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CA DELTA REPORT
Updated - 6/1/2006
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Welcome to another Chapter of...Dan Mathisen Outdoors

As the wind blows! We have been blessed with some spectactualar days on the water this week. Still the wind is the the only thing that makes the days tougher as it plays havoc with the top water bite. Our favorites include Black Dog Lures Shellcracker and Archer Bee Sammy's . Me After years of trying different things Snag Proof Frogs done my way are my favorite No Bobby's frog here! "

Look out there are coming by the truck load, recreational boaters of all types screaming around the Delta this weekend be careful out there!

Bass action is ok but the quality of fish seems to be down a bit. There are some decent top-water fish starting to show. Buzzbaits and spinnerbaits are the key near weedlines is best when the windblows. There are some anglers finding the stripers to be more willing now. The best action is coming to the bait soakers in many areas along the Broad Slough and Collinsville areas. There are some stripers, and big catfish coming from the Whiskey Slough area and in the Middle River area.

The Mokelumne River is still running high and fast but once they stop releases fishing should improve. Black bass action will be good in back sloughs as well as flooded lakes, especially in the afternoons by chucking spinners, red lipless or diving crankbaits in 6 to 8 feet as fish sitting off grass and "Shhhhh" frogs.

Striper anglers are sticking with bait fishing, but some are trolling as the water clears. The Rio Vista to Collinsville area is still kicking out stripers. Striper activity is still tough as there are a few finding limits. Catfish are the getting going for the bank anglers. Anything that smells will do. Clams and cut baits are the favorites and will also fool a striper or two. Just about everywhere is good bur Cache and Three mile Slough are the best areas.
Rio Vista - Isleton

Bob’s Bait Report www.themasterbaiter.com

Bob’s Bait Report
The first long weekend prior to the summer was the best weekend for outdoor activities since the weather was very good on three days including Saturday, Sunday, and Monday.
The good weather contributed for the good fishing in the Delta overall especially on Sunday night when there was very calm, clear sky at night.
Fishing was so good in Mokelumne River on Tyler Island side where Louis and his friends got 2 good size sturgeon 53” and 49 “ on ghost shrimp on 05/28/06. His friend also got 28” striped bass on ghost shrimp. Eddie Garcia and Dave Gonzales got limit striped bass with average length about 25” on pile worm. Lynn White and her friend got 51” sturgeon on ghost shrimp at the mouth of Georgiana Slough and Mokelumne River.
There were also number of good size striped bass reported at the Dump Gate and along highway 160 from Brannan Island State Park up to Isleton Bridge.
Catfish fishing was also very good including Three Miles Slough, Miner Slough, Potato Slough, Georgiana Slough, Mokelumne River, and Old Sacramento River at Isleton Fishing pier.
I fish for American shad on both Saturday and Sunday. I got limit of shad on the two days. Fishing for shad is best this year in Feather river after almost worse three years due to low water released during shad spawning season. Salmon showed up at the outlet of Themalito after Bay Damp. It was not many salmon yet until end of June.
For more information on how to fish for shad, please write to me at themsterbaitter@lycos.com.
Best luck to you all and congratulation Louis and his friends for two good size sturgeon last weekend.

The Wilson Files- Mark Wilson

Mark Wilson here...Wed morning 5/18...This past week has brought down some muddy water on the Sacramento River side. The San Joaquin River is running pretty clear, except for the influence of Georgianna Slough coming from the Sac, through the Mokelumne and into the San Joaquin. Even with these dirty water changes, there are stripers around. I have been trolling both the Sac side and San Joaquin side, catching between 7 keepers to 18 keepers per trip. Smaller fish on the San Joaquin, bigger fish on the Sacramento. They are all scattered and you have to look for them. A fish here and there is the norm. By the end of the day the numbers add up. Rebels mostly on the San Joaquin and Bombers on the Sacramento. More releases are due soon which will cause the Sacramento to rise some more. Shasta Dam is letting out more water and Folsom Dam is letting out also. Oroville is not far behind. The last of the striper spring run might turn into a washout. But, I will keep on chasing the stripers, all year long. Talk to you next time - Mark.

Sacramento Area Report - by Jack Chapman

Fishing Report for May 29 th 2007

By Captain “Jack” Chapman and Lovely Linda Sportfishing

The Sacramento Chapter of the California Striped Bass Association held its 16 th annual Catch-a-Smile fishing day for handicapped children on the 19 th. We limit the day to the first 60 kids. Many of them have been coming for years and look forward to the day. Everything is provided; rods, reels, bait, tackle, lunch, gift bags, etc. There are clowns, face painting booths, fire department displays and demos, picture taking, petting zoo and of course fishing.

