The AR is always worth a shot.

I've heard from several people that there are stripers in the lower AR all year, just hangin' out chowin' on salmon and steelhead smolts all winter and spring. Although the people I've talked to haven't really fished for them in the dead of winter, they did say that it would be interesting to see if you could catch anything in January, and if you did hook into one, that it would probably be a monster. What the hell..... I'm always up for a challenge.

Mikey was coming down to give a talk to the TU chapter and he had mentioned that he wanted to try chucking some flies for stripers, so I borrowed Dan B.'s drift boat and we had at it.

We put in at Sunrise and fished all the way to Goethe chucking clousers and long striper patterns with maybe a bump or two, but nothing to show for. I was having my doubts when all of a sudden Mikey hooks-up with a fish just above the footbridge at Goethe. The fish came unbuttoned before we could have a look at it, but we did see some flashy silver, so we just guessed that it was striper. Two casts later, Mikey has a solid hook-up and puts a huge bend in his 10 wt. After a good fight and a couple of short runs, the fish came up to the top and... sure as shit... a hatchery steelhead...

Not the striper we were looking for, but still a good fight and a good night. Those stripers are in there, and now I can't wait until summer to really turn the heat on those silent killers, the Boogey Man, as Mikey calls 'em.