Capt. Don Martin
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Posts posted by Capt. Don Martin
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While some of the Arizona Wildlife Outfitters team was hunting with Jerry Weiers in the Garden of Eden in 15D North, another of our guides Tad Levandowski, was with Colorado resident Jerry Uzyn who had drawn tag 1 in Unit 15B West, which is like the Sahara Desert of northwest Arizona. Uzyn had drawn the tag with just 7 bonus points.
With sheep numbers way down in this unit, it became obvious that just finding a decent ram here was going to be tough.
In the G&F aerial survey of the unit they spotted just ONE ram that they felt would score over 150!
For the last two years our hunters have taken rams that scored between 154 and 158 and that was what we were looking for.
But as former sheep guide Larry Heathington stated, "You can't kill what isn't there!"
We learned that on Day two one of the other tags holders spotted a group of rams coming across one of the sheep overpasses on Highway 93. When the rams were safely in Unit 15B West he took the oldest ram in that group that scored 150!
Then a couple of days later, the other tag holder took a 6 year old ram that scored 135!
By now some of the AWO team were done in Unit 15D North, so we all packed up and headed over to help Tad and Jerry.
There were a few rams found, but nothing that we were interested in.
We hunted for a full 11 days, and looked and looked and looked some more.
We just could not find any older rams, and actually saw very few sheep at all!
Then on Day 11, Ryan Chan once more spotted a group of about 16 sheep, including 5 rams about 3 miles up on the mountain
This was the largest ram we had seen in the unit and we made the decision to make a stalk.
With rain, snow and hail coming down, Jerry anchored the 6 year old ram at 226 yards!
This was without a doubt, the toughest sheep hunt that we've been on in many years!
My advice to hunters who may apply for a tag here in 2016? DON'T! sheep numbers are dropping and quality rams are few and far between,
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I had the honor to assist Jerry Weiers on his sheep hunt in Unit 15D North.
Jerry had waited something like 23 years to get a tag.
Helping on this hunt was Arizona Wildlife Outfitters guide Cody Jalbert, along with friends Ryan and Jay Chan.
In the end, we had a couple more friends Johnnie Hoeft and Ryan Borden who helped pack the ram off the mountain.
We saw a lot of rams and lots of burros too..BLM ought to get off their donkeys and do something before something bad happens again like it did at Cool Springs many years ago.
Jerry had a lot of choices and on Day 3, he decided on this long horned giant that Ryan Chan spotted.
Ram was scored by AZ G&F in Region at 168 6/8 (gross) and 168 2/8 (Net) and was just 6 years old!
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Just want to say to Bruce that it was an honor, and a pleasure for him to let me and Laura come down to help.
Bruce is a friend, and he is a man who says what he means, and means what he says.
We enjoyed the day on the mountain with him and Danye and his awesome ram!
When he was sending me some of the pictures he posted through out the month, I like many of you, told him he was looking at some really good rams that needed a closer look.
But knowing he was in no hurry, it sure didn't surprise me that he was passing a lot of rams just so he could keep experiencing what sheep hunting is all about.
I'll share some of my favorite pictures that I took!
Again I say "Congratulations" to my friend for getting a neat ram and for letting us come down on the pack out.
A good friend, and a good man, thanks for letting us share your final day "on the mountain."
You did it your way...
Don Martin
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Last week I got a very unusual call from the Arizona Game & Fish Department and I'm wondering if any of YOU got the same call.
I got a call from a lady who said her name was I think Carol Coleman.
She said that there had been a error in loading my application for the spring Gould's turkey tag and that they were going to do another drawing and she asked if I wanted to be in it?
I asked how many people were affected by the Department's mistake and she said she didn't know,but thought she had about 20 names.
She told me I had three options, one of them being entered into a new draw if I gave up my right to appeal the mistake.
I was kinda taken back by this and said, "sure put me in the new draw!"
I commented that my odds had to be better in this new drawing and she said that no, this drawing would be the same odds as the other one.
Well now I'm wondering if I did the right thing by waiving my right to appeal to the Department about this mess up.
