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CA DELTA REPORT
Updated - 6/28/2006
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Hot Weather brings So so ActionDan Mathisen Outdoors

Fishing has slowed throughout the Delta. Catfishing is still in full swing, but striped bass fishing is tough. There are a few boils of schoolie sized fish in Old and Middle Rivers. There is some hope ahead as anglers have already caught and released a couple Salmon from the mouth of the old Sacramento River and up toward Isleton. So anglers are starting to Buzz about the opening of salmon fishing season on July 16.

Audie at Hap's says, "It's pretty slow near Rio Vista, with wind and heat keeping most anglers off the river." Most of the stripers are undersized, with an occasional keeper to 9 pounds. There are more recreational boaters than fishermen this week, typical for the week leading up to the Fourth of July.

Bass action is ok as the summer pattern takes hold Buzzbaits and spinnerbaits are the key near weedlines is best when the windblows. Now that schools out fishing can be a great way to spend the day. As Summer is in full swing already kids and parents are start to come out to fish with Dan Mathisen Outdoors. The Rat-L-trap and Luckycraft LVR yo yoed on the outside weedlines. Buzzbaits and poppers are on fire now as well.

The recent bout of mild weather actually hasn't been that great for anglers. A little wind can make it tough on the water for those out and about in the Delta.

I have fouind a few top water Stripes the mouth of the Smith Canal and the San Joaquin River near the Stockton Country Club, and San Andreas Shoals. Can’t be afraid to burn some fuel though! I Have had to move around and find some active fish.


The seceret is Out! The Halibut have been taking anchovies while drifting, or herring and anchovies, trolling near the Alameda Rockwall, Treasure Island and the Berkeley Flats. Next weeks tides should be Much batter there.
Rio Vista - Isleton

Bob’s Bait Report www.themasterbaiter.com

Family emergancy has him out of country

The Wilson Files- Mark Wilson

My striper fishing has slowed temporarily, as my boat is in Oregon getting some warranty work done and some new add-ons added. I should be back after stripers sometime next week. I did get out a couple of times with a friend. We tried trolling shallow runners on the Sacramento River below Rio Vista during the last of the incoming tide (water is clearer then) and bait fishing with shad by Decker Island on the outgoing tide (best bite was at the beginning and end of the outgo). We caught 3 keeper stripers to 6 pounds on the income and boated 9 more keepers to 7 pounds and 15 shakers on the outgo. There are fish to be caught. Just watch out for the darned delta wind. That's it - Mark

Sacramento Area Report - by Jack Chapman

Sacramento CSBA Report (6/14/2005)
This coming Saturday, June 18th, the Sacramento Chapter of the CSBA will be hosting an information booth and running it’s fishing simulator at Gone Fishin’s open house in Dixon. Several of our chapter’s guides (Mark Wilson and Rene Villanueva) will be helping to man our booth and answer your questions. I hope to see some of you there.
Striped Bass and Halibut: The most successful striped bass fishermen are using bait; sardines in the Sacramento area and shad further down the river towards Rio Vista. The one common thread in all the reports seems to be, take plenty of bait. There are shaker stripers throughout the delta.
Further down the system and into the bay drifters are targeting both stripers and halibut near Candlestick in the south bay and in the Berkeley Flats in the main bay. While they don’t describe the bite as wide open you should get some fish if you are persistent.
Trout and Kokanee: Most of the Mother Load lakes are reporting a good to great Kokanee bite. Reports from New Melones have anglers working from 30 to 50 feet down on the wire. They are trolling small red and silver apex’s behind a flasher.
Shad: The shad bite has taken off on the American River. Reports of 15 to 25 fish are not uncommon. Most of the action is taking place between Watt and The Gristmill. Be careful if you go as the water is very high, very fast and very cold. Don’t become a statistic.
Sturgeon: No reports but word of mouth says some anglers are having success at the Mothball Fleet. I would guess they are using JPS, pile worms and eel for bait.
Salmon: The weather has kept all the largest and bravest off the water. When the weather settles down I’m going try my luck along the Marin Coast.
Where I’d Fish This Upcoming Weekend:
• Berkeley Flats and South Hampton Shoals for striped bass and halibut trolling or drifting live bait.
• Mothball Fleet for sturgeon with JPS, pile worms and eel for bait.
• Marin Coast for salmon trolling FBR’s if the weather ever decides to lay down a bit.
• Lake Tahoe for mackinaw.
• New Melones or Folsom for Kokanee.
Good luck and tight lines.

