Striper outing slow but worthwhile

The store clerk was organizing a display out front when I pulled into the parking lot of the bait and tackle shop. He followed me inside the store but didn't return my greeting. I suppose it was still too early in the morning to call it "good." For some folks it's just that way.

''I'm looking for an L.A. Slider or two. Have you got any left?'' I asked the clerk.

He responded with a grunt and a wave of his hand, which I interpreted to be directions. My guess turned out to be right, and I quickly found what I was looking for. After grabbing a couple of Sliders, I stopped by the freezer for some anchovies and braced myself for yet another friendly encounter with the clerk. This time he managed to say just enough to let me how much I owed but nothing more.

Not even a "good luck" as I went out the door.

I arrived at Roger's house with a few minutes to spare, and after a brief introduction to his other guest, Voe, we loaded up our gear and drove to Willow Beach.

We launched the boat on glass-smooth water and motored south toward Placer Cove, where we hoped to catch a double-digit striper or two following a trout plant by the state wildlife department.

Along our way, we passed multiple species of waterfowl, had a good look at a bald eagle and saw a few of the desert bighorn sheep that live along the Colorado River. The boat ride alone was worth the trip.

When we arrived at Placer Cove, more than two dozen anglers already lined the shore, each one with his real estate marked with items such as camp chairs or tackle boxes.

Since most were standing around talking, it was easy to see the trout plant had not yet occurred. So we set up the downriggers and trolled our way south to an area where Voe often has success.

We marked a few fish over the next couple of hours, but the only hookups we had were a couple of rocks and submerged brush.

After taking a short snack break, Roger picked up his rod and began casting his L.A. Slider.

I laughed and asked why he was casting the trout imitation, because we hadn't seen any fish. Suddenly Roger's fishing rod bent over hard and his drag started singing.

''You can't catch fish if your bait's not in the water!'' he said.

Though the striper wasn't a double-digit fish, it did weigh in at 8 pounds and measured 26 inches long. It was definitely enough to get us back to work.

We fished that area for about another hour or so without so much as another hit and then made our back to Placer Cove.

By the way the shore anglers were casting their rods, it was easy to see the trout plant had taken place. So we set up at the cove's mouth and spent the next couple of hours casting trout imitations without success.

By day's end, we had just the one fish for our efforts but decided the trip was worth it despite our lack of success.

I felt good about our outing until the next day when I met another angler who carried a smart-aleck phone full of big-fish pictures. As he thumbed through the photos, he explained that he and his partners have been catching stripers weighing 20 pounds or more all winter.

It was then I decided that grunts are sometimes a good way to respond. Some people just shouldn't be allowed to carry cell phones.

Freelance writer Doug Nielsen is a conservation educator for the Nevada Department of Wildlife. His "In the Outdoors" column, published Thursday in the Las Vegas Review-Journal, is not affiliated with or endorsed by the NDOW. Any opinions he states in his column are his own. He can be reached at intheoutdoorslv@gmail.com.