And I'm wondering just exactly what happened and how many people were affected by the mistake.
I know of one other Arizona hunter, Garth Goodrich, who got the same call.
He like me, opted to get into this next draw.
Just wondering if any more out there got this call? This seems kinda odd to me.
I also got the name and number of another lady that Carol said I could call. Her name is Mary Grace..I'm to call her on Tuesday.
Don Martin
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The Mohave Arms Collectors Association, which is an awesome group of guys and gals in Mohave County, who are collector's firearms old and new, are sponsoring a fund raiser that I think you might want to know about.
These folks have donated a lot of money in the past that I've used to purchase brand new binoculars for young people in our Hunter Education classes.
In appreciation for all they have done, I have donated a free striper fishing for two anglers; your choice of the combination, for the summer of 2016.
It works like this. They have 400 tickets that they are selling for $5 each or 5 for $20.
The winner, who will be chosen at their April meeting, will then set up a date they want to go fishing. If the winner wants to bring up two more people, they can do it for a nominal cost.
If you are interested in this, you'll need to call MACA president Jerry Haworth at 928-764-1739 or Keith Gilbert at 928-681-4476 to find out all the details. Or you can call me at 928-303-9481 and I can tell you we need to do.
Thanks,
Capt. Don Martin
Striper Hunters
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I use the Fiocchi match ammo that is loaded with Sierra 77 grain hollow point boat tail in my Rock River Arms AR and I have several one shot stops with this load.
Super accurate round in my AR. Don't need to shoot anything other bullet in it.
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Just wondered what the going rate is for a shoulder mount for a javelina?
Don Martin
Arizona Wildlife Outfitters
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I think I know which buck you got and where!
WE had watched that buck all Sunday morning. He had two does with him and was at the base of the mountain. There was a herd of about 14 under him that had three bucks with them. Another guy in a grey 4 Runner had parked down the road and was up in the timber and I saw him make a move on the three but they got in front of him.
We figured he was there first, so we we left.
Anyway, when we came back later on we saw Shane's truck and probably yours (Grey Chevy I think) and I saw a guy walking up the mountain carrying a rifle.
Awesome buck! Good job!
I do have some pictures of him that morning from over a mile away. I told the boys he was a shooter....
Don Martin
Arizona Wildlife Outfitters
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Lake Havasu City resident Michael Hulsey got luck and drew a general rifle antelope tag in Unit 10 this year.
Mike and I, along with AWO guides including Cody Jalbert and Tad Levandowski, scouted the unit before his hunt started.
We saw a number of good bucks during our scouting trips.
On Day 2 friend Socky Kogianes from Kingman came out and went along with Mike and Cody.
Mike spotted this great buck 1.2 miles away and knew in an instant it was the buck he wanted.
It was a long and arduous stalk but they got to within 189 yards of this beast and when he stepped out from his dozen or so does, Mike hammered him with one shot from his Dakota Arms in 300 Win Mag.
Buck was "green scored" at 85 inches.
Henry Aguilar of Henry's Artistic Wildlife in Kingman got the nod from Mike to do the taxidermy work on this Unit 10 trophy!
Don Martin
Arizona Wildlife Outfitters
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Being a volunteer instructor for the Arizona Game & Fish Department, and teaching Hunter Education, can at times, be a thankless job.
I know cause I've been an instructor in this program for over 20 years!
This year I had an open weekend so I offered any instructor in Region 3 the opportunity to go on a half day fishing trip on Lake Mead to rest and relax, and maybe catch a few fish.
There had been some stripers boils seen in the past few weeks, so I thought there would be a good opportunity for some of the instructors to get in on the action.
Taking me up on the offer was long time instructor Jay Chan, John Schmidt, and volunteer assistant Laura Borden..
We would fish for a half day out of the Striper Hunters jet boat, which an electric trolling motor on the front.
We left the dock at around 5:15 a.m. and headed to the place where we often see a lot of striper boils.
We looked around for a few minutes but saw NOTHING!
At sun up, we headed down lake to see if we could find some largemouth or smallmouth action in Hualapai Cove.
