Fishing in the Central Valley: Striperz Gone Wild celebrates five years

A group of aficionados of the California Aqueduct got together five years ago and decided to create an organization dedicated to community service, creating fishing opportunities for youth, and putting on tournaments for aqueduct anglers.

The group became known as Striperz Gone Wild, and under the direction of Bill Sterling and his collection of administrators, they have collected thousands of canned goods and unopened toys for communities in the San Joaquin valley, assisted in youth fishing events, conducted aqueduct cleanups, and provided rods, reels, and tackle boxes for area youth. In addition, they hold three tournaments annually at Volta Road on the aqueduct in Los Banos.

Saturday, Oct. 4 was their most recent tournament, the five-year anniversary fishing tournament, and for once, the weather was perfect. The two previous tournaments were hampered by either high winds leading to a massive grassfire or an atmospheric river, so the fish gods finally rewarded the group for their dedication to others and hard work.

Club organizer, Bill Sterling, said, “129 adults and 25 youth arrived to fish the tournament, and the target-length was set very high at 31 inches. Fishing was tough with only 10 fish to 21½ inches weighed in. The weather was perfect, but unfortunately it was nearly a full moon, and this seemed to have slowed down the bite. We had a huge giveaway of over 65 items including a 70-inch big screen, a chest mounted camera, four rod/reel combinations worth over $100, and 12 tackle boxes. As always, the bounce house was on site for the small ones along with two food vendors and custom tackle makers. We really focus on youth, and the smile on the little girl who won the big screen was priceless along with the boys and girls who walked away with the tackle boxes and the rod/reel combinations. That’s why we do this — to make others happy and promote fishing at a free location accessible to everyone. Pedro Vargas took first in the adult division at 21½ inches, Calvin Dangknan in second at 19½, and Dominic Bonnadonna at 19.25. Max Casillas was the sole youth to weigh in, and his fish was 18½ inches. Overall, it was a great time with a whole lot of smiles and laughs.”

Striperz Gone Wild will continue to give back to the community with an event featuring a free breakfast and raffle at a date to be determined in December. Sterling added, ”Since we have experienced inclement weather during our annual December Toy Drive tournament, we are going to pick a Saturday with good weather in December and request that participants bring unwrapped toys for distribution to youth in Merced County.”