season....

I caught two over 15 lbs each one day....along with several really nice LM Bass!!! They have not hurt our fisheries!

[Mr Gambler]

They are in Kerr (Buggs Island) on the NC/VA border, as well as having been long known in the Santee Cooper lakes. Bass fishing in all these areas has been just fine! And makes for some fun when a big striper hits during spawning season....

I caught two over 15 lbs each one day....along with several really nice LM Bass!!! They have not hurt our fisheries!

Lea, your lakes are a little different than ours. The lake I am talking about here in central ca. has dropped 50 ft. since June, it's not conducive to a good spawn each year. So our warm water fishery including shad does not get the #s like the eastern lakes. So the stripers eat whatever gets in their sight.

[Lea]

Thanks, Mike. I didn't realize how different our lakes are!

[Mr Gambler]

Most of our lakes are deep canyon lakes. One of the lakes 40 min. from here has dropped 147 ft. since may, they were built for crop irrigation.

[86 inches]

Yes. Lake Pleasant above is the same. I think it’s down 60 feet right now.