During out trip down lake we saw a herd of 13 wild cattle that live on the lake short about 3 miles from South Cove.
We started off using crankbaits and I got lucky when I caught a decent striper.
Laura then caught the next fish, a largemouth bass, then Jay got into the action with a nice bass.
John Schmidt connected on a largemouth too with a crawdad looking crankbait.
As the morning wore on it got hooter but we still caught some nice fish.
Laura caught her first ever bluegill on a tube bait, my Lake Mead favorite, a Canyon Plastic oob tube
.Jay Chan got the largest largemouth of the day!
I got lucky and caught a dandy smallmouth, our best of the day!
Laura ended up catching another real nice largemouth on that oob tube!
We ended up with 17 fish in 5 hours of fishing. We got two stripers, 1 bluegill and 14 bass.
Lots of fun fishing with this bunch and I sure appreciate all they do for the Kingman Community by their service in the Hunter Education Program.
On Friday, August 14, we will be taking out Maya Kaufman and her dad Larry. Maya was our Top Honor Graduate from our class in August 2014.
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Well I got just one more weekend of striper fishing, then I'll shut down for the summer and start scouting for the upcoming big game hunts.
We had a number of good trips in June and July.
In June, we brought in 1,373 fish.
In July, almost the same number. Best year we've EVER had at Striper Hunters. Had some great anglers this year who caught a lot of fish!
Craig McMullen and his son Nate came up from Flagstaff and fished with us. Craig, who is the Region 2 Supervisor for the Arizona Game & Fish Department, is quite the angler. Craig got the 3rd largest striper of the summer, a lunker that weighed exactly 4 lbs!
Nate McMullen shows his first Lake Mead striper! Nate, who hasn't fished a lot, showed that he is going to be as good a stick as his dad.
In August the full moon really played havoc on the night time trips. We didn't have the huge numbers we had in June or July. Did get into some striper boils one morning and got 34 fish in less than an hour!
Paul DiCerbo and his sons, and a friend came up to fish with us.These guys were something else, and a heck of a lot of fun to fish with!
Paul DiCerbo shows a nice striper.
Val Morgan aka "The Catfish King" with one of the many cats he caught on their trip.
Jack Luffy and his lady friend Ashley fished with us in August. Also fishing were Jay Chan and my intern Laura Borden. We got into some nice striper boils at daylight and got 34 stripers in short order!
Ashley caught several nice stripers, including this one!
Laura Borden caught this Yellow Cat. We ended up with three that night.
I got lucky and caught my 2nd largest cat of the summer about 2:30 a.m. This guy weighed 4 lbs. 11 oz. My personal best this summer weighed 5 lbs 6 oz. Laura got the largest cat of the year, a lunker that weighed 6 lbs. 8 oz.
I am also a big game guide and I've some antelope/elk hunts to get ready for. Also looking to guide on an archery deer in 13A or 13B.
I've got sheep hunters, but could do a early and late Kaibab deer hunt too.
Give me a call at 928-303-9481 and I guarantee you I'll do your hunt a whole less than others will while at the same time offering a top notch hunt! Give me a call and let's go HUNTING!
Don Martin
Striper hunters and Arizona Wildlife Outfitters
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Since the monsoon has backed off, the striper and cat fishing on Lake Mead at South Cove has got better!
Fished with Kingman residents Dave Watson and his father Jesse Maynard who took advantage of a cancellation trip.
We had just two anglers, so my intern Laura Borden came along and fished with us.
We had a GREAT time and caught a lot of fish.
Board tells the story! Heck of a good night of fishing on Lake Mead!
Jesse Maynard took big fish honors!
Dave Watson caught several good size stripers!
My intern, Laura Borden got a real nice channel catfish and a daily double on stripers! This gal can FISH!
Next night fished with the Schupp family from Tempe.
Had Terry, his son David and grandson Justin.
Had some fun with these guys!
David got some good fish.
Justin was tired, and wasn't feeling well, so he took a siesta on the boat only an hour into the trip, while Terry hung in there till about 3 a.m.but caught a lot of fish.
