Delta Area Weather   Delta Tide Tables    California Delta Fishing News    Fishing Clubs

CA DELTA REPORT
Updated -4/5/2006
Brought to you by...

Rain Rain Go away

Dan Mathisen Outdoors All this rain has the delta in the worst shape I can remember for the first week of April. Forget the Tides as the Run-off is making for some great Sturgeon action in the West Delta and San Pablo Bay. While the new slot limit has most Sturgeon anglers disgusted there are still those the get them in the slot (46-56 inches). Barry landed a 54 inch fish this past Sunday.

As for the Bass fishing The blacks are still staging and were providing for some Huge limits. Prior to this lastest pounding raing we had decent limits but not since the muddy water blew the river out!

 

Rio Vista - Isleton

Bob’s Bait Report www.themasterbaiter.com

Late winter season is not over yet even April is just started. Raining season is not over yet and it will continue in the coming week. This is the wettest year ever for over number of year with record rainfall in the past 40 years. We are not worry about drought year but we are worrying about too much water in the system and the land is over saturated with water. The heavy rain in last three days alone make number of central counties in flooding warning situation. Only striped bass was consistently reported from Delta channels last week during dry days. There were number of good size striped bass reported at Mokelumne River from highway 12 bridge up to Wimpy Marina. The good baits for striped bass are bloodworm, pile worm, sardine, anchovy, and live mud sucker. Along Sacramento River from Rio Vista bridge, bank anglers reported number of keeper size striped bass on Friday and Saturday. Bloodworm was the best bait for striped bass at this spot. It’s hardly to get the keeper sturgeon at this time since most sturgeon were caught either under size or over size. Based on the sturgeon bait sold lately from different bait stores in the Delta, it indicated that anglers by sturgeon baits drop significantly. From this indication, one can tell sturgeon fishing is not impressed any more since it is very hard to catch or impossible to catch. For sportsmen, catch and release is fun for sturgeon fishing but it’s time consuming and sometime there is no action at all for the whole fishing trip. The legal size for sturgeon at this time can fishable if you are fishing from Isleton bridge down to the Bay point. In further North, this size of sturgeon is rarely to find since the mature sturgeon can make it ways up to this area and they are mostly going to spawn are normally over size limit.
All we wish is the rain will stop for a week then the water will get clearer. This would improve fishing harvest for striped bass, small mouth bass, large mouth bass, and crappie.
Best luck to you all and keep on fishing.


The Wilson Files- Mark Wilson

Sunday, March 26, 2006...Fred Hicks went striper fishing with me today down by Decker Island to Collinsville. We trolled Bombers in the morning for 11 hits for 5 keeper stripers from 5# to 8# and 2 lost fish. We bait fished sardines in the afternoon for another 3 keeper stripers to 5#, 2 shaker stripers and one broken off fish. The water is clearing, but probably won't last long because of last Friday/Saturday's rain, and is warming. The water started out at 52 degrees and warmed by the afternoon to 56 degrees. If the river will stabilize, we should all start catching stripers. And, I did see Mt. Diablo today. Good luck. Catch you later - Mark.

Sacramento Area Report - by Jack Chapman

Sacramento CSBA Report (04/05/2006)

No Report

Hook Line And Sinker Report
Robert from the Hook in Oakley reports.
Black Bass:
With the weather still affecting the spawning cycle the pre-spawn bite is still in full swing right now on the river. Guys are bringing HUGE sacks of fish with 30+ lbs. for 5 taking most of the tournaments. Just about every technique is putting fish in the boat right now but reaction baits seem to be bringing in the larger fish. Spinnerbaits, Rattletrap baits, Swimbaits and some Topwater like Buzzbaits and Spooks are all bringing in fish. Stay basic with color selection on all of these white, black, chartreuse, craw and bluegill patterns will all produce. If fishin slow is your deal the jig and senko has been producing. Black/Blue for the jigs and same for the senko with junebug running a close second.

Striped Bass:
Stripers have been few and far between but once you find them the quality of the fish has been rewarding. Franks Tract has seemed to be holding good concentrations of fish consistently. Rattletraps and swimbaits would be top choices. For all you bait fisherman the far western portion of the system has been producing best. From Sherman Island to the Mothball Fleet has been the best stretch with closer to the bay better. Shad, mudsuckers and bullheads are all working but the live bait has seemed to be producing the better quality, surprise,surprise!

Fish Hookers Report

Hopefully, one day soon this winter type weather will go away. The weather has caused a lot of water coming down the river again. There have been stripers and sturgeon in the area but the fluctuation of the barometer has really slowed the catching of the fish.

The last couple of weeks the sturgeon catching has been slow. We are marking quite a few sturgeon on the fish finder but are not having much luck bringing in the keepers. The slot limit now is 46 inches to 56 inches and wll remain this size for 120 days. We still can catch the other size sturgeon but must release all fish under 46 inches and all sturgeon over 56 inches.