The CSBA is having a fund raising raffle. They are raffling off a trip for 2 to San Jose Del Cabo in Mexico. This trip includes everything; airfare, hotel, fishing, meals and drinks. You even get to pick the date for your trip. All this can be yours for a $5.00 donation. Tickets are available at all CSBA meetings.

Halibut I took Bob, Julian and the Lovely Linda down to San Francisco Bay for my first Halibut trip of the season. They have bait in Berkeley though the cost is up ($30.00 for a half scoop, $50.00 for a full). We launched in Berkeley at 7:00 am and motored over to the bait tanks. He was down to the scrubs but still managed to fill my bait tank. He only charged me $20.00 due to the quality and quantity of what he had left. He was not sure when more bait would be in.

There were a few boats drifting the flats so I moved above them to start my drift. Bang! Fish on! Butt number one is brought on board. Visions of a wide open day and easy limits danced before my eyes. I should have known better as it work, work, work and scratch a bait, find a fish the rest of the day. We fished the flats, South Hampton and Paradise until about 3:30 for 3 hook ups. This seemed to be as good as anyone drifting for their fish.

Jay Lopes of Right Hook Sportfishing had a find day working the same area for 9 hookups. He was the only boat I saw trolling and that appeared to be the key for the day. After the ride home I tied a number of trolling leaders for my next trip, later this week. I won’t be caught short again.

Where I’d Fish

The West bank of the Sacramento River between Rio Vista and Collinsville and the Old Sac up to Isleton for striped bass

The Moth Ball Fleet and Grizzly Bay for sturgeon

Little Potato Slough for catfish

San Francisco Bay on the Berkley Flats and near the Rock wall for halibut

 

 

 

 


Hook Line And Sinker Report


Black Bass:
The bite has seen a tremendous decline in productivity the past week. I have personally come off the past 3 days on the water and could not pick up a fish over 3 1/2 lbs! The smaller sized fish are still pretty abundant on the bank but they're running only about 10" up to 2lbs. A great way to go out and catch a ton of fish right now is find a rock wall with some current and inside bends in it and fish those bends with a crankbait, spinnerbait or rat-l-trap in a white or shad like pattern. For the larger fish stick with either flipping as far back in to cover as possible with a brush hog or sweet beaver in green pumpkin or junebug color or throw a topwater bait all day long. The topwater bite is very off and on right now but the better quality fish are eating them 2lbs and up. Try buzzbaits, frogs or poppers and stick with black that's all you need.

Striped Bass:
Stripers have been hard to come by in this portion of the river due mainly to very stained water and high boat traffic. There may still be some fish hanging around the usual spots like Sherman, Big Break and Franks Tract but they will be mainly small schoolies. Try bait fishing either frozen or live. Anchovies, shad, sardines and salmon roe for frozen and for live try pile worms, bluegills, mudsuckers or bullhead. Your best results will probably be heading down river towards the mothball fleet and honker bay area.

Sturgeon:
I have had no reports from our section of the river but I still hear of the bite being great down around Martinez and the mothball fleet. The flows coming down from the dams should keep the bite going good for another couple of weeks. Try the shrimp baits but I hear they are beginning hard to come by but as good alternatives try pile worms, herring, shad, eel or salmon roe. The fleet itself and buoys 2, 4 and 6 have been producing fish but the hotter it gets the farther out towards the ocean they'll move.

As for Catfish, Crappie and Bluegill I have had no reports but they should be going good. Crappie and Bluegill are moving up shallow to spawn so look for a hard bottom with some shade close by and use just about anything when they are on the spawning beds. Catfish will be feeding good at night the hotter it gets but during the day look for deeper water with current to hold the better sized cats. Try any of the old reliables. Anchovies, mackerel, sardines, clams, nightcrawlers or stink bait will all get the job done but try clams and stink baits for the best results.
 

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!

 

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Capt. Steve
Flash
Sport Fishing

 

 

Now brings you out of area reports as well

Warm water fish start biting!