They called it at 0345 and we loaded up and came in.
What a view on our way back in!
Despite their short time on the water, we did very well, all things considered!
Got trips starting Friday July 17, plus a trip on Saturday. Then got trips Monday and Tuesday!
Still got some openings for those who want to take advantage of some great Lake Mead striper and cat fishing!
Got open dates of July 23 or 24th, or 29th or 30th.
In June alone we caught 1,373 fish, and looks like we'll do close to that in July!
Now is the time to take your kids fishing--remember for the rest of the summer, kids under 18 (up to two) are gonna fish for FREE!
Good luck and good fishing!
Capt. Don Martin
Striper Hunters
P.S. I have donated several organizations who are having banquets. They include the San Tan Chapter of the Mule Deer Foundation, the Kingman Chapter of the Mule Deer Foundation and the Rocky Mountain Elk Elk Foundation in Tucson. Go bid on these trips and support all of the conservation groups who are fighting to keep wildlife on the landscape!
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The trip has been taken!
I'll let you know how we do!
Capt. Don Martin
Striper Hunters
Our Striper Hunter interns, Laura and Ryan Borden stand in front of our jet boat at South Cove at Lake Mead
This is the jet boat we use during our fishing trips. Not fast, but very stable, perfect for fishing!
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I have used the Tally Ho call for years when hunting mule deer.
Typical scenario is that I sneak into an area and glass and see if I can find anything.
If I see nothing, then I use the Tally Ho!
Works on does for sure. I think it appeals to their maternal instincts. Had em come in on the run even though they had fawns by their sides!
In 20+ years have called in just 4 bucks by themselves with this call.
But have called 100's of mule deer in with it. If the bucks are with the does, they come in, but are only following the girls.
Great archery tool for the January hunts.
Have called in deer to within 15 feet, but the "secret" is that they have not seen you. Have found that if they see you, they aren't coming in. Just my experience.
Have used it in the past to call in not only mule deer, but elk, javelina, bobcats, foxes, coyotes and even TWO mountains!
Awesome call...like my VISA card, never leave home without it!
Don Martin
Arizona Wildlife Outfitters
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The trip I was going to do with some folks from Yuma fell through due to a medical issue for the man who had bought the trip. It will be rescheduled.
But we are amped up to go out this weekend, so I'll do this!
Trip for two adults is half price this weekended only!
Trip for two is a normally $450, but this weekend just $250. And to make even better, you can bring two youngsters under age 18 for NO COST!
This is a good family trip and the opportunity to catch a lot of stripers and channel catfish.
On Sunday night, we had the pleasure of fishing with the Mayor of Glendale and my good friend Jerry Weiers and his friend Gary Hirsch.
Jay Chan and Laura Borden also fished that night and we collectively got 126 fish. We got 107 stripers and 19 channel cats! Jerry caught over 40 fish!
Their big fish was 2 lbs 14 oz., Best ten was just over 22 lbs., while best 40 hit exactly 71 lbs.
A fun trip for sure.
Call me ASAP if you want either Friday or Saturday night.
Remember this included dinner when you get there, all bait, ice and terminal tackle furnished--we even have good loaner rods/reels available!
We fish from about 9 p.m. till 5 a.m.
Come back to my fishing place, ice down the catch, either eat breakfast or go to sleep for 3-4 hours. Then we get up sort the fish, weigh them, and do the Grip N Grin photos, then Laura and I will filet your catch and pack them in ice for the trip home. Oh I forgot, Laura will make you a nice breakfast or lunch.
This offer only for Friday-Saturday or Sunday.
Call me at 928-303-9481 or email me at info@striperhunters.com
Let's go fishing!
Capt. Don Martin
Striper Hunters
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After a smoking June fishing out of South Cove on Lake Mead, the striped bass fishing has slowed down because of the monsoon.
We are still catching from 60-75 fish a night, and I suspect many anglers would be plenty happy with that.
Here are the dates that I have open in July.
And remember, kids under 18 (up to two kids) fish for FREE in July.
Here is how a "typical" trip goes with Striper Hunters.