Hook Line And Sinker Report

Black Bass:

The topwater bite has really started to take hold with the buzzbaits and spooks being the most consistent baits but the frogs, poppers and the River2sea frog will be good bets also. Stick with basic color selections on the topwater (black, white, baby bass or some variation of those). For an alternative flipping deeper cover(tules,wood,docks,outside grass lines) deep being 4+ ft. with jigs, brush hogs or double-wide beavers. For the jigs and brush hogs try blk/blue, blk/red or brown and for the beavers try penetration, california 420 or rythmn & blues.

Striped Bass:
I have had a occasional report of stripers in our area from schoolie sized fish to 15 lbs. Early in the morning and right before dark Franks Tract has been seeing some topwater action but I have had no reports of any fish exceeding 18 lbs. Night fishing with bait will probably be your best shot at the better quality fish and with the winds laying down this weekend I would head to either Honker Bay or around The Fleet and anchor up with bullheads. You'll also find a significant decrease in boat traffic the farther down towards the salt water you go.

Bluegill:
I have personally witnessed the first spawning 'gills I have seen this year on a day ago. This was down around Antioch in a couple of the marinas. You'll have to wait for low tide to find the biggest concentration of them but once you do they're everywhere. Look for what looks like little craters in the bottom, those are their beds. Drop anything on them and it will get nailed almost immediately.
 

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!

 

Salmon Action HOT!

We were 1 short of limits For 6 fishermen today.
We made the long run again to Pt Reyes, 58/58.
We mooched the first 2 hours and it seemed like the trollers were doing better.So we switched to trolling 25 to 50 ft.
Lost as many fish as we landed. The fish were on fire when they got to the boat.Watermelon apex and choveys/herring in clear RSKs.Mixed grade to 22 lbs. Back out tomorrow for a long run again .

Capt. Steve
Flash Sport Fishing

s.

Capt. Steve
Flash Sportfishing

P.S. I need someone that will come and install the new linoleum.
I am open to any referrals.
Thanks

.

 

 

 


Capt. Steve
Flash
Sport Fishing

 

 

Now brings you out of area reports as well

Kokanee is King At Melones


Angels Camp- Melanie Lewis at Glory Hole sports reports the Kokanee fishing as “Red hot! Most kokanee are 15-16 inches long, and 1 1/2 – 1 3/4 pounds. Troll slowly (1.2 m.p.h.), 40-50 feet deep, near the spillway/dam area, or near Rose Island. All successful anglers agree- the bite is best in the early a.m., so get up and get out on the water early”. Pink seems to be the preferred color for lures, with chartreuse green also working. Hootchies, Apex, Glitterbugs Fat Fish and Spinner Hootchies, and Uncle Larry’s Spinners have been the strongest producers when trolled behind a watermelon or chrome dodger, Kone Zone, or Sling Blade. Don’t forget to tip your lure with shoepeg corn soaked in Pro-Cure Scent.

While most trollers are targeting kokanee right now, a few rainbows in the 1-2 pound range are being caught. Target the dam/spillway area. Nice brown trout continue to be caught, mostly by anglers targeting kokanee. It seems that most browns are being caught lately on brightly colored kokanee lures, such as the beautiful 6.3-pounder caught by Patricia Fitzgerald of Murphys. She wins our Glory Hole Sports’ Big Fish of the Week Contest and a free deli lunch with her catch.

Bass action has been solid! Concentrate on areas with lots of structure. There is a good top-water bite going in the early morning and late evening, when the sun is off the water, so throw a buzz-bait, a Pop-R, or Zara Spook. During the day Senkos, Spinnerbaits, 6” crawdad-colored worms, lizards and green pumpkin Zoom Baby Brush Hogs have been the best producers, with Zoom Flukes working well, too. Many anglers report large numbers of 1-2 pound spotted bass upriver, in the area between the two bridges. Joe Bruce caught and released a huge 7.2-pound spotted bass on a Senko in the south end of the lake.

The catfish bite is getting better every day as the water warms. We are hearing good reports from anglers who fish at night. Tuttletown, Angels Cove, or under the 49 Stevenot Bridge are all good spots to try for big cats. Use mackerel, anchovies, or sardines, a sliding sinker, leave your bail open, and be sure your hooks are sharp. Night fishing is always best for catfish, but we see plenty caught during the day, too.

