Lake Havasu Striper Bass Fishing

[Axle]

How Stripped bass taste?

They tasted just like smallmouth bass to me. I doubt I would be able to tell them apart in a blind taste test.

Another interesting experience I had was - I hooked into a 2.5lb striper and when bringing it up, there was a much larger smallmouth bass following it and darting all around it. The smallmouth almost swam right into the net for us.
We did see some smallmouth bass on the nests. They had just spawned.

[lokidog]

Those Mitchel spinners are probably 70's vintage, that is when we started using them instead of Zebcos.

I fished Lake Mead for Stripers way back when, but it was July.  We went out looking for fish working bait balls and then zoomed over and casted jigs into them on the surface.  What a blast!

And delicious too!

[wapiti hunter2]

I grew up down there. In the 70's the stripers typically went 10 to 20 lbs. There were tons of trout for food. Now days just schools of smaller ones and the trout are gone. Occasional lunker but the little ones get the bait. Those reels are Garcia Mitchel 300's. Early 70's. I still have one. Best part is the spools change quickly. Great reels. Worth cleaning up and keeping. A little light for lunker stripers though. My personal best was 25 lbs. It was as long as my fishing partners daughter was tall, made a great picture.

[Axle]

I grew up down there. In the 70's the stripers typically went 10 to 20 lbs. There were tons of trout for food. Now days just schools of smaller ones and the trout are gone. Occasional lunker but the little ones get the bait. Those reels are Garcia Mitchel 300's. Early 70's. I still have one. Best part is the spools change quickly. Great reels. Worth cleaning up and keeping. A little light for lunker stripers though. My personal best was 25 lbs. It was as long as my fishing partners daughter was tall, made a great picture.

I was guessing on the age of the reels. Can't ever remember seeing one before.

So - how do the big stripers taste? Are they as good as the smaller ones?

My thoughts are that the stripers are aggressive (similar to walleye) and they eat everything in the lake.

[wapiti hunter2]

I grew up down there. In the 70's the stripers typically went 10 to 20 lbs. There were tons of trout for food. Now days just schools of smaller ones and the trout are gone. Occasional lunker but the little ones get the bait. Those reels are Garcia Mitchel 300's. Early 70's. I still have one. Best part is the spools change quickly. Great reels. Worth cleaning up and keeping. A little light for lunker stripers though. My personal best was 25 lbs. It was as long as my fishing partners daughter was tall, made a great picture.

I was guessing on the age of the reels. Can't ever remember seeing one before.

So - how do the big stripers taste? Are they as good as the smaller ones?

My thoughts are that the stripers are aggressive (similar to walleye) and they eat everything in the lake.

I remember that they were excellent eating. I was used to trout and LMB so it was a huge change. They do eat everything in the lake. They were introduced into Lake Mead and Havasu in the late 1960's to add an addition to the LMB and trout fishing. By the early 1970's they were taking over as the best/biggest fish in the lakes and trout were becoming rare. When you got a trout, it was big because the smaller ones were bait for the stripers. By 1980, they had taken over. Now Lake Mead is similar to Lake Havasu. Big schools of small stripers everywhere and nothing else. An ecologic miss calculation with good intention.

[lokidog]

Those "smaller" ones are delicious and the big 36+ inchers are as well.

[Axle]

Good to know the bigger ones are good eating too. 
I'll tell my folks.
I was curious because of how it is with walleye being 'not so good' when they get big.

[lokidog]

Good to know the bigger ones are good eating too. 
I'll tell my folks.
I was curious because of how it is with walleye being 'not so good' when they get big.

How big is big for walleye?  I caught a 32" once and it was delicious, tasted like... walleye.   

[PolarBear]

Those Mitchel spinners are probably 70's vintage, that is when we started using them instead of Zebcos.

I fished Lake Mead for Stripers way back when, but it was July.  We went out looking for fish working bait balls and then zoomed over and casted jigs into them on the surface.  What a blast!

And delicious too!

We did that (jigs and top water) on the Sacramento Delta.  Had a couple in the 20's that burned up my reels.  Love sight fishing for those things!

[Naches Sportsman]

I'm jealous .

I was down there last July for work on the refuge baking in the mid 120's. While in the AC, I was starting at the Colorado and thought about the bass fishing. It's on my list someday to go down there when it's not extremely hot out and do some fishing.

I don't understand how people can live down there in the summer months.

[Axle]

Good to know the bigger ones are good eating too. 
I'll tell my folks.
I was curious because of how it is with walleye being 'not so good' when they get big.

How big is big for walleye?  I caught a 32" once and it was delicious, tasted like... walleye.   

I've never caught a walleye that big but I've heard many guys say the big ones don't taste very good.
I talked to a guy in person at Potholes a couple years back. He caught a very large walleye (thirty-some inches long). Being curious, I asked how it tasted. He said if he ever gets another one that big, it's going back in the water (said he had a hard time eating it). I've heard that from so many people that I'll probably chuck the big ones back in the water if I ever get one.
I would guess the time of year, what they were eating, and water quality may have an impact on quality of meat.

[Axle]

I'm jealous .

I was down there last July for work on the refuge baking in the mid 120's. While in the AC, I was starting at the Colorado and thought about the bass fishing. It's on my list someday to go down there when it's not extremely hot out and do some fishing.

I don't understand how people can live down there in the summer months.

They are called 'snow birds' 
I think that place is mostly vacant in summer.

[lokidog]

Good to know the bigger ones are good eating too. 
I'll tell my folks.
I was curious because of how it is with walleye being 'not so good' when they get big.

How big is big for walleye?  I caught a 32" once and it was delicious, tasted like... walleye.   

I've never caught a walleye that big but I've heard many guys say the big ones don't taste very good.
I talked to a guy in person at Potholes a couple years back. He caught a very large walleye (thirty-some inches long). Being curious, I asked how it tasted. He said if he ever gets another one that big, it's going back in the water (said he had a hard time eating it). I've heard that from so many people that I'll probably chuck the big ones back in the water if I ever get one.
I would guess the time of year, what they were eating, and water quality may have an impact on quality of meat.

Interesting... the one I caught was out of Potholes as well. It was caught in May/June.  I've never had a large fish of any kind that tasted worse than the smaller version of it. Now, if someone said they didn't like the texture, I could understand that as the muscle grain definitely gets larger as a fish gets larger, However, to me, it all tastes the same and good.    I got a 121 pound halibut and a couple people on the boat commented how they'd rather eat a 40 pound halibut, maybe because that was all they caught....