You arrive at Martin's El Campo De Pescado in Meadview around 5 p.m.
My intern, Laura Borden will have dinner made. After eating, we'll do the required Lake Mead National Recreation Area and AZ G&F paperwork, then we'll check out your gear (replace your fishing line if needed) paint the rod tips WHITE so you can see them better, cut up bait, load up the boat and head to South Cove.
We'll launch and then head out to one of fishing holes where we will put out the Hydro Glow green LED fishing lights, and set up the four clamp on lights we use to illuminate the rods.
Got 5 gallons of "Capt. Don's Secret Sauce" we use for chum.
We suggest all anglers use TWO rods/reels to increase catch rate. We do have good loaner rods/reels for those that need them.
We typically fish until 5 a.m., that's when the shad and stripers move out into deeper water.
We head back to South Cove, load up the boat and head to the house.
At the house we unload everything out of the boat, ice down the fish, and pull the boat outside where Laura will pressure wash it.
While it is drying, you have a choice, breakfast now or take a 4 hour nap and have it then. Our master bedroom has air conditioning, the others rooms are comfortable.
When we get up, we go out and sort out the catch, weigh them, and put em on the Grip N Grin board.
Then Laura and I will start fileting the catch. Someone else will be asked to rib the filets.
After this is done, Laura will wash and pack your fish in gallon Ziploc bags and we'll get them on ice.
You need to bring a decent size ice chest to hold all of the filets--you get to keep every fish that is caught!
We have two showers at the house, so you can take a shower, get cleaned up before your drive home if you wish.
You will usually leave between 2-4 p.m.
However if you want we have a second option.
When we get back, we can sort and weigh the fish, photograph them, and then filet the catch. Then you can head home.
I don't really recommend that as you will be tired from fishing all night. Remember, safety first.
We furnish, bottled water, snack and Powerade or Gatorade during the trip. If you want soft drinks, we'll get them too and have them for your trip.
Your are welcome to bring your own drinks, however.
NO ALCOHOL is allowed on the boat, no exceptions! This is due to insurance regulations!
Right now I have the following dates open in July.8th, 9th, 14th, 15th,20th, 21st, 22nbd, 23rd, and the 24th.
Also 27th, 28th, 29th, and 30th.
Note, we fish until around August 15th and do have openings in August. Call for availability.
Cost of a trip is $450 for one or two adults. Add two more adults for $100 each. That works out to be just about $163 per person for this trip.
I can be reached by email at info@striperhunters.com or by cell at 928-303-9481.
You pick a date, and the folks you want to fish with, and let's go fishing on Lake Mead!
Capt. Don Martin
Striper Hunters
A proud sponsor of CouesWhitetail.com
We get some nice catfish besides stripers!
Capt. Martin got this nice cat that weighed 5 lbs. 6 oz.
Our Intern Laura Borden has the largest cat of the summer, a lunker that weighed 6 lbs. 8 oz. It was full of "Don's Secret Sauce" chum!
June was an AWESOME month! We had trips of 196, 199 and 204 fish!
This was the catch for Team Lippert who came all the way from Tucson to fish with us.
The Presmyk family from the Verde Valley came up and caught a lot of fish!
Team Tinnin from Bagdad each fished with just one rod/reel but put on a show catching 204 fish!
Kids catch fish too!
9 year-old Jacob Parrott took advantage of the great June bite and caught 25 fish on his own!
12-year-old Blake Eli was no slouch when it came to catching fish on the Tinnin trip!
Our first 250 fish trip in many years! John McKeehan is from Missouri and an awesome angler, and his friend Beatrice and her son Dean, along with Laura and I caught 250 stripers in 7 hours of fishing!, Now a lot of them were smaller fish, but these are really good eating size.
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Here are our rates for trips this summer.
A basic overnight trip for TWO anglers is $450, with up to two extra anglers for $100 each. Best deal is for FOUR anglers at $650. That's just $162 per angler. Kids under 18 fish for $50, but now through August ALL KIDS UNDER 18 FISH FOR FREE!
