It's Trophy Striper time on the Middle/Upper Brazos River.

Be sure and stay tuned because in this report, the fish get bigger and the drags get hotter.

Full report and pics to follow.

Heeeere fishy, fishy...

Those are hybrid. Look at all the broken lines.

I really do wish they were. It would be all that more impressive.

However, broken lines do not always dictate Hybrid as the species.

Alot of stripers have broken lines. Some have many.

I have hundreds of "case in point" photos, but I'll only bore you with a few...







This striper is probably one of the most extreme examples I've seen in awhile as far as "cross dressing" goes.




You are right though. Hybrids do have broken lines...

3 lines go straight to the tail then Striper

Shane, that Hybrid photo amazes me every time. DId you get a mount made?

That last one is a big sandy.

LOL

Nice two on top.what do those things weigh?Looks like fun.

Thanks, Ryan.

Ron Kelly still has it.

Who knows when it will be done.

Nope, it's a Sandstripedbrokenbarred Bass.

I caught it while downrigging from my yak. j/k

Thanks, Catfish.

They were both pushing 20#.

holy smokes...20 pounds???? winter fish are fatter and I agree..I never get tired of looking at that Goliath sandbass..lol.

awesome!!!

Very nice stripers. As always that hybrid pic is incredible.

Here is the full, updated report.

Enjoy!

Greetings from the Upper/Middle Brazos River.

Fishing for all species has been fantastic in the Brazos Basin as of late. However, I have been needing to get out and hit a few of my striper haunts on the Middle/Upper to do some recon work for upcoming guide trips.

I finally got a small window of time in between bassin' trips so I loaded up the Yak on the Yota and headed to the river. I really love this time of year on the river. The mild temperatures, lush vegetation and a River full of life makes every trip memorable.

My gameplan for this mission initially involved a overnighter. However, the bite was solid and I wound up doing a day trip with two different put ins along a 15 mile stretch I had planned to fish.

May day starts early as I arrive at the launch. After unloading and gearing up my OC Malibu II, I head out to do a little plugging and see if I can take advantage of the forecasted cloud cover at my disposal. Along the way, I stop and load up on freshly netted liveys to do a little bait soaking later in the morning.

I spend the first hour or so covering quite a bit of water, but I finally get a explosive hit while pattern casting as my plug crosses into a transition area. I never grow tired of watching striper run down a big topwater and crush it. Following a solid take, this fish put on quite a show by making slashing runs and stripping medium drag at will.

Soon, I have my first striper of the day at my kayak as I paddle to the bank for a CPR session.



After things settle down, I continue my plug tossing as I continue to paddle through the run. I manage to tempt one more fish that winds up "window shopping" my fakeage as it pushes up good water behind the plug, but turns away at the last moment leaving a large swirling mass of water as a token of it's appreciation. I make several more casts but I am unable to raise my quarry again and make a mental note of the location for later while continuing my paddle.

With no more rewards for my plugging efforts, I switch to liveys and continue covering more water. Further down the run I hear a big comotion in the water behind me as I turn around justin time to see plenty of disturbed water as my bait gets airborne trying to flee the assault of a marauding river linesider. I grab the rod and dig my paddle in as I turn the kayak 180 deg. to get a front row seat and watch the last moments of my hapless baits life unfold before my eyes just as a highly agitated striper unleashes it's fury in a solid takedown.

Now, I get the pleasure of winding tight to another solid fish as it goes berzerk and proceeds to pull me around the run in my kayak. Following a noble battle, I paddle over to the bank for another CPR session.



Feeling I may disturbed the run with all the commotion, I return to the area where I had previously had a striper look over my plug with no hookup. Immediately, I put out a spread of liveys to see who is home. While I patiently wait for my returning "shopper", I notice one of the rod tips start thumping away in nervous tension as my livey gets inspected by an unknown predator. It only takes a moment more and clicker on my modified ABU 6500 comes to life as line starts dumping from the reel. I quickly wind down on my fish immediately feel solid resistance as my opponent begins taking good drag at will. I really enjoyed the fight this fish put up and took my time as my grin widened with every surging run she made.

Finally, I have my best fish of the trip so far, in my grasp by the side of my kayak, ready for a CPR session.



As the afternoon progresses, I continue to make my way around the river as I CPR several more solid stripers. I was also fortunate enough to catch a few smaller fish for the table.

Here are a few shots from some of the action.





As afternoon turns to evening, I load up the yak on the yota and head out to relocate on another area of the river.

After a short drive, I arrive at the put in and soon begin my paddle, stopping just long enough to freshen up on liveys before heading to the next haunt. As I come into the run, I deploy the best of my liveys in hopes of catching the attention of only the largest fish in the run. Trophy hunting is never faced paced action. However, I'm very determined as I utilize extreme stealth measures while I continue my kayak assault.

Finally, my patience pays off as one of my oversize liveys gets mugged in a subsurface attack. I anxiously await the indications of a solid take as line starts dumping off the 6500 while I thumb the spool with light tention. Feeling the moment is right, I fervently wind down hard on a fish that immediately puts up sassy resistance and begins to violently shake it's head from side to side in one of many fruitless attempts to throw the hook. I quickly realize this is no run of the mill 30" class fish, a point made clearer by numerous powerful, deep, surging runs. Fact is, this fish had little trouble keeping it's head down and I could tell she had shoulders on her. Once in control, I switch to a conservative fight plan to wear my opponent down as I begin to stroke my fish and shorten her leash at every opportunity. I could hardly wait to catch a glimpse of what I know is a big fish. However, it seemed like an eternity as our give and take battle plays out.

Then, finally I get my chance as she makes a pass and I see a solidly hooked fish which prompts me to make my move as I grab her by the lower lip and head to the shore for a CPR session..

What a TOAD!!!



My first priority would be releasing her back into the river healthy, so I keep the photo session brief and the handling at a minimum. I take a moment to work with her in the shallows before I loosen my grip and watch her swim back into the river depths. A very satisfying catch, to say the least.

I would now spend the rest of the evening rounding out my limit with a few more eating size stripers on liveys and plugs before wrapping up my trip and retreating to the launch for the drive home.

At this point, I'm in somewhat of a daze as I reflect back on the days events as I head to the house. Suddenly, I'm snapped back to reality as my cell phone rings with an incoming call from a customer.

"Hi, Shane. How has the fishing been lately?".

Well, man. Let me tell ya.....



Stripers, anyone???