Columnist Barb Henderson: Hooked on Stripers might be ‘reel’ fun

Barb Henderson

Friday, Aug. 30, 2002 | 9:26 a.m.

Barb Henderson is an outdoors enthusiast, freelance writer and producer/host of outdoors radio television programming. Her column appears Friday in the Sun.

I'll never forget the first time I caught a striper -- it really caught me by surprise. I had been jigging and casting artificial lures from a bass boat in the water around the brush in shallow coves hoping to catch a "hawg" (largemouth bass) when all of a sudden my drag started "squealing." Before I knew it, I was squealing too.

Fish on!

The water of Lake Mead NRA encompasses 110 miles of the Colorado River (with an average surface area of 157,900 acres for Lake Mead and 28,260 acres for Lake Mohave) and approximately 900 miles of shoreline. These waters offer anglers the opportunity to catch largemouth bass, rainbow trout, channel catfish, black crappie, bluegill and striped bass. Anglers can fish both lakes Mead and Mohave year-round.

Sizzling hot summer weather doesn't keep anglers off the water; actually, it is just the opposite. When outside temperatures are hot, fishing for stripers heats up, too.

Stripers aggressively feed on small baitfish. These threadfin shad hit the surface and cause what is known as a "boil." During the summer when boils occur, many anglers use artificial lures like sassy shads, buck tails or jigging spoons. But when the boiling stops, they don't stop fishing.

Using a fish finder, they locate the fish and their depth, drop a jigging spoon into the water and begin reeling that lure up just as fast as they can. Anglers have great success fishing with anchovies, too.

Before 1969, there weren't any stripers in Lake Mead.

Based on interviews with fishery biologists, my understanding of the introduction of stripers into Lake Mead goes something like this:

Several agencies worked together to obtained the fish in California and transport them to Reno. The biologists sorted the fish by placing them in tanks before transporting them to Southern Nevada. Biologists had concerns the surface water at Lake Mead might be too warm and that the stripers would not survive, so they utilized divers to assist in the introduction.

The divers dropped the fish into depper, colder water. But after the release, these fish swam right back to the top -- some actually beat the scuba divers back to the water surface.

Biologists finally determined what would work. In 1969, the Nevada Division of Wildlife along with other agencies introduced 20,000 small striped bass into Lake Mead. A few more successful striper plants followed.

In 1973, biologists documented the striper-spawning success and their studies indicated that just one female would probably produce more fish than they could plant.

As they say, the rest is history.

For those who can handle the severity of the desert in August, there's still some top-water action providing a few anglers with stripers out at the lake's lower basin and the Cottonwood Cove area on Lake Mohave. Quick reminder: Make sure you have a current fishing license and a copy of the fishing regulations.

A list of authorized fishing guides for the Lake Mead National Recreation Area can be obtained from the National Park Service or the Nevada Division of Wildlife.

The Nevada Striper Club is dedicated to the sport of fishing. Members are eager to share their knowledge with interested anglers. The club meets at 7:30 p.m. on the second Thursday of every month at Lake Mead Lounge and Casino, 846 E. Lake Mead Drive in Henderson. Meetings are open to the public.

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Until next week, enjoy the Great Outdoors.