On the morning of April 2, I drove to meet fishing guide Jason Thatcher of Norwest Executive Guide Service for what was supposed to be a steelhead trip on the American River. However, as we drove to launch the boat, Jason got on his cell phone with his buddy, John Simlick from Loomis, who recently fished for stripers in Colusa.

"My son nailed the heck out of the bass last night," said Simlick as we woke him from the previous night's trip. "He got into a good school of fish just below the Colusa Bridge drifting live minnows."

"Well it looks like a striper trip to me," said Thatcher. "We just got to make a slight detour to get some fresh minnows at Kittle's Outdoors."

After a one hour detour, we picked up our live bait and launched his boat just behind the store. The parking lot had a dozen or so vehicles with boat trailers parked in it and we were on our way to meet with other anglers.

One of the first guides we saw along the way was Craig Stillwell of River Bend Guide Service, who was fishing in his big blue boat. His clients were also targeting stripers with live minnows after trolling Bombers first thing in the morning. As we continued upriver, we ran into the occasional boat soaking pile worms or other baits for sturgeon and striped bass.

"We're going to run a bit further upriver to get away from the traffic and out of this horrible wind at one of my honey holes," noted Thatcher. As we rigged up a sliding sinker rig with a bullet weight on the main line tied to a swivel and 36 inch leader; we put on a live minnow and began our first drift.

"Make sure not to set the hook until you feel pressure, not just the fish taking the bait," he explained. "The fish are finicky and are taking their time swallowing the bait."

On the first drift, Jason and I both got strikes, but no takers. Then I got bit and set the hook, but the leader snapped on me. In order to re-rig, Jason moved his boat onto a sandy ledge so we could tie more rigs. While waiting, Jason threw out his line to soak his minnow in the area we just drifted. After tying on the leader, I also tossed my line out and waited for a fish.

Unfortunately for me, the next strike was from a big fish and snapped my main line. "I've got 15 pound braided line on that reel, there's no way the fish broke it," I quipped. The problem wasn't my line; my drag was too tight. Throughout the day, I think I spent more time retying leaders or hooks that got snagged on the bottom than I did fishing.

The second problem, and even more frustrating than losing leader after leader, was the north wind; which had been blowing over 15 miles an hour for several days. Finding a good spot on the river and out of the wind proved our most difficult challenge. Not only was detecting a bite difficult, but keeping the boat drifting on the intended course was also troublesome.

With the drag loosened, the wait was again on with hopes of taking the skunk off the boat. "Fish on, fish on!" shouted Jason as he passed the rod to me. "Wow, now this is a fish," I said.

"Be careful, that's easily a 10 pounder, look at the rod double over," he offered.

Just as I got a good look at the fish, easily going 10-12 pounds, the wind pushed us off the bank. To regain control, Jason thrusted his motor forward to keep us on the bank and away from the trees in the water a few feet from us. Just as he kicked the motor into gear- 'pop', and off came the fish.

"No way that fish just came un-buttoned?" said Thatcher. "That would have been our picture fish."

Going back and forth as to whose fault it was, we decided mother nature would take the blame so we could get back to fishing. "I'm tired of this wind, let's move further upriver and find a spot to fish," he said.

A few curves upstream and we were back to drifting minnows. What a great spot to pick; a big school of 18 to 22 inchers were stacked up tight to shore. "This is a very short drift we're going to make. Near the end, the wind is going to push us off course, so be ready to reel up quickly," he explained.

As we drifted the area, several boats passed by, while some decided to fish the same narrow water we were in, which later resulted in tangled lines. We stuck it out and were soon again alone in this honey hole.

We made several drifts that produced five stripers to 22 inches. "I sure wish we had that picture fish from earlier," I said. "But hey, let's show everyone what the average fish looks like...Smile, Jason!"

After a few snap shots and releasing the fish, we reeled up our lines and headed back to Sacramento.

Over the phone, guide Craig Stillwell reported boating 14 bass that day. "All of the fish were 18 to 23 inchers, with our largest weighing 5 pounds," added Stillwell. "The bite started to heat up about two weeks ago and ever since, I haven't come home with anything less than limits."