By Paul Lebowitz

UKIAH - Three kayaks glided quietly across the still surface of the water. In the fading light of a springtime evening all was peaceful on Lake Mendocino, but the serenity wasn’t going to last.

Sharp-eyed Chris White’s excited voice broke the silence as he urgently called, “There they are, look there!” With a youngster’s boundless energy, he spun his kayak and raced off towards a distant commotion.

His father Sean White, owner of the Great White Kayak Company, and I followed at a more deliberate pace, confident the striped bass action was just beginning.

That first boil of fish subsided before eleven year old Chris could reach it. As we caught up, the water erupted 200 feet to our right. Silvery, pin-striped torpedoes jumped and slashed furiously across the water’s surface. Chris had just started in their direction when his trolling outfit baited with a golden shiner bent over. Fish on!

Chris dropped his paddle and grabbed the rod. Sean and I, lacking his son’s quick luck, cast into the frenzy of roiling stripers. With acres of fish boiling around us, we were both soon pulling on strong fish. Rather, the powerful fish were pulling us, towing our kayaks at a good clip. My fish seemed to be tiring, so I put on the pressure. With a sudden surge the fish ripped free, and my first freshwater “sleigh ride” came to an abrupt and disappointing end. I reeled in the line to find the tiny treble hook on my small 1-inch Kastmaster mangled and twisted. The boil sank out, and quiet returned momentarily to the evening.

Sean, still patiently fighting his fish, noticed my predicament. “Tie on that Storm, quick! When they come back, cast it out and burn it back,” he shouted. He meant the 3-inch Storm Swim Shad plastic he’d given me earlier.

I complied just in time, as the fish popped back up a few hundred feet away. My second cast among the frothing fish was hammered right at boatside. Snap! With so little line out, the 8-pound test monofilament couldn’t stand the strain.

My frustration was tempered by happy shouts of youthful success. Halfway across the lake, where his fish had pulled him, Chris White was triumphantly holding up a big striper for his father and me to see. He paddled over to give us a closer look. In the meantime, Sean White smoothly landed his own nice striped bass. We paused to record a priceless moment of father-son victory. 

With the action now too distant to merit a chase, we talked about striper fishing on Lake Mendocino as we waited for the fish to come back into range.

The elder White explained that the season starts each year in early spring, when the lake starts to clear after the winter’s rains. At first, while clarity is limited to three or four feet, slowly trolling live golden shiners is the way to go. Indeed, golden shiners are effective nearly year-round. White rigs them simply, nose-hooking the shiners on a size 1 Owner hook or other chemically sharpened bait hook. He uses a 3-foot leader of 12-pound test fluorocarbon (White feels stripers are line-shy), and weighs it down with a ¼-ounce barrel sinker.

The surface action doesn’t heat up until the small, fragile threadfin shad school and spawn. Then it is fast and furious until the water gets too warm sometime in early summer. In the waning months of the year, after the lake has turned over and the water temperature has cooled, the striper bite turns back on. “I’ve been out here by myself, nailing stripers at Thanksgiving, but it can be miserably cold,” explained White.

We watched as a powerboat tried to slide up to a big boil. The fish melted away before the angler on board could get off a cast. “The stripers are very spooky,” White said. “Powerboats put them under, but they don’t notice kayaks. Sometimes they bump into my boat,” he continued. Another power boater was sitting at anchor, patiently waiting for the fish to come to him. The bent rods indicated he’d had the right idea.

Apparently boiling stripers are very selective about the baits they’ll take. “The first time I was out here,” White was telling me, “I chased boiling fish all day. I threw everything I owned and they didn’t touch it.” It took a while for a frustrated White to see the light.

“When they are up, the stripers are keyed in on small baits. With anything over three inches, it’s not happening,” said White.

The two best baits he’s found are small Storm Swim Shads in the shad color and ¼-ounce Kastmasters. The size disparity between the small baits and their tiny hooks, and the powerful 7- to 10-pound and up striped bass, means a smooth drag fished loosely is critical. Fortunately, Lake Mendocino lacks structure for the fish to run to and break off. That explained the slow, patient fight the Whites used to land their fish. Taking their examples to heart, I reset my drags so loose a stiff gust of wind could strip off line.

The fish were still popping up all across the lake, but the sun was hanging very low on the horizon, so we started to slowly troll our way back to the launch ramp. Luck was with me, as the fresh shiner I’d just pinned on was picked off. This striper spun me around, and then dragged me and my kayak back towards the far side of the lake.

This time I fought the fish gingerly, using constant steady pressure to slowly tire the fish. After a time that seemed like forever, but was probably only ten minutes, the fish came meekly to color and each of our trio had a striped bass.

Sean White has a good thing going, and knows it. Lake Mendocino, with its hefty striped bass and ferocious acres-wide boils, offers a kayak fishing experience every bit as good as he’d find in the salt. White welcomes questions about fishing his beautiful backyard lake. Contact him via the Great White Kayak Company website: www.gwkc.com.

A PROUD FATHER-SON moment, as Chris and Sean White share striper success.

CHRIS BAUGH fights a Lake Mendocino striper. Easily spooked stripers pay no heed to quiet kayaks. PHOTO COURTESY SEAN WHITE

LAKE MENDOCINO striped bass average 7- to 10-pounds and 28- to 30-inches long. PHOTO COURTESY SEAN WHITE

FOR SLOW trolling for stripers, live golden shiners are the ticket.. PHOTO COURTESY SEAN WHITE

YOUNG Chris White is already a master of kayak striper fishing.

IN ADDITION to fishing, beautiful lake Mendocino offers camping, hiking, mountain biking, swimming, horseback riding, and picnicking. PHOTO COURTESY SEAN WHITE