Water Conditions:  New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,798,990 acre-feet of water.  The lake dropped about 3 feet this week, and is currently 1033 ft. above sea level and 55 ft. from full capacity.  Surface water temperature is now about 74-78 degrees. Water is fairly clear with around 15 ft. visibility with mudline forming due to falling water levels.  The middle (main) ramp at Tuttletown is in use.  The high-water ramp at Glory Hole is still in use- the main ramp at Glory Hole becomes useable (along with the huge parking lot that is now underwater) at around 1028 ft.  Ramp info:  For those of you worrying about low water levels, don’t.  New Melones Lake will have usable ramps at Tuttletown unless water levels drop below 900 ft., at Glory Hole unless water levels drop below 860 ft. (there is another ramp that volunteers built below that, too), at Angels Cove unless water levels drop below 975 ft., and at the Visitors’ Center unless water drops below 760 ft.    Trout:  Bank anglers should head to local creeks and rivers (such as Angels Creek), which are receiving regular trout plantings from DFG.  Berkley Power Bait or Power Eggs, or Pautski’s Salmon Eggs are your best bet.  8 & 10 year old Bennett and Reece Paris of Angels Camp caught a nice rainbow on Salmon Eggs while fishing in Angels Creek.    Trollers: not seeing too many trout- everyone is catching kokanee, instead.   We are seeing some mixed limits of kokanee/trout.  Troll 40-50 feet deep- deeper in the heat of the day.  Most trout that we have seen have come from the main lake.  However, the water up Angels Creek and upriver is colder, so you may find better trout fishing there.  Tie on an Apex, or a spinner/crawler combo.  Bright colors seem to be working well- firetiger has been a popular choice.  Use ball troll flashers, or flashers on your line.  Many anglers are having luck with a dodger.  Rolling shad will get you a rainbow or a big, beautiful brown trout.  George Ambrose and Cecil Riggens of Sonora caught a 2-pound, 13-ounce rainbow- the biggest we weighed in this week.  One of them wins the Glory Hole Sports Big Fish of the Week Contest (salmonids) and a free deli lunch.  They trolled a pink UV Apex behind a gold dodger, 30-35 feet deep near Rose Island to catch the trout.  Danny Layne of Fish ‘n’ Dan’s Guide Service caught a brown trout while trolling 40-65 feet deep near the mouth of Carson Creek.

Kokanee:  Really starting to turn on.   Fish weigh ¾ to 1¼ pounds on average.  Danny Layne of Fish’n’ Dan’s Guide Service says the action is great at the mouth of Carson Creek 45-60 feet deep.  He found limits of kokanee up to 16” long for clients Dave Orlando, Bill Moon, and Ronald Tom, while trolling Uncle Larry’s Green Tiger Spinners, Pink Hootchies, and Humdingers behind Slingblades or Vance’s chartreuse dodgers.  He says plain shoepeg corn works great at first light, with garlic, Kokanee Special, and Carp Spit being the best scent choices later in the day.  It’s best to scent your corn the night before, and refrigerate it.   We have fresh pre-scented and dyed pink corn available at Glory Hole Sports.  Guide Monte Smith of Gold Country Sportfishing reports excellent action while fishing the waters off of Glory Hole Point, 40-65 feet deep.  He netted limits of clients Rob Santos and Tommy Farr, while trolling pink Uncle Larry’s pink Spinners, Hootchies and Apex lures, all behind watermelon dodgers.  Guide George Ambrose of Straight Lines Fishing  Adventures reports limits with UV Apex behind a gold dodger trolled 30-35 feet deep near Rose Island.  He used Carp Spit to scent his corn.

Bass:  red-hot!  Big fish are easy to find, with 3-4-pounders being common.  The backs of coves, cuts and creek arms that hold a lot of lay-down wood or rocks are holding big bass.  There is a great top-water bite, especially in the mornings and evenings, and spinnerbaits are working, too.  Senkos and Zoom Trick Worms, crawdad imitations and jigs, and Zoom Lizards and Brush Hogs are all working great.   Remember to practice catch-and-release, especially now, during the spawn.  Removing a big bass out of the lake not only kills that fish, but all of her future offspring as well. The Department of Fish and Game does not plant bass, so it is up to us to maintain the bass fishery!   Catfish:  Now is the time to target big cats.  Use anchovies, sardines, or a ball of nightcrawlers.  Leave your bail open so the cats can pick the bait up and swim with it- you will be more likely to hook them that way. Also, be sure to use a sliding sinker weight.  With warmer weather, the catfish bite really turns on.  Catfishing is best at night, but be sure to bring mosquito repellant! 

