dogfish
02-16-2009, 09:27 PM
:dribble:If I had the money and didn't have to spend it on the wife and kids, I would make this trip. :drool:
Destination:
Not Only Big stripers haunt the Colorado
By Paul Lebowitz
Mark Olson paddled his kayak between the green banks of the Colorado River all through the long, brilliant morning. Every few seconds he glanced at the tip of his trolling rod, which jumped at each wiggle of the oversized hardbait tied onto the line. Olson’s beefy rod and reel, standard saltwater gear, looked out of place on the confines of the slow-moving river.
The sun slowly sank into the west without so much as a single strike, yet Olson continued his tireless paddling. With the clock pushing 9:00 p.m., he shrugged his shoulders and gave up for the night, but he was back at his stealthy patrol in the pre-dawn darkness.
On that second morning, just as the first rays of the sun dazzled the cold, clear water flowing from the bottom of deep Lake Mead, a monster finally smacked Olson’s rainbow-trout patterned A.C. Plug.
“Did you see that? That splash was like a cannonball!” Jeff Krieger excitedly shouted. Olson’s friend was just yards away when a powerful striped bass erupted from the river’s surface next to Olson’s lure. Unfortunately the mighty lineside somehow evaded the six sharp hooks dangling beneath the plug.
“That thing must have gone 40-pounds,” the awestruck Krieger said as he shook his head ruefully. The seasoned saltwater angler, a man famous for wrestling muscular thresher sharks onto this kayak, spent a few more moments marveling at what he’d just witnessed. That powerful pinstriped torpedo would’ve pinballed Olson and his kayak from one side of the river to the next. Then, like Olson, he went back to paying his dues, patiently yet hopefully towing his own large trout imitation up and down the slow-moving Colorado.
Olson and Krieger had been drawn away from their normal Southern California stomping grounds to chase after trophy-caliber striped bass. The biggest fish haunt river between the glittering lights of Vegas and its smaller, lower budget offshoot Laughlin. Like the tourists who crowd the gambling dens, the two knew the odds were favored the house. As Krieger said, the mission was big fish or no fish.
All or nothing is the necessary mindset for those who want to connect with the shining stars of this exotic desert waterway....
What makes these reaches of the lower Colorado River such fantastic kayak territory? The backwaters: coves, cuts and pools too shallow and weedy for powerboats. The shoreline structure in the canyons: submerged trees and rocks that could tear the bottom out of anything heavier, but pose no danger for plastic kayaks. The launch-anywhere nature of the ‘yak, which means independence from developed and sometimes crowded marinas. And perhaps the most important reason where the waters are usually clear as crystal, the stealth factor.
Just how big do the Colorado stripers come? Jeff Smith took the Arizona state record out of the river in 1997, a whopper 67-pounder. He caught it on a hand-carved A.C. Plug. That lure’s originator, Allan Cole, has caught hundreds of jumbo Colorado River stripers, topping out at an incredible 63 pounds. Clearly, baits that imitate stocked trout produce the big ones.
Cole said his bait works so well at Willow Beach because the plug wobbles its seductive way just beneath the surface. That allows it to be pulled right along the structure-rich shoreline. “If you fish deep here, you’ll get snagged,” Cole explained.
Big striper season runs from March or April all the way through October or sometimes November.
Cole recommends heavy gear, as much to stand up to the oversized bait as to handle a powerful fish. Cole spools up with 25-pound test line. “You could go with 20, but stripers pull pretty good. They hit hard, or sometimes swirl behind the bait,” Cole said.
Clear water and high, bluebird skies make getting on the water during low light situations critical. Once the sun is up, the bottom is often visible 15 or even 20 feet down. It makes for skittish fish. Cloud cover and a bit of wind chop can help. Cole said the bigger stripers bite in unpredictable spurts. “You’ve got to work at it like anything else,” Cole said.
...Bray wasn’t surprised Olson and Krieger blanked. “I’ve had more skunk trips than successful ones. You’d like to think you’d get something but that’s what it’s like out there,” Bray said. Go big or go home.
Going big is a mission some anglers can accomplish with more confidence.
The southern boundary of the Colorado’s trophy striper territory is located roughly at the midpoint of Lake Mojave inside Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Services are plentiful, and include camping, lodging, food service, a marina, and more. Access is via Arizona Highway 164, which intersects I-15 near the California-Nevada border.
For more information visit the Lake Mead National Recreation Area website (http://www.nps.gov/lame/).
Moabi Regional Park (http://170.164.50.2/parks/moabi.htm), California / Five Mile Landing, Arizona (http://170.164.50.2/parks/moabi.htm)
The Topock Marsh area and the nearby scenic Topock Gorge are accessible from either Moabi Regional Park or Five Mile Landing. The latter is part of the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge. Access both from I-40 close to the California-Arizona boundary. Basic services include camping, launch ramps, and marina space. Additional services are available in nearby Needles.
Picacho (http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=641) State Recreation Area, California (http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=641)
ALLAN COLE'S A.C. Plug has been tallying trophy striped bass for years. The big rainbow trout imitation is a staple at Willow Beach and Cottonwood Cove.
http://www.kayakfishingzone.com/Images/destinations/colorado/colorado3000006.jpg
IG Stripers Haunt the Colorado
And keep one more thing in mind. Olson and Krieger may have gone home without a trophy, but they took their memories of kayak fishing the beguiling Colorado with them. Soaring red rock walls, emerald banks, and one magnum-sized striped bass that splashed down like a cannonball
http://www.kayakfishingzone.com/destinations/colorado.html
Destination:
Not Only Big stripers haunt the Colorado
By Paul Lebowitz
Mark Olson paddled his kayak between the green banks of the Colorado River all through the long, brilliant morning. Every few seconds he glanced at the tip of his trolling rod, which jumped at each wiggle of the oversized hardbait tied onto the line. Olson’s beefy rod and reel, standard saltwater gear, looked out of place on the confines of the slow-moving river.
