It was a very windy day down on the Napa River again. Sometimes gusting to over 20kts.
I tried hard at some of the usual locations and definitely put in the time and the effort at each of them but to no avail.
Later in the afternoon as the incoming tide was heading towards the top I went to a spot that still had some decent tidal movement and equally important the howling wind was behind me.
Dozens and dozens of casts on a heavy outfit cranking in a big swimbait at high speed finally resulted in that familiar, solid ‘thump… thump’ that stopped me in my tracks. As is quite common in these shallow water Striper hookups with nowhere to go the fish will break the surface and with big side to side head shakes send up showers of spray.
After the usual photos and followed by a careful release of the Striper back into the water I went back at it.
I always put the same effort into every cast and retrieve not knowing if this one is going to be it.
Well, thirty minutes of consistent and persistent solid work and … bam, I hooked another one.
This Striper was bigger than the first one and once again, photos … and then the release.
When I’m fishing solo I get the ‘photos’ by doing screenshots on paused sections of video I’ve captured. I have either my cellphone propped up and on record or an action camera on five minute loop recording.
All of this is great but I was really meant to be working on my other charter boat but I went out fishing in the center condole instead.
Today I went down to the marina without any fishing gear so I wouldn’t be tempted into going back out fishing again. Regardless, I still didn’t fix the problem and I’m either going to have to bring the boat home to work on or get some assistance there if that’s possible.
