Stripers live or spawn in the Sacramento, Feather, American and Delta. I have spent thousands of hours chasing these predators year around. They have many different patterns depending on the time of year and water flows. Guiding for twenty one years has given me the opportunity to fish just about any type of conditions such as low flows, high flows, muddy water, clear water, cold water, warm water and tides. You might ask yourself what does this have to do with striper fishing?Well, it has everything to do with striper fishing. When dealing with just one of these conditions it might not seem like a big deal, but what if you put big tides with high and muddy water or high water that is cold and clear? What would  you do? Where would you fish? How would you fish? Where do the fish go?

This is not an exact science, but I have learned through the years when x happens with x this is where you need to focus.This can be done with only years on the water learning and observing. After knowing where to focus, you need to use the right presentation to catch these fish. Trolling, jigging, swim baits, top water, minnows and bait fishing are all good ways to catch stripers.

Depending on conditions, I might start the day trolling to locate the fish. I can cover miles of water in a relative short amount of time. If you have never felt the strike of a striper hitting a plug at 3-5 miles an hour, you’re in for a real surprise! Just make sure you are holding on tight.

After locating the stripers trolling, I have many options to the technique that I use. If the fish are schooled up in a tight bunch, it is time to get out the jigs. This method imitates an injured bait fish that the striper can’t resist. If the fish are schooled up tight to the bank I will start throwing swimbait. Stripers will hit these in as little as two feet of water and then suprise you by hitting the swimbait as you are lifting it out of the water to re-cast.

Top water is a very exciting method to catching stripers. Stripers will explode on a top water bait when presented right. If you want to get your heart beating fast there is nothing like watching one of these fish chasing your bait. Using minnow fish is fun as the anticipation when a striper hits is a little different than using artificial. When using minnows, stripers generally will do a kill shot and then come back for the bait.The hard part is not to pull it away from the fish during the kill shot.

Stripers can be caught many ways, but to catch large numbers of fish on a consistent basis it takes knowledge that can only be learned by years of experience. Come join me on a guided striper trip to experience the thrill of catching these truly aggressive fish.