Tonight started out just like any other Jan-March night except that we finally had no wind. Air temp was around 55 and it was threatening to rain. Started my usual Lake Riva rounds. Hit all the normal north shore spots. Around 6Pm I saw a rather large splash in the shallows near the point at Broad Creek. Assumed it was a bird, but something told me different. I approached the point from the downriver side with motor off and tossed a Stillwater plug. After 15 minutes or so, I started engine and slowly motored around shallows to other side of point. Switched over to Kastmaster and on first cast felt a small bump. Felt like a White Perch, but as I tightened the slack, I knew it was big. Well it turned out to be my biggest river Striper ever. He did not fit on seat, but based on the oil well hatch, I would say 28 inch plus. The water temp was only 52 so the fight was rather sluggish, even on my 6 lb perch rod. If that fish had hit in summer,he would have surely spooled me. So now the question is...what was he doing there? He was clearly a migratory fish and was filled with sperm. Who says the South River is not a spawning river?
