The Captain Is In Da House

The past Friday, February 12^th, was my first fishing trip for 2016.  The Captain and the Patriarch were to meet me at O six thirty.

I woke up at 1:00 AM: “Is it fishing time, yet?”

At 3:00 AM: “Now, is it fishing time?”

Finally, at 5:30 AM, I got up to get ready.  The Captain and the Patriarch must have been just as excited as I was because they came by at 6:20 AM.

The boat was ready: battery charged the night before, check; gas: check; trailer tires, check; fishing poles, check; tackle box, check; and camera, check.

Did I brag about the quickest route to the Sacramento River yet?  Recently, the Cosumnes River Blvd was opened and connected Hwy 99 to I-5 and through to the Sacramento River!  We made pretty good time out to the river.

We were planning on doing two passes trolling for stripers at Liberty Island then head out to our sturgeon honey hole.

During the first pass, the Captain hooked a striper.  We were all excited, blood pumping and a lot of “Wahoos” all around.  However, when we saw it, we were all laughing because it was a baby striper and was not even worthy of the net!  The Captain let it go to tell all the big boys to come out and play.  Unfortunately, that was the only striper while trolling for the first pass.  The outgoing tide was changing quickly; so we changed plan to do the second pass for striper and instead headed towards our sturgeon honey hole.

At our location, the Captain and the Patriarch used ghost shrimp and I used salmon roe as bait.  Just as the first pole was in the water and we were preparing the other poles, “Whack, whack!”  The Patriarch got a hit!  He set the hook hard; missed.  We were all pumped.  Then it was quiet for the next hour after we were all setup.

Then it was the Captain’s turn.  Sturgeon sucked on the ghost shrimp.  Bam!  The Captain set the hook!  Missed, again.

A few minutes after, the tip of the Captain’s pole bobbled up and down.  Lighting quick hook set and it was fish on!  The Captain was shaking his head motioning that it felt very small.  He was correct.  It was barely a keeper, but it was not a sturgeon; it was a striper!

The next few hours, the Captain and the Patriarch had more sturgeon bites, but they missed them all.  However, the Captain managed to land another bigger striper in the process.  It was the Captain’s day: “The Captain is in da house.”  Or rather, “the Captain is on the river :-)”

Where was I in all this?  I didn’t get a bite all day!  The sturgeon and the stripers did not like salmon roe that day.  I tested out my GoPro with a shoulder strap and that didn’t work out either.  I went back with my reliable Canon camera for all the actions.  I ate well and was among one of the best company.

Until next time, have a blessed day.

First Keeper!

Barely Hanging By the Lips.

Second Keeper!

Testing out the GoPro Shoulder Strap.  It didn't work out.  I like the Chest Strap more.  Here's the video of the baby striper that was released.

Back to the Canon Camera.  The white stripes are annoying.  Here's the video of the first striper that was kept.