Stripas On The Fly!

We "adopted" (i.e. started feeding) two stray kittens last summer. We finally got around to getting them fixed. The prices at local vets were outrageous so we were lucky enough get set up with Best Friend's outside of Kanab, UT and paid a fraction of the price! We stayed in Kanab Friday night and took the boys to Lake Powell while the cats had their procedure.
There's a fishing dock at Wahweap marina so we tried our luck at catching something. I went here years ago with Matt and Kyle after an excursion to the walk-in at Lee's Ferry. I was unsuccessful then to catch anything, but we saw a few very large carp (and a few even gave me a nice bump but came unbuttoned).
Today I saw a school of fish about 15 feet down and I watched as my small Clouser slowly sank towards the bottom. I gave the fly a few jigging twitches with the tip of my rod and watched as a fish slowly swam up and inhaled my offering. I was elated to find a striper--my first ever--on the end of my line! I handed the rod to Caleb (6 yrs old) and let him reel it in. Once the grip 'n grins were taken I let the fish go back in with the line still attached in hopes of rigging another rod and catching one of the other support-stripers that followed mine to the surface. Cooper (2 yrs old) insisted on holding the rod but within the first minute I knew the plan was futile if I wanted to keep my rod from being donated to the bottom of Lake Powell.
Katy took the youngest back to the car (he was a little too reckless to have on a boat dock any longer) and Connor (9 yrs old) took over the Clouser rod. I hurried to rig another but before I could even get the line thread through the guides Connor hooked another--and even larger--striper and was grinning from ear to ear as the rod bent nearly in half. We landed it but unfortunately the camera went back to the car with mom and baby boy. We tried to keep the fish encased in the net while Connor ran up to get the camera and mom, but it found it's way free before that could happen.
I've wanted to catch a striper--especially on the fly--for years. I grew up catching White Bass in Utah Lake and the Provo River in my youth and have always had a place in my heart for white/striped/wipers type bass. We never seemed to catch the initial momentum, but my boys--and I--can't wait to return and catch more stripers.