BY MIKE STEVENS
WILLOW BEACH, Ariz. – One of the Colorado River chain’s most prolific striped bass anglers set a new high-water mark for himself with a trophy striper he recently bagged out of Willow Beach Marina. German Upa Zucchero has an endless list of trophy linesides on his resume’, so sticking a new personal best is significant to say the least. The weight of the fish? 42 pounds
“Unfortunately, she didn’t make it after 45 minutes of CPR,” said Zucchero. “People who know me know I would never ,ever would keep this kind of fish.”
Of course, it was a Willow Beach striper and that means details were thin. Trophy hunters in that zone are notoriously tight lipped, and for good reason, and Zucchero is usually pretty free wheelin’ when it comes to details, but they were not available by the time this publication went to print. If more info on the catch come to light, WON will post it in the formcharts of fhe next issue. It was confirmed that the fish was caught on 25-pound line.
There was some dock talk a week or so ago about other nice striped bass being caught out of Willow Beach, and that was confirmed by one of WON’s contacts in the area.
“The bite is hot for striped bass in some areas. There have been a lot of big fish taken up there on swimbaits, jerkbaits and glidebaits,” said Mike Huseman of River King Outdoors. “Time it around the trout stockings, and nighttime has been the best time. Get there at sunset and fish into the night.”
He went on to say many of the striped bass out of Willow Beach are caught within a mile of the marina, so chasing those fish in a kayak is a solid option if shore fishing isn’t cutting it. Trout fishing has been excellent in the days following the stock. Trout are typically delivered to Willow Beach Marina on Thursdays, and the bite is usually decent through the weekend. Worms, PowerBait, Rooster Tails and small jerkbaits are working for these stocker rainbows.
