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Magnificent October Stripers on California's Sacramento River Delta

Estuary offers some of the best big-fish opportunities in the United States for these migratory monsters.

Magnificent October Stripers on California's Sacramento River Delta

Author Mike Costello and his clients regularly catch and release 20-pound stripers in the Sacramento Delta, and his biggest so far is 47 pounds. Photographer John Sherman recently landed this 42-pound giant. His yellow Lab, Miller, insists on licking every fish that comes in the boat. (John G. Sherman photo)

The early morning air felt and smelled “fishy” as I navigated my skiff through a narrow tule channel flooding into a tiny, shallow lake. Just a few days before the full moon, it was a typical Indian Summer morning in late September, where 50-degree mornings gave way to afternoons in the mid-80s. My electric motor helped us approach in stealth mode toward the huge V-wakes and tails we could see pushing 30 yards in front of us. Silence is not only appreciated, it is necessary when a wolf pack of trophy stripers is feeding in skinny water.

My two anglers simultaneously launched 6-inch Rattle Clouser flies from both ends of the boat. As soon as the flies hit the surface...

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