The sun slowly sank into the west without so much as a single strike, yet Olson continued his tireless paddling. With the clock pushing 9:00 p.m., he shrugged his shoulders and gave up for the night, but he was back at his stealthy patrol in the pre-dawn darkness.
On that second morning, just as the first rays of the sun dazzled the cold, clear water flowing from the bottom of deep Lake Mead, a monster finally smacked Olson’s rainbow-trout patterned A.C. Plug.
“Did you see that? That splash was like a cannonball!” Jeff Krieger excitedly shouted. Olson’s friend was just yards away when a powerful striped bass erupted from the river’s surface next to Olson’s lure. Unfortunately the mighty lineside somehow evaded the six sharp hooks dangling beneath the plug.
“That thing must have gone 40-pounds,” the awestruck Krieger said as he shook his head ruefully. The seasoned saltwater angler, a man famous for wrestling muscular thresher sharks onto this kayak, spent a few more moments marveling at what he’d just witnessed. That powerful pinstriped torpedo would’ve pinballed Olson and his kayak from one side of the river to the next. Then, like Olson, he went back to paying his dues, patiently yet hopefully towing his own large trout imitation up and down the slow-moving Colorado.
Olson and Krieger had been drawn away from their normal Southern California stomping grounds to chase after trophy-caliber striped bass. The biggest fish haunt river between the glittering lights of Vegas and its smaller, lower budget offshoot Laughlin. Like the tourists who crowd the gambling dens, the two knew the odds were favored the house. As Krieger said, the mission was big fish or no fish.
All or nothing is the necessary mindset for those who want to connect with the shining stars of this exotic desert waterway....
What makes these reaches of the lower Colorado River such fantastic kayak territory? The backwaters: coves, cuts and pools too shallow and weedy for powerboats. The shoreline structure in the canyons: submerged trees and rocks that could tear the bottom out of anything heavier, but pose no danger for plastic kayaks. The launch-anywhere nature of the ‘yak, which means independence from developed and sometimes crowded marinas. And perhaps the most important reason where the waters are usually clear as crystal, the stealth factor.
Just how big do the Colorado stripers come? Jeff Smith took the Arizona state record out of the river in 1997, a whopper 67-pounder. He caught it on a hand-carved A.C. Plug. That lure’s originator, Allan Cole, has caught hundreds of jumbo Colorado River stripers, topping out at an incredible 63 pounds. Clearly, baits that imitate stocked trout produce the big ones.
Cole said his bait works so well at Willow Beach because the plug wobbles its seductive way just beneath the surface. That allows it to be pulled right along the structure-rich shoreline. “If you fish deep here, you’ll get snagged,” Cole explained.
Big striper season runs from March or April all the way through October or sometimes November.
Cole recommends heavy gear, as much to stand up to the oversized bait as to handle a powerful fish. Cole spools up with 25-pound test line. “You could go with 20, but stripers pull pretty good. They hit hard, or sometimes swirl behind the bait,” Cole said.
Clear water and high, bluebird skies make getting on the water during low light situations critical. Once the sun is up, the bottom is often visible 15 or even 20 feet down. It makes for skittish fish. Cloud cover and a bit of wind chop can help. Cole said the bigger stripers bite in unpredictable spurts. “You’ve got to work at it like anything else,” Cole said.
...Bray wasn’t surprised Olson and Krieger blanked. “I’ve had more skunk trips than successful ones. You’d like to think you’d get something but that’s what it’s like out there,” Bray said. Go big or go home.
Going big is a mission some anglers can accomplish with more confidence.
The southern boundary of the Colorado’s trophy striper territory is located roughly at the midpoint of Lake Mojave inside Lake Mead National Recreation Area. Services are plentiful, and include camping, lodging, food service, a marina, and more. Access is via Arizona Highway 164, which intersects I-15 near the California-Nevada border.
For more information visit the Lake Mead National Recreation Area website (http://www.nps.gov/lame/).
Moabi Regional Park (http://170.164.50.2/parks/moabi.htm), California / Five Mile Landing, Arizona (http://170.164.50.2/parks/moabi.htm)
The Topock Marsh area and the nearby scenic Topock Gorge are accessible from either Moabi Regional Park or Five Mile Landing. The latter is part of the Havasu National Wildlife Refuge. Access both from I-40 close to the California-Arizona boundary. Basic services include camping, launch ramps, and marina space. Additional services are available in nearby Needles.
Picacho (http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=641) State Recreation Area, California (http://www.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=641)
ALLAN COLE'S A.C. Plug has been tallying trophy striped bass for years. The big rainbow trout imitation is a staple at Willow Beach and Cottonwood Cove.
http://www.kayakfishingzone.com/Images/destinations/colorado/colorado3000006.jpg
IG Stripers Haunt the Colorado
And keep one more thing in mind. Olson and Krieger may have gone home without a trophy, but they took their memories of kayak fishing the beguiling Colorado with them. Soaring red rock walls, emerald banks, and one magnum-sized striped bass that splashed down like a cannonball
http://www.kayakfishingzone.com/destinations/colorado.html