Here is what your trip package includes. You start off with dinner at Martin's El Campo de Pescado a few hours before you and your team goes out to fish. We go out at/near sundown in the 20 foot STRIPER HUNTERS jet boat. I furnish all bait, terminal tackle (specially made jig heads) soft drinks, Powerade and water. If you want snacks, let me know and I'll get them. I have also have loaner fishing poles for those that want to use them.
When we arrive, I utilize what I call "Don's Secret Sauce" for chum.
The boat is set up with clamp on 12 volt lights on all four corners, and I utilize two 12 volt HYDRO GLOW submersible LED fishing lights for fish additional attractants.
We fish to 5 a..m., come back to the house, ice down the fish and: either start working the fish OR eat breakfast OR take a 4-5 hour nap at our house. Your choice!
When we get up we sort fish, and do the Grip n Grin photos.
Then my intern, Laura Borden, and I start fileting fish.
One your fish are all fileted and packaged into one gallon zip-lock bags, you are ready to go.
We have plenty of cube ice to put on your catch, jut bring a big enough ice chest as lately our anglers have been taking home 60+ pounds of filets!
You will normally be ready to leave about 2-4 p.m.
It is in effect a TWO day trip with all the amenities you can ask for.
It is an awesome family trip--bring anyone who likes to fish--including the kids ages 9 and older, and when the fish cooperate, you'll take a lot of fish home!
I am a new sponsor of this site on Coues Whitetail.com and I look forward to making a lot of new friends as a result of these trips and being on this site!
If you would like references, I am always glad to furnish them to you. Just ask.
Oh, I forgot, I am the only fishing guide on Lake Mead that makes this offer. IF OUR BOAT DOESN'T COME IN WITH AT LEAST 30 FISH, THEN YOU GET A FREE TRIP!
You might wonder how many of these trips I have given away in the past 5 years? The answer is just ONE! On that trip, we had 27 fish....
If you have any questions or want to book a trip, I can be reached on my cell phone @ 928-303-9481 or by email at info@striperhunters.com
I should also add that each year I donate fishing trips to various conservation organizations, including but not limited to, the Arizona Desert Bighorn Sheep Society, Arizona Bowhunters Association, Mohave Sportsman Club, Arizona Antelope Foundation, Arizona Elk Society, Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation, Arizona Deer Association, Mule Deer Foundation and the Yuma Valley Rod & Gun Club. I've also donated trips to the Phoenix Christian School, Desert Christian Archers and more recently, the Jared Ornowski fund raiser. the These trips can often be purchased at below fair market value and are tax deductible. I encourage you to attend these fund raiser banquets sponsored by these groups and if you want, bid on one of our trips!
Either way, I hope that you will come up and enjoy a couple of days of fishing on Lake Mead.
We are fully licensed and insured and I'm a certified boat captain from the U.S. Coast Guard and possess what is called a 6-pack license. We are also a licensed fishing/hunting guide by the Arizona Game & Fish Department, and are permitted to operate on the Lake Mead National Recreational Area by the National Park Service.
We fish until about mid-August, when I close up to start my fall hunting business, Arizona Wildlife Outfitters.
Good luck and good fishing!
Capt. Don Martin
Striper Hunters
P.S. Watch for updates on our Facebook site! We are going to put up photos of every trip we have on this site.
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Enjoyed the video--well except the spitting and the flashing of gang signs...lol
I do have a question though.
Why do you wear a baseball hat backwards when you got the sun in your eyes?
Capt. Don Martin
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Basic food for stripers in Lake Mead is shad, either threadfin or gizzard. I have also found a few crayfish (crawdads) in their stomachs!
Stripers are way over populated in Lake Mead. AZ G&F told me once they estimated the lake's population is from 2-7 MILLION stripers! The reason for the fluctuation is that they starve to death.
Lake Mead is not a fertile lake..Shad populations fluctuate a lot too, as not a lot of nutrients flow into the lake.
For whatever reason, the fishing now at least on on the east of the lake by South Cove is awesome!
