Striped Bass Fishing with Bobby Barrack

I am addicted to striped bass fishing. My addiction to catching stripers once contributed to the termination of a relationship with a girl, it has cost me hundreds of dollars and has at times, affected my work performance. Why do I do it and why do I like it as much as largemouth bass fishing…because those fish can pull. They are aggressive and their topwater strikes are nothing short of amazing.

My knowledge about catching linesiders is somewhat limited. I mostly learned how to catch stripers by talking briefly with Steve LaRussa at Coyote Bait & Tackle, reading quite a few articles on the web, and getting out as much as possible during the striper season.  At first, I quickly grew frustrated. It felt as though I was ‘blind’ casting my way through the Delta while hunting for these fish. What I really needed was some direction from someone who knew what they were doing. So, I decided to search for a guide who knew how stripers migrated through the delta. A professional who could take me ot and show me what it takes to land big fish. I didn’t want to take the trolling route, I wanted to go with someone who knew how to plug for these things.

After researching on the web, I came across Bobby Barrack’s website. It is stated on his homepage that he does guided striper trips. I then took a look at his photo gallery. His clients have caught some hogs…big, big stripers. Some of the photos show his clients holding their fish like a sack of potatoes. After looking at those photos, I assumed that this is probably the guy I needed to talk to.

Bobby Barrack is a Bay Area born fisherman. He decided to move near the California Delta because he spent so much time out on the river anyways. I asked him how long he has been guiding and his response was, “Oh, only 12 years.” That’s longer than I have been an avid fisherman! I also asked him what draws him to striper fishing and he stated that it is because he has been doing it since the 80’s.  It felt good to fish with Bobby on the Delta for the linesiders because you can see that his passion for largemouth bass fishing spills into his techniques for catching the Big Mo’s. If you were to ask a trolling fisherman to plug all day for these freight trains, he would probably laugh in your face. Some people cannot grasp investing an entire day into plugging for stripers and that is because they are not ‘bass fisherman’.

I decided to split the cost of the trip with my stubborn father to learn that plugging for stripers can be fun. My Dad loves striper fishing as much as I do. Except, he likes to baitfish and troll for them. Getting him to use a bait caster is hard enough so selling him Bobby’s services was going to be tougher. Once I showed my Dad Bobby’s photo gallery, he quickly decided that it might not be a bad idea.

The plan was to meet at Russo’s Marina at the butt crack of dawn, the best time to catch these fish on topwater lures. Due to my fathers desire to take long morning showers, we were late by about 15 minutes. Who knows, that fifteen minutes may have cost us a 30 pounder. Maybe two. If you were to ask me any question about striper plugging, I would reply with this statement, “BE ON THE WATER RIGHT BEFORE THE SUN STARTS TO LIGHT UP THE SKY IF YOU WANT TO CATCH A BIG STRIPER ON A TOPWATER LURE”.

When we arrived, I was very excited to see that we would be navigating the Delta on a 21 ft Ranger dubbed, “El Sappo”. Before this trip, I had never been on a bass boat of this size. Deck room, lots and lots of deck room.

Through out the entire day, we fished an area of the Delta that I was already familiar with. I previously had only fished for largemouth bass in this area, so fishing for stripers here was all new to me.  The most important thing I learned about fishing for stripers was to move a lot when searching for these fish. We would give every spot a good 10-30 minutes of plugging, and then move. Even though we bounced around, Bobby definitely proved to me that you are able to recycle a spot. If they were there earlier in the day, hit your baits, then left. They may return.

All in all, the trip produced a 13 pounder, a few around 10 and a bunch in between shaker size to 5 pounds. I missed a big one, which straightened the eye of the hook holder on my Lunker Punker Jr due to a heavy drag setting, and my Dad missed another big one because he set into the fish too early. Those fish were definitely in the 10 plus pound zone. Who knows, maybe bigger. There was also a time when a fish followed Bobby’s bait that was “BIG!!” Unfortunately, we couldn’t get her to commit to our baits.  Bobby also explained that sometimes the big fish grab the bait with a ”slurp” and when you hear that sound, you know she is big. Sure enough, another striper missed my bait later in the day which made this sound.

I learned a lot fishing with Bobby Barrack. The most important things were to be patient when searching for stripers that are willing to commit to topwater baits, do not be scared to fish water as shallow as 3 feet, find some moving water, and move if you aren’t catching anything. When you see those linesiders busting bait on the top, cast those lures out towards them and hang on!

If I was rich, I would do it again. Maybe I’d book a trip in September when you can still catch some largemouth on frogs and stripers on Lunker Punkers. Thanks Bobby for convincing my Dad that plugging for stripers is awesome.

If you are interested on booking a trip with Bobby, check out his website, http://www.bobbybarrack.com. You can also call him at (925) 684-9904. Be sure to tell him that Mario and Marce Sr. sent you.

Bobby’s Gear:

Lunker Punker Jr.

• ROD: Falcon Cara T7- Bobby’s Perfect Frog Rod/CC-8-2710XHT/ 7’ 10”
• REEL: Shimano 200DHSV
• LINE: 65# Spiderwire Stealth

Lucky Craft 127 Rip Bait

• ROD: Falcon Cara T7/CC-5-17MH/ 7’
• REEL: ABU Garcia Revo 7:1
• LINE: Berkley Trilene 100% Fluorocarbon, 15# test

Pencil Popper

• ROD: Falcon Cara T7/Swimbait/CCB-8-173SW
• REEL: ABU Garcia Revo 7:1
• LINE: 65# Spiderwire Stealth