Crappie and bluegill:  Slowing down somewhat, after a great spring bite.  Crappie can be found hanging out in submerged trees, about 5-15 feet deep.  Bear Creek, Mormon Creek and Carson Creek are all good bets.  For crappie, try fishing live small or medium minnows, or crappie jigs with jigs in red/white, black/chartreuse or purple/white.  Remember- 25 is the limit for crappie.  Bluegill are really starting to bite, and they are a great way to get kids hooked on fishing.  Use a crawler under a bobber.


Lake PardeeWater conditions: The water is no longer flowing over the spillway, so for now the amount of water released at the dam is keeping pace with the runoff from the Sierras. Water clarity improved quite a bit since last report and the Secchi device was clearly visible to 14 feet. The water temperature at surface is 66 degrees and 60 at the 20 foot mark.

Weather: Warm but not hot, low 90’s by the weekend. It’s been nothing but clear skies lately with gentle breezes in the late afternoon. Conditions are ideal.

Trolling: Most are doing best early morning and late afternoon in 20 to 40 feet of water. Trout and Kokanee are spread out and not congregating in any one spot. Try the face of the Dam, the barrel line, the River Mouth and then head up the arm. Hoochies along with small lures and beaded spinners tipped with anise or garlic scented corn or grubs behind cop car, silver/blue or watermelon dodgers or sidekicks are the most popular. Fire tiger, tire track and fluorescent reds and oranges appear to be the most productive colors.

Shore Anglers: 4,000 pounds of trout to 4 pounds planted since last report and lots of room anywhere along the bank now that the sell out Holiday crowd has left. Check out the “mud hole”, Blue Herron Point, Rainbow Point and Stoney Creek landing, you know lots of those recent planters are still holding in the Rec. Area. Juicy night crawlers and the ever popular finger licking good processed bait or eggs in white, rainbow and chartreuse with sparkles have all been on the menu.

Some recent success stories: Joe and Joey Semas of Stockton got a nice limit of trout each over the weekend. Sam and Annie (RV park residents) got five catfish weighing in at 40 lbs-(try the south end).Mikayla Noblet got a beautiful 5.5 pound German brown Sunday-great fish!

As of 05/30/06 a total of 30,000 lbs of trout has been planted by Lake Pardee and the California Department of Fish and Game.

Fred Dorman, staff writer. <*(((---< Good Luck—Tight Lines

For information or reservations call (209) 772-1472


Camanche still rising

Wallace- Trollers this week have had to deal with rising water temperatures and rising water levels, but sportswriter Ron Wilson reports that his guest, Martin Chin, caught his limit of beautiful trout in 30 minutes on Monday afternoon. He was fishing with blue/gold Ex-cel lures, between 20 and 45 feet deep. The fishing continues to be extremely good at Dike 3, to the left of the dam. Anglers anchoring in about 45 feet of water and dropping Powerbait right off the bottom are finding limits quite often. Local fisherwoman, the Amador Dangler, still swears that a combination of 1 white Poweregg, along with 2 or 3 chartreuse Powereggs is the key to fishing bliss. She fished with lights overnight on Thursday night, and had 2 limits in her boat in just a couple of hours. With the increased water flow coming into Camanche from Lake Pardee, reports of trout caught upriver have been common. The Narrows, as well as under the highway bridge are a couple of the first places to try.

This week's trout plant of 1200 pounds will be split between South Shore launch ramp, and South Shore Pond.

Bass fishing remains top notch, with lots of Bass found in the grass and weed covered shorelines; especially early and late in the day. Ron Wilson also reports that Zoom watermelon colored worms were catching tons of bass all over the lake. His guest, Quen Young, caught numerous bass on Tuesday, with 2 beautiful spotted bass in the 4-5 pound range. Ron mentioned crawdad colored baits were working very well upriver. Camanche Jack's worms and leeches continue to be proven baits too.

The catfish bite is hot now that the water is warming up. The marina cove has been very good, as well as Camper's Cove, and the Lancha Plana area. Catfish love smelly baits, like mackerel, sardines, and anchovies as well as liver or clams. One happy lady landed a 24 inch catfish using a minnow in the Causeway Cove. A lot of folks will use a plain old nightcrawler also, which will catch a catfish, trout, or bass; a true multi-tasker bait. Fishing early or late in murky waters, 5-15 feet deep is your best bet to start.

The crappie bite has slowed down a little this week, though the rough weather has not helped matters any. Mini-jigs in red/white, black/white, or chartreuse are some of the favorite lures. Minnows are always the favorite live bait for crappie fishermen. Overnighters using lights in Oregon Gulch, Camanche Arm, and the Causeway cove are reporting fish, as well as the Lancha Plana area.


 

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

 


 
 
 
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