Two days after the Presmyk trip (Friday night) I had the Lippert family up from Tucson. Darrel had bought a trip that I had donated to the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation (Tucson Chapter). He brought up his sons Brandon and Dustin. My summer intern, Laura Borden also fished with us.
All we did was catch the largest 40 fish bag that we have EVER brought in. The weight of their best 40 pushed the scales to 83 lbs. 6 oz. I got lucky and got a 4 lb. 8 oz fish that I think Brandon had broke off about two hours earlier as we found one of my custom jigs in the fish's upper lip when we netted him.
We ended up with 199 fish, 194 stripers and 5 cats.
Team Lippert set a new record for our Best 10 stripers, eclipsing the record that Team Presmyk had just set. The new Big 10 weight was 27 lbs. 8 ounces. Team Presmyk had the record with 24 lbs. 8 oz. Remember the AVERAGE striper in Lake Mead weighs 1.24 lbs.!
Team Lippert took home just over 54 lbs of filets.
The next night, (Saturday) I had folks from Bagdad come up and fish with us. The trip had been organized by Lola Chiannaretto, for her father, 74 year old Bobby Tinnin. It was his Father's Day present.
Lola couldn't make the trip due to attending to her husband, so she sent up her dad, her sister Della Rodgers, her son Jesse Hobby, and 12 year old Blake Eli, Bobby's grandson.
Now these folks aren't professional anglers, they are just folks who like to fish with one rod/reel and most use a closed face Zebco type rod/reel. Bobby uses a spinning rod/reel while young Blake used one of loaner spinning rod/reel combos.
We didn't even start fishing till 10 a.m. but it was a wide open bite ALL NIGHT!
Ended up we had 204 fish, 197 stripers and 7 cats.
Our best fish weighed exactly 3 lbs., but Team Tinnin caught a bunch of good fish too. Their Big 10 weighed in at 25 lbs. 2 oz.
Their Best 40 weight was also awesome! There 40 fish weighed 81 lbs. 4 oz! They missed getting on top by just one good fish.
And they had it too, when one of them had a 3+ pound fish next to the boat and someone grabbed the line (a big no-no) and off that line that lunker went!
They also took home 59 lbs. 2 oz of striper filets and two pounds of catfish filets for a total of 61 lbs. 2 oz of filets.
Right now the fishing seems to just keep getting better and better.
In our last four trips we have brought in 681 stripers and 29 channel cats!
It is the best two weeks of striper fishing I have EVER had on Lake Mead.
If anyone wants to go on a fish catching trip, now might just be the time.
I know its short notice, but I have two trip openings starting Friday (June 26th)and going through Monday (June 28th). Trips are first come, first served.
And I'll do this. Children under 18 will fish for free on either of those trips!
A happy 12 year old, Blake Eli shows a good striper he caught. Blake got 20 fish!
Happy Father Adam Parrot with his 9 year-old son Jacob and Jacob's big fish of the trip!
9 year-old Jacob Parrot is all smiles as he reels in another one! Jacob caught 25 fish!
If you're interested in going striper fishing with your kids, a friend, husband or wife, grandpa or grandma give me a call (928-303-9481) and we'll get after them again this weekend!
I'll be doing trips until mid August!
Good luck and good fishing!
Capt. Don Martin
Striper Hunters
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As a long time (over 10 years) striper fishing guide on Lake Mead (Striper Hunters) whose clients has caught an average of about 2,000 stripers a year, I'll just throw this in for discussion.
When we started fishing for stripers many years we, like a lot of people, used the car head light in the styrofoam collar at night. It is white and we usually put out two of them, one in the front and one in the back! They worked to varying degrees.
Then a few years back I started to do some experimenting with different colors and sizes of lights. The old crappie lights drew a lot of juice from the batteries and put out limited light.
I came up with this. I now only use LED green submersible lights that are from 2 to 4 feet long. They are made by Hydro Glow and have worked well for me. I would not hesitate to recommend them to anyone who does a lot of night time fishing.
We have caught stripers, channel catfish and yellow (Bullhead) cats, carp, rainbow trout, largemouth and smallmouth bass, bluegill, gizzard shad, and even fresh water turtles while fishing under these lights!
