Willow Beach AZ tips for striped bass?

[Jeremy Lee]

Hey guys,

 

Planning on spending a night at Willow Beach AZ in early October on the way back from the Grand Canyon. Was hoping to target stripers (and trout) either by shore or possibly float tube (I'm currently in the process of trying to add oars to an outcast super fat cat lcs float tube). Was looking for suggestions on how to target these fish in freshwater whether off the tube or from shore and really just making the most of my time there since it's going to be limited. Also looking suggestions on gear to bring. I have some 300 and 400 sized baitcasters (concept z and okuma komodos) as well as heavier conventional gear. Spinning gear is 4000 at the biggest. My bigger 6000 sized reels are up in the Bay Area currently. I have targeted and caught a striper in the surf but nothing from freshwater yet so definitely a noob.

 

Thanks

 

 

[Smt89014]

Hi Jeremy!

   Vegas native here, willow beach is our backyard.  You will here a lot of “pros” to tell you to use artificial lures.  However these are not salt water stripers.  Salties are voracious eaters who will consume anything they can fit in their mouth.  Lake striper, especially at Willow beach are very picky about what they eat.  Only really two ways your going to catch striper.  First is bring  a bait fish net and try to catch some live threadfin or gizzard shad.  Second, and probably the easiest option, is a frozen bag of chovies from the bait shop.  Stripers crush anchovies.  They sell them right at the marina( note the marina doesn’t open til 8 am so I’d get them the night before).  Live can be hit or miss depending on how active the shad are on the hook.  It’s winter so your unlikely to reach the stripers from shore.  Float tube with bait 2 feet below the surface on a bobber works for me every time.  Also note you might want to bring a fish finder.  They tend to go very deep.  Good luck!

[Jeremy Lee]

On 1/29/2021 at 11:07 PM, Smt89014 said:

Hi Jeremy!

   Vegas native here, willow beach is our backyard.  You will here a lot of “pros” to tell you to use artificial lures.  However these are not salt water stripers.  Salties are voracious eaters who will consume anything they can fit in their mouth.  Lake striper, especially at Willow beach are very picky about what they eat.  Only really two ways your going to catch striper.  First is bring  a bait fish net and try to catch some live threadfin or gizzard shad.  Second, and probably the easiest option, is a frozen bag of chovies from the bait shop.  Stripers crush anchovies.  They sell them right at the marina( note the marina doesn’t open til 8 am so I’d get them the night before).  Live can be hit or miss depending on how active the shad are on the hook.  It’s winter so your unlikely to reach the stripers from shore.  Float tube with bait 2 feet below the surface on a bobber works for me every time.  Also note you might want to bring a fish finder.  They tend to go very deep.  Good luck!

 

Thanks for the tip! I tried 'trolling' a glide bait and also AC Plug but it was fruitless. I think I got a bump on the glide bait but that was it. The toughest part was trying to get around in the tube LOL. The current was moving a little too fast for the tube. I'm glad I had installed oars on it else I would have gotten stranded down river somewhere. 

 

Next time I'll see about catching baitfish or grabbing some frozen anchovies. Good tip on the bobber. I'll give it a go next time. I did have a Deeper Pro+ that I borrowed from a buddy and saw some nice marks on it (pretty sure there were stripers in the mix) but just couldn't get them to bite.