New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,858,000 acre-feet of water, and is at 75% capacity. The lake is full and beautiful. With the warm weather melting snow and swelling the river, the lake elevation rose a whopping nine feet this week, and is now at 1,040 ft. above sea level and only 48 ft. from full capacity. Surface water is approximately 72-74 degrees. Water is fairly clear, with visibility to 10-15 feet. All Ramps open


Lake Pardee Trolling-The River Arm and the Mouth are still the best areas. Kokes are traveling in small tight pods all around The Rock Wall, Wanda’s Cove and Columbia Gulch. Word is the Kokes caught lately are larger than the usual 10 to 12 inch variety. More than one boat brought in some very nice holdover Trout, many over 2 pounds, all with bright pink flesh. Lures-small beaded spinners in pink, red, blue and tire track are ever popular. Tip ‘em with scented white corn and drag it all behind a watermelon or silver/blue dodger or sidekick. Kokes have dropped down a bit more to 35 feet and below while the Rainbows are generally a little shallower but hanging out in the same spots as the Kokanee. Lots of limits and boats back in before noon.

Catfish-Warmer temps forecast for the weekend so check out Rattlesnake Cove and the others at the south end. Treble hooks, chicken liver and a good book is all it takes! What catfish lack in looks they more than make up for in taste, especially the ones caught here at Lake Pardee.

Bank fishing remains good, still lots of Trout available in the Recreation Area. Stony Point Landing is Hot. Take some shade but it is definitely worth the hike. As a rule the bite is early and the newly planted trout can’t resist silver/blue casting lures and black wooly flies. For the wary holdovers use that sliding sinker rig cast out 30 feet from shore with processed bait in rainbow and chartreuse with sparkles.

Saturday July 16th, get ready for the Kokanee Power Derby. For more information and entry forms access their website at www.kokaneepower.org

As of 6/17/05 a total of 34,000 lbs of trout has been planted by Lake Pardee and the Department of Fish and Game with more scheduled for the weekend!

Camanche still rising

Head up River for Camanche Trout

Wallace-Trollers fishing early and late in the day are having the best luck this week. Ex-cels, R-Lures, and Needlefish blue/gold, red/gold, or chartreuse have all been reported as successful. Fish are being found between 29-45 feet deep. The big trout of the week was 7.4 pounds, and was caught by Steve McCutcheon of Fremont. He was trolling with a Rattlin' Rogue. With the high volume of water coming in from Lake Pardee, lots of trout are being caught up the river. Drifting minnows or Power Bait from Arkansas Bend down to the bridge is a great place to start. Fishing at Dike 3 continues to be excellent. Power Bait, or Power Eggs in chartreuse or white, or a combination of the two is a proven winner. Anchor in 45-50 feet of water and fish your bait right off the bottom. Night fishermen are catching easy limits fishing with underwater lights.
The Bass bite continues to be hot, especially early and late in the day. Work the grassy shorelines with Camanche Jack's plastic leeches or worms, in smoke, green or brown. Limits of bass were reported from the Lancha Plana area, caught with minnows. During the day work the rock piles in Lancha Plana, the cliffs at the narrows, or the dikes in the main part of the lake, down about 15 feet.
The Marina cove, Causeway Cove, and Camanche arm have all been giving up plenty of 1-2 pound catfish. Mackerel, sardines, and anchovies are some of the favorite baits, but minnows and worms are also working well. Use 15 pound test line, and fish from 5-15 feet deep.

Large amounts of Bluegill are showing up in the coves, especially around rocks and brush piles. These fish are great fun for kids to catch...not big, but plentiful. Use red worms, Rooster Tails, or the new Matzuo Sickle Shockwave lure. Oregon Gulch, Causeway Cove, and Camanche Arm are all holding lots of fish.
Lake Camanche's current elevation is 232.4 feet above sea level, a drop of .4 feet since last Sunday. The lake should drop slowly this week. Currently water is flowing into Camanche at a rate of 1850 c.f.s., and is flowing out of Camanche at a rate of 2500 c.f.s. Lake Camanche is about 94% full. Surface water temperature at the dam is 70.7 degrees. The water is very clear, with a Secchi reading of 25 feet. Gate hours for North and South shores are 5 A.M. TO 11 P.M.

 

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

 


 
 
 
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