Brings in shad--both Threadfin and Gizzards, and really sets up the food chain at night. Lights attract plankton, both Phytoplankton and Zooplankton, which are fed on by the shad.
They bring in the larger predatory fish when the food chain is established.
I know there are other light manufacturers out there, but I'm just saying that for my money, I'd go with Hydro Glow. I've never had any issues or problems with them.
These are the results from my last three night time trips out of South Cove on Lake Mead.
Note: I find that the lights work best on the dark of the moon. If the moon is out shad follow the plankton all over the lake. If it is dark, the plankton sink to the bottom of the lake and when the lights are put out, they rise up to the light and are concentrated around my lights. You can still catch fish on a moon lit night, just much tougher at times.
I also have four clip on lamps on each corner of my boat that are also 12 volt.. These additional lights, which are also LED, also helps bring in minnows, but are there primarily to give light to the anglers so they can see their poles. I also recommend painting the ends of the poles with white paint! They really glow at night with my lights and reduces eye strain.
Just my two cents!!
The fishing is getting better up here every week. If you'd like to come up for a night time trip now is the time to do it. For the rest of June, kids under 18 fish for FREE! Come and see how I got my boat set up and enjoy some great fishing at the same time!
Give me a call at 928-303-9481 or email me at info@striperhunters.com for more information and availability of dates.
Capt. Don Martin
Striper Hunters
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Want to thank Kevin Presmyk first of all for his support of the Arizona Bowhunters Association and purchasing this donated fishing trip.
We had a trip of a lifetime on Saturday night, and I really enjoyed fishing with Team Presmyk! We had about 60 fish at 2 a.m. and from then till 5 a.m. it was a total wide open bite! Kevin gave up trying to use two fishing poles!
B.J. Presmyk holds a nice striper!Not only are these guys great anglers, but when it was over they all chipped in and help with the cleanup and fileting of the 196 fish. We had 187 stripers and 9 channel cats!
Damon Presmyk was our catfish slayer, boating 4 of our 9 whiskerfish!
Good thing there is no limit on stripers UNDER 20 inches on Lake Mead! LOL
Kevin and Joshua and a nice double!I think they ended up with 56 pounds of striper filets and 4 pounds of catfish filets!
Awesome trip for sure. Right now they are in first place of our in house striper summer tournament for the Big 10 fish (24 lbs.8 oz.) and they are in the lead for the Best 40 of the summer with a weight of 79 lbs. 14 oz.!
Remember the average striper at this end of Lake Mead weighs 1.24 lbs., and they had four fish that weighed 2 lbs. 14 ounces!
Hope to see these guys again!
Capt. Don Martin
Striper Hunters
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Just wanted to say I really enjoyed the video of you guys on Havasu fishing frogs, but the background music is disgusting!
You do know that some young folks look at this stuff and if I were the administrator I'd pull this in a heart beat!
Capt. Don Martin
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Awesome year in Arizona! Congrats on that good Kaibab gobbler,
Don Martin
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Sheep hunt success in Northwest Arizona!
in Bighorn Sheep Hunting
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To Lark (whoever he is, and to 270 and AZkiller) I will say this. Who are YOU guys? Don't hide behind some computer keyboard, let's have your names. You sure are tough talkers when hiding behind that keyboard and talking trash. You sure as heck have mine and my phone number. Be big enough to tell me who you are.Call me if you want and let's discuss this. I sure have nothing to hide, do YOU?
Jerry Weiers is my FRIEND! I'm not going to defend him or engage with you in some kind of long winded discussion about what happened in the past. And just for the record, I didn't support that bill and Jerry knew it from the start. And just because you don't agree with a friend, do you turn your back on him? I don't, but maybe you do...
How about all the good things he did for the Arizona sportsman as a legislator? You probably forgot about all of that.
But anyway this post isn't about any of that. It was about the magnificent ram that Jerry took on his hunt. Don't like it, too bad and please feel free to move on. It doesn't bother me one bit!
Don Martin
Arizona Wildlife Outfitters
928-303-9481