Capt. Don Martin Report post Posted June 26, 2013 Fellow anglers: Despite the full moon, the striper fishing at night on Lake Mead has been smoking! Our trips are seeing anglers and myself bringing from 73 to 157 fish brought in per night, and that's not a fish story. Here is the proof, the photos! These are all from June! Got some room for mid week July bookings (weekends all booked), and if you bring a youth under 18 as one of anglers, I'm reducing the nightly rate a bunch! Basic rate is $450 a night for two adult anglers. Two more adults can come along for $100 each. Do the math, four adult anglers come, you split the fee it is about $162 each. Bring a young angler, basic cost is $250 for two adults and $50 each for anglers under 18. Take home all the good eating fish we catch. No limit on stripers under 20 inches. Trips included filleting your catch and packing them in ice. Soft drinks/bottled water included. NO ALCOHOL allowed! Got plenty of references for you to call to verify my operation. This is the real deal. Perfect for a family who wants to see the wife and kids catch fish. I even furnish loaner rods/reels if you don't have them. You need only a fishing license and a Arizona Colorado River stamp. I'm the only licensed fishing guide on the east end of Lake Mead. I am a licensed captain by the U.S. Coast Guard. Striper Hunters is also licensed by the Lake Mead National Recreational Area, and I am a licensed hunting/fishing guide through the Arizona Game & Fish Department. I use a 21 foot Chico Chevy powered jet boat in my fishing operation that is equipped with a Eagle color fish finder that also has GPS. Been doing this for many years and have lots and lots of satified clients, who ultimately become friends. Some of my past clientsfriends are members of the Arizona Game & Fish Department! I exclusively use Hydro Glow fishing lights in my fishing operation! Give me a call at 928-681-4867 or email me at info@striperhunters.com Let's go fishing! Capt. Don Martin Striper Hunters Meadview AZ Anderson family trip 127 fish Butler family trip 73 fish Gonzales trip 157 fish Powell family trip 96 fish Sunset on Lake Mead Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bbd1234 Report post Posted June 26, 2013 That's badass Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest oneshot Report post Posted June 26, 2013 Are you a sponser of CWT.com??? And is there that many stripers you can take a boat-load without hurting the fishery???. No size or possession limit??? Comeing from an area almost lost all their Stripers to overfishing makes me ask.... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Becker Report post Posted June 26, 2013 Oneshot, IMO Most of the time in our lakes the striper population explodes to such high numbers that it actually hurts the fishery. Once they get to high enough numbers you start seeing the effect in the quality of fish. Lake Powell is a good example. Since I was a kid we have summer vacations up there every year. We used to sit on the cliff faces and catch GOOD stripers. I am sure lots of you guys on here have. You could see the schools of them come by and watch everybody hook up down the line as they passed through. I haven't gone up there in a couple years, but over the course of the population getting out of control you could see the effect year after year, to the point of one the last times I was up there, the fish would be pretty much dead before you could real them to the boat. Skinny, small, half dead fish swimming around. Being that they are such veracious predators, and prolific breeders you really have to be careful to not let their populations get out of control. They will eat themselves out of house and home. I believe this is usually the case you see vs actual over fishing. Keeping them at a sustainable population with enough food to keep them healthy is the trick. In reality we have had to find out more the hard way of what that system looks like. Remember stripers are originally sea run fish. I believe we accidentally found out they could survive their whole life in a fresh water environment when some got trapped in a lake after the dam was built. Being that they are quote "non-native" which most, if not all of our "sport fish" are, you have to be really careful with the impacts they can have. Especially when they as prolific as stripers are. Thusly what you are seeing over the last few years is no limit on numbers or size, so that we can try and keep them in check. 1 Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
ForkHorn Report post Posted June 26, 2013 This^^ . Most of the fish in the pictures look stunted. The best way to help a stunted population is to remove a bunch! If there was a huge variation of size classes with lots of good fish mixed in that would be a different story. Great job Capt! A trip with you sounds like a blast. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
joeeden Report post Posted June 26, 2013 Becker said it perfectly. Before kids we would run to Powell a lot! There is a delicate balance between shad and striper populations. When shad are over abundant, stripers are fat and happy and can be tougher to catch. When the shad population is lower, you will see bigger, hungrier stripers. It appears the population is stunted at Powell, which is the extreme, and why you see the majority of the fish being small.(too many fish, not enough food) Harvesting as many as we can is all we can do! I have fond memories of 6-8lb stripers being the norm, with bigger ones for the lucky angler. That only happens when the stars align with shad populations. Now I really want to go to Powell! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest oneshot Report post Posted June 26, 2013 Yeah I saw that with the stunted fish, and I read the regs later.... That size Striper would be small bait back east, we use 3-5 lbs shad for live bait on the Hudson River... It's good to clean-up the smalls so bigger fish get some feed... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
bowhunter4life Report post Posted June 26, 2013 I second Don on this trip, not sure if Don broke our single night record of 263 fish a few years back in a single night between 3 guys. Sure was a blast and some great fillets! Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
azbiggamenv Report post Posted July 24, 2013 been on Capt. Don s fishing trip ... 1st rate,a good family outing,but BEWARE ? Yours hands will be in bad shape by following sunup because of unhooking so many "F- en Fish" Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
hoghntr Report post Posted July 25, 2013 Hands! heck i could harldly lift my arms my shoulders were killin me mornin after Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
DonnieT. Report post Posted August 2, 2013 We fished last summer with Capt.Don. The fishing was unreal. I couldn't catch them fast enough. My wife who doesn't like to stay up all night caught fish, and lost about 50 fish due to the fact she kept falling asleep. She usually works 12hr. day shifts. Don is a great fisherman and knows his waters. Will be doing a trip again for sure. I would recommend this trip, nice for families. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
