Article
Date: 12/03/04
Winter fishing in the California
Delta
Christmas
time, New Years, College Bowl games, and the Super Bowl can only
mean one thing in the California Delta this time of year…Big
Donkeys! Winter on the Delta can be grueling yet extremely rewarding
if you can pay attention to a few of these key points I will be
discussing in this article. As if the Delta tides aren't enough
for us to learn, but winter patterns, wind direction, and most
of all bait. When we hear winter days, we think of foggy, cold,
and or rainy days, but, we often forget about the bright, bluebird,
no clouds in the sky days as well.
I
try and keep my bait selection very simple this time of year,
top water, crank baits, and jigs.
Top
Water baits - Sammy's, Rico's, and buzz baits
Crank baits - Bomber's, traps, and rapalas (all in small crawdad
and shad patterns)
Jigs - Black/Blue, Black/Red, Brown/Black, Black/Green (all with
pork trailers)
This
time of year I like to stay very close to the San Joaquin. There
is lots of current and plenty of bait. The two ingredients this
time of year you will need to be successful in catching solid
bags of fish. For me, I like to target structure; lay downs, rocks,
broken boats, barges etc. I will generally fish from the lowest
part of the river on any given day. Most of my success this time
of year has been on low incoming. This doesn't mean I don't fish
high tides, but that I will fish the incoming all the way to the
high outgoing.
Approach
a lay down on the down side of the current. I will always make
my first cast with some sort of top water. No matter how cold
the water gets, there is always an aggressive fish somewhere.
As an example; it's Sunday morning and cold inside the house.
We are lying down on the couch watching football dosing off into
one of those great weekend naps. There comes a knock at the door,
but you and I both know we aren't getting up to see what the salesman
wants. But, now the knocking continues, over and over an over
again. What happens then is we throw that blanket off of us, rush
to the front door and give that poor salesman a piece of our mind.
This is the same idea when fishing top water this time of year.
The water is cold, and the bass are lethargic. They don't want
to chase some dumb baitfish out of their comfort zone. But throw
that bait five, ten, fifteen times and you might be surprised
what will come up and eat your bait.
From
the top water I will go to a speed trap or bomber like bait. I
like to bump the structure as much as I can. Many fish will let
the bait go by until you deflect it off the route it was coming
through. I try and keep the retrieve slow but continuous. Slight
pauses in between can also be productive, but I don't like to
give the bass too much time to think about striking the bait.
Usually this time of year when you stop those baits, many times
the bass will come up and just nose, or move the bait without
opening up their mouths.
Last
but not least is my favorite technique for this time of year.
Put on that big pig-n-jig and hold on. By far each year, the jig
has been my go to bait in the winter. Once we find out how they
want it look out. I predominately will use almost 100% of the
time a 3/8oz jig. Heavy enough to get down fast, and light enough
for it to slowly swim. I will always try and shake the bait in
a violent fashion first. If there is no success, I will yo-yo
the bait not too far from the bottom. And last but not ever least
is what has proven to catch most of my big fish in the winter,
dead stick! Flip or pitch that bait to your target and let it
sit. Look around for a few moments, daydream, or whatever it is
you have to do to leave that bait there, just do it. Most of the
time when I dead stick jigs, I will generally start by leaving
the bait in place for a minute or two, then slowly drag the jig
keeping it on the bottom to create some silt or dirt movement.
Repeat the process until you have thoroughly fished the area.
Most of your strikes you won't feel, they will either start swimming
with it or the bite will be heavy almost like you're hung in weeds.
Remember, hook sets are free, and you should be dropping the hammer
on anything that doesn't feel right.
Winter
fishing on the delta can be very rewarding, just remember that
there are more times than not this time of year that you will
have to slow down to reap those big rewards. On a side note, please
remember that this time of year is very dangerous to anyone who
happens to fall in the water. Make sure you have your safety vests
on at all times, and if you can take someone fishing rather than
go by yourself, please do so.
Courtesy
of Vince Hurtado
www.vincehurtado.com
Pennies
on the dollar for fishing rods, reels, baits, lures, and more?
You be the judge!
