20 April 25, 2025 VOL. 44 • ISS. 4
WHAT’ S HOT continued from page 2
hurtful. The good thing is the Spring Striper run is doing very well. My stepson Matt Looney of Penn Valley and good friend Brian Garcia of Alta joined me to meet Robert at the beautiful Colusa boat ramp on Tuesday morning. We arrived a little early, and Robert had his handsome 24 foot Alumaweld jetboat already in the water at the ramp. We loaded our gear and headed upriver just at the start of sunrise. Robert powered up the big 454 powered jet boat and we headed upstream. I was surprised to see so many boats on the water on a Tuesday, but that reinforced the fact of the good striper run going on. We ran upstream about 2 miles and then stopped on the west side of the river where a deep hole flowed into the rapids. The water was very stained, and the temperature was 61 degrees. Robert laid out the tackle and explained how we would be fishing. His gear was great quality Shimano 8 1 \ 2 foot graphite rods rigged with Shimano 4000 series spinning reels loaded with 20 pound test Power Pro braided line. He then attached a snap swivel to the end of the braid, and added a four foot leader of 14 pound test Trilene XT line, with a 1 / 0 Gamakatsu hook. Robert added a 2 ounce round ball weight to the snap swivel. Then he showed us how to attach the live minnow from the livewell in the stern of the boat. He said to carefully insert the tip of the hook into the top lip of the minnow and out through the nostril on top of the mouth. This would keep the minnow swimming freely and also keep it alive much longer than other methods. Robert set up the Minn Kota CoPilot trolling motor on the bow and we were fishing. The current was flowing strongly, although he said it had gone down a bit in the last couple of days. He navigated the boat back and for the on the edge of the main current using the electric motor, and kept us in 15 to 30 feet of water depth. He said to drop the weight to the bottom and then reel up 3 to 10 turns of the reel to keep from hanging up and to put the bait in the fish zone. He said the bite would be a vibrating nibble you could feel on the braided line. He instructed us to keep our rod tip low to the water and strike when feeling a bite by raising the rod up quickly. Watching the screen of the Lowrance depth finder on the center console, we could see fish marks across the screen on an occasional basis. Robert said when the main run of stripers was in, the screen we be almost blacked out by all the marks on the screen. We cruised slowly up and down the seam of the current and
Sunrise at the new Colusa boat ramp on the Sacramento River. Photo by Paul Kneeland, Fish Sniffer Staff
Matt Looney of Penn Valley shows off the 7 lb striper caught on minnows with Robert Weese of Northern California Guide Service Photo by Paul Kneeland, Fish Sniffer Staff
swimming the minnows through the different depths. Suddenly Robert struck with his rod and hooked a small striper. He handed the rod to Brian and the fight was
Fish Sniffer publisher Paul Kneeland with a nice 4 lb striper caught on the Sacramento River north of Colusa. Photo courtesy of Robert Weese, Northern California Guide Service
The 24 foot Alumaweld center console jet boat used by Northern California Guide Service.
Photo courtesy of Robert Weese
on. We were constantly surprised by the strong fight of even the small stripers. After a few minutes, Robert netted the fish, quickly measured it and returned the 17 ½ incher to the river. Stripers need to be at least 18 inches to keep, and the limit is 2 per person per day. A short time later, Matt struck with his rod only to discover that he was hung up on the bottom. Robert maneuvered the boat back over the snag and retrieved the outfit, no harm done. A while later, Matt struck again and this time he wasn’ t hung up – he was into a good fish! The striper surged toward the middle of the river, ripping line off the spinning reel and going deep. Then he turned and came back toward us as Matt reeled quickly to keep tension on the line. Another strong run was followed by a couple shorter runs, and finally Robert was able to net a nice 7 pound striper! A very good striper for the early run of fish. We moved upstream another mile or so to one of Roberts favorite spots and started moving the minnows through the water column. I had been noticing most of the marks on the graph seemed to be at the 15 to 20 foot depth, so I tried to count one foot pulls of line off the reel until I got to about 15 and left my bait there. We were again fishing in 15 to 35 feet of water, so my bait was about in the middle of the water column. We hooked a few more small stripers that were released, and I hooked and landed a nice one of 24 inches and about 4 pounds. He was a very strong fish, and gave a heck of a battle on the sturdy 8 1 \ 2 foot rod. I wondered what it would be like to hook a thirty pounder! We ended the day about 2 pm with limits of stripers from 18 inches to 26 inches and 7 pounds. Matt, Brian and I toasted the success with a beer while Robert pulled out his electric Rapala knife and made short work filling our bags with 12 succulent striper fillets. We had excellent weather with a few high clouds, a slight southerly breeze and a comfortable temperature of 50 to 75 degrees all morning. A lovely day on the water with a great guide. If you want to spend a great day catching stripers on the river, contact Robert Weese. He is a very experienced guide with a great sense of humor. Ask him to tell some stories of his former occupation as a repossession agent, and you will be wonderfully entertained! You will enjoy perfectly spotless and comfortable boat, and an impressive collection of high quality fishing gear. His knowledge and expertise will almost guarantee fish in the boat, and you will learn some valuable fishing techniques. You can call Robert at 530-755-7196 or go to www. norcalsalmonguide. com