We are preparing for the spring run of stripers as soon as the weather acts like springtime. The water is beginnning to warm just a little but is stll quite dirty because of all the rain. As soon as we get some nice days in a row the striper fishing will probably take off quickly. There are stripers already making their way up the river to spawn but the water temperature is slowing the process. This spring run could run into June this year the way the spring has begun.

The sturgeon and striper fishing should be good as soon as the weather permits. This could be an extended spring run with the late rainy and snow season. We can only wait and see at this point and hope for some good weather soon.

We will continue to keep both boats at the Ciy of Pittsburg Marina through the month of May until we know what the ocean salmon season will bring out in the ocean.

It's time to book for spring stiper and sturgeon fishing in the delta.

Flash Fishing Report www.flashfishing.net


A bit about Captain Steve, Captain Steve fished the San Francisco Bay since 1970, when his grandfather would take him out to the old Berkeley pier. He bought his first boat in 1980 and got his Captain's license in 1997. He enjoys small groups (no more than 6) and gives personal attention to all. Having 2 young daughters himself, he is especially patient with children on the boat. Bring your own equipment or use Steve's top of the line equipment. Steve has impressive state of the art commercial electronics on the boat to optimize your fishing experience! And yes, we went to the same High School, Welcome Capt. Steve!

Steve reports, "I went back up to Montazuma today, 4/2/06. I had Jordona Santigo and Gina Dumpit from Martinez Bait shop. We had a good day ,quit a few missed bites. A lot of fish on the sounder and a lot of jumpers. Jordona did battle and beat a great fish. The fight went about 35 minutes. After about 15 minutes the fish made a jump about 20 feet behind the boat, it was great. She tired the fish to a point were we could lay her in a long net. Then we carefully lay her on the deck and measured and took her photo. All 3 of us quickly lay her back in the water and watched her swim away. She took salmon roe on the outgo.
She was 70” and had a 30” girth. Enjoy the photo


Same details as above.

Capt. Steve
Flash
Sport Fishing

 

 

FishDelta.com now brings you out of area reports as well!!!!!!!

 

Melones Trout Bite After The Storms

Angel Camp-The bite seems to turn off before a storm, and pick up again right after a storm. Bank anglers are still out-fishing trollers, since the trout are in the coves. Many of the trout that are caught are ready to spawn and full of ripe eggs, or are post-spawn. Trollers had best luck in the main lake, or in major coves such as Angels Cove. Trout seemed to have moved slightly deeper- most are being caught at 25-40 ft. deep. Shad-patterned or firetiger Apex or Needlefish are working well, or tie on a crawler/spinner combo during or after a storm. Use a shad scent on your lure, or try the new Pautski’s Krill scent. Use Sep’s Sidekicks or a dodger, but not flashers.

The bite has been very good, with 2-4 pound spotted bass, as well as some quality largemouths being caught. Many anglers report 20-40 fish caught and released in a day. With the water temperature warming up, bass are moving up into shallower water, especially the spotted bass. Major creek arms with running water are a good place to look for actively feeding fish. Carolina-rigged Zoom Baby Brush Hogs in green pumpkin or watermelon/red flake, brown jigs with brown or purple trailers, and spinnerbaits are all enticing bites. Many trout trollers are picking up big bass in the main lake, where they are chasing feed, and not oriented to structure. Dragging a rainbow trout #12 or #16 Huddleston Swimbait over the top of long points in the main lake can catch some of these larger bass. Please remember to practice catch and release always, but especially this time of year, when bass are preparing to spawn. Removing a pre-spawn bass removes thousands of potential fish from the lake. The Department of Fish and Game does not plant bass, so it is up to us to maintain the bass fishery!

New Melones Lake is currently holding 2,041,200 acre-feet of water, and is at 84% capacity. The lake is full and beautiful. The lake level held steady again this week, at 1,056 ft. above sea level and only 32 ft. from full capacity. Surface water temperatures have warmed up a little, and are approximately 52-55 degrees. Water is clear to slightly muddy in the creek arms.

 


Lake Pardee

MARCH 29, 2006 VOL. 06/10

Fred Dorman, Staff Writer e-mail lakepardee@volcano.com

<*(((---<

Water conditions: The Lake is way full, it must be right at spill. If it is spilling while you are up here its worth a ride over the spillway to catch a glimpse, it is spectacular! Lots of rain here this week so clarity has suffered (good to 5 feet) and you will find some debris to contend with. Temps are sill 49 degrees at 20 feet and 52 at surface.

Weather: The latest projections call for clearing Friday and Saturday but stay tuned the weather guessers change the forecast constantly. It’s been a little breezy and choppy lately.

Trolling: Heard some good reports recently about ‘bows to 3 pounds caught last weekend upstream between the Rock Wall and Dear Island. Limits of Trout were the rule with some small Kokanee showing up also in the same locations. Fish are still congregating near the surface at 5 to 20 feet. Equipment and methods are unchanged; try flashers followed with a night crawler, small lures or bugs tipped with scented corn or grubs behind dodgers or sidekicks. Most are paying out 75 or 100 foot of line behind the boat and trolling slow.

Shore Anglers: Multiple plants and cold temperatures are encouraging the fish to hang out in the Recreation Area a bit longer lately. The Launch Ramp, the eastern bank behind the EBMUD boathouse, Rainbow Point and Stony Point landing all had a few brave souls dunking something irresistible this afternoon. Chartreuse and rainbow processed bait and eggs cast out about 30 feet should put it just in the right place. If the water visibility improves chrome/blue casting lures and black and green wooly flies also do well.

As of 3/27/06 a total of 18,000 lbs of trout has been planted by Lake Pardee and the California Department of Fish and Game.

Fishdelta.com Staffer Vince "Big Fish" Borges landed a 10lb 2 oz Blackie here at Pardee this past week on a swim bait.

Good Luck—Tight Lines

For information or reservations call (209) 772-1472

CLEAR LAKE LARGEMOUTH BASS...

Largemouth bass fishing is great on Clear Lake, in spite of the weather systems that have moved through the region lately.
“I caught and released 40 bass one day,” said Bob Higgins at Limit Out Bait and Tackle. “On the following trip, I only had three bites all day, but the other anglers I talked to did well.”

The south end remains the top area to fish, due to the muddy conditions on the north end of Clear Lake. “Anglers are using a variety of methods – Carolina-rigging with plastics, drop shotting with Robo Worms and flippin’ jigs. The Majority of fish are being caught in 6 to 20 feet of water,” noted Higgins.

Crappie continue to be taken “like crazy” by boaters fishing Mini Jigs, marabou jigs and minnows at Konocti Harbor, Tyee and Shag Rock, said Higgins. Expect to nail slabsides in the 1 to 2-1/2 pound range.

The catfish action remains slow and the weather needs to warm up more before the bluegill start biting in big numbers, added Higgins.

As of 04-05-06 Lake level is just 6 inches below flood stage at 8.5 feet

Dan Mathisen Outdoors is now booking Dates for Clear Lake Trips April 17th through 27th.

 

Bass Bite Picks up!

Wallace- The bass bite has definitely started to pick up again after all the stormy weather in the last few weeks. Robin Mourse, from Alameda, reported catching 11 bass on Thursday, 14 on Friday and 7 on Saturday. He was fishing near the Narrows and also near the dam, using chartreuse/white spinner baits, hula grubs and plastic worms. He reported that most fish were in the 10 - 20 foot depth, and the big fish for his weekend was a beautiful 5 pound largemouth. Another group reported catching numerous bass in the Lancha Plana area, up to the highway bridge. They were finding fish in 15 - 20 feet of water, and bass were taking Baby Brush Hogs in green pumpkin color as well as on black/brown jigs.

After another week of mixed winter weather, spring sunshine arrived on Sunday along with plenty of fisherman. Trout continue to be found 20 - 30 feet deep on the bright sunny days and closer to the surface on the cloudy overcast days. On Thursday one group of fishermen reported catching limits of nice trout up to 3 1/2 pounds. They were trolling at 20 - 25 feet deep between Hat Island and the dam, using orange grubs behind a dodger and black Power Worms behind a dodger. Another group reported limits of trout along with a couple of big crappie. They were trolling near Hat Island in 30 feet of water using Fire Tiger Apex lures, Rapalas in silver/black and Rainbow Runners. Another group of fisherman were catching their limits of trout trolling Uncle Larry's spinners with a piece of nightcrawler. They were trolling from South Shore Harbour to the dam, at about 25 feet. Bait fishermen are starting to catch trout at Dike 3, south of the spillway. Anchor in about 30 - 35 feet of water and drop Power Bait to the bottom. Due to the stormy weather this week, reports from the south shore pond and north shore day use area have been scarce. Power Bait and Power Eggs are always one of the best baits to use when shore fishing at Lake Camanche. Cripp lures, Panther Martin spinners and Magic Bullets are your best choices of lures to try.

The crappie bite has been slow to take off this spring due to all the storms and cold weather. We've had a few reports of fisherman catching crappie around docks, submerged trees and stickups. Minnows and mini-jigs are the best bet for bait, and Camanche Arm, Causeway Cove, and Lancha Plana are great places to start.

We encourage all anglers to stop by either marina and share their experiences or comments, let us take your picture, or put your story in the weekly Fish Report. We encourage e-mail questions, or comments, and I will reply to all e-mails that I receive here at North Shore Marina.

Lake Camanche's current elevation is 221.28 feet above sea level, a rise of 2.36 feet since last Sunday. The lake should rise slowly this week Water is currently flowing into Camanch at 3120 c.f.s. and water is flowing out at 900 c.f.s. Surface water temperature at the dam is 55 degrees. The water is clear with a Secchi reading of 15 feet.

 

 

Pennies on the dollar for fishing rods, reels, baits, lures, and more? You be the judge!

 


 
Great products and great prices for California Delta Fishing
 
 
Copyright © 2004 FishDelta.com. All rights reserved.
Duplication in whole or in part of this Web site without express written consent is prohibited.