CA DELTA REPORT
Updated - 10/06/2005
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Bob’s Bait Report www.themasterbaiter.com

It was cooler than normal and the water temperature dropped to 65 degree. This is good for salmon, striped bass run.
During the week, the big school of salmon went through Isleton area from Tuesday to Friday. There was number of salmon harvest during this time and the biggest one was over 35 lb. Most salmons were caught mainly from the mouth of Old Sacramento River up to 2 miles north of Isleton Bridge. Trolling is the popular method to catch salmon in Isleton. There are number of different set ups for salmon rig. The three different lures are used as spinner including single and double blades, Wiggle Wart, and Kwikfish. The percentage to catch salmon by luck is very limp. The combination between the good fishing technique and some luck is contributed to the success. That’s the reason why only 10% of fishermen mostly successful getting salmon while the rest was not. Salmon trolling is not like striped bass trolling in terms of boat speed, lures, location. The more knowledge is contributing more for the fishing success. The knowledge is from experiences, from friends, and from experts who wrote it down in the fishing book or in the website. There are plenty of information can be found regarding about salmon trolling techniques. However, the techniques are not always worked if they were not modifying to different environment where they were used. Fishing for salmon in Sacramento area is not same as in Isleton area, and fishing around the damps are not same as Sacramento area. As mentioned in previous fishing reports, the popular set up for spinner is as the lure is snapped to ball bearing swivel that is tied to 4 to 5 feet leader (20 lb. test line or better) and another end was tied to either three-way ring swivel or right angle spreader. The middle ring of three-way ring swivel was tied to 1 foot (10-15 lb. test line) with snap swivel attached to snap the sinker to it. The leftover ring is tied to the fishing line. With the boat speed is about 1 mph, let the line out until the sinker hits to the river bottom then bring it up about 1 to 3 feet by reeling the line back by about 5 to 10 turns.
Fishing for striped bass was fair with some were caught from Decker Island, Sherman Island, Rio Vista Bridge, Isleton Bridge and Mokelume river on grass shrimp, sardine anchovy, or shad.
Catfish fishing is slowing in certain areas in the Delta but it’s not in Georgiana Slough and Mokelumne Rivers where number of catfish was caught last week on crawdads, clamp, or chicken liver.
Salmon fishing is still good until mid-November. Check with the local bait stores for update information about salmon harvest to know the big school is going through the area you like to fish. Try to not fishing in the weekend when most boat ramps are used to be full very early.
Best luck to you all and have a nice coming weekend.

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The Wilson Files- Mark Wilson

Dan, Monday, September 26, 2005...Chuck Jacobs went fishing with me today. We trolled for striped bass down by Decker Island on the Sacramento River. The water was in excellent shape. It was clear at 68 degrees. The weather was real nice too. A little overcast and NO WIND! We trolled Rebels, Bombers and Rattle Traps. The only lure we caught them on was Bombers in red/white or rainbow trout colors. The morning's low tide had a good bite and the afternoon's high tide also had a good bite. It was kind of slow in betwee. Numerous hits for 8 shaker stripers and 13 keeper stripers to 8 pounds. There were no big ones today. We kept fish at 7#, 7#, 7#, and 8#. The 8 pounder almost swallowed the 6" bomber entirely. We quit at 2 p.m. and headed for Vieira's for pictures and fileting fish. Note: There were a lot of salmon caught near Vieira's and Isleton today. That's it. Good luck. Catch you later - Mark.

Water Conditions: New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,934,200 acre-feet of water, and is at 80% capacity. The lake is full and beautiful. The lake elevation dropped slightly last week, and is at 1,046 ft. above sea level and only 42 ft. from full capacity. Surface water is cooling off, and is approximately 74-75 degrees. Water is stained. There are huge numbers of shad in the main lake, as well as upriver.

Ramp update: All ramps are open

Trout: Very good, with fat, healthy limits being the norm for both trollers and anglers who fish at night under lights. Bank fishing has not turned on yet, but if this cooler weather keeps up, we should start seeing some nice fish taken from shore. In the meantime, the streams are still open. Trollers are having good luck during the day trolling for rainbows from 35 to 55 ft. deep in the main lake, as well as upriver. Shad-patterned lures seem to be the ticket. Try a Cop Car or Threadfin Shad Needlefish. Excel Lures have been really bringing in the limits- try a blue/silver or blue/pink, or a shad-pattern. Green Apex also produced some limits. Most trollers are not using dodgers or flashers. Trollers who showed off their limits this week include 10-year old Spencer Delay of Bakersfield, whose almost 19-pound limit included trout weighing up to 4 pounds. 4-year old Kristopher Momyer of Arnold was very proud of his 3.3-pounder. John Darroch caught rainbows and a 3.1-pound brown trout. Jim Stickney and Joe Hallett also caught nice rainbows. Monte Smith of Gold Country Sportfishing took out Don Swank and Ralph Mitchell, and Ken, Dale, and Craig Clifton. Monte chased big balls of shad and trolled Excel lures at 35-50 feet deep to find big rainbows up to 3.9-pounds. Night fishing under submersible lights is still producing trout as well, using a night crawler and Power Bait combo.

Kokanee: Pretty much all done. Kokanee have their scales, and are hooked-jawed and pink. Fish are moving up into creek arms and a few coves, where they will attempt to spawn, and eventually complete their life cycle by dying. By November, we are usually seeing kokanee caught by bank anglers in Angels Creek and Angels Cove. These fish are, for the most part, not good for eating since their flesh is no longer firm. Some people swear they are still tasty when prepared in a smoker, though.

Bass: fair, mostly for smaller fish. Bass are looking to fatten up for the winter, and are feeding on shad and crawdads. Target steep banks upriver and the mouths of creek arms, 30-40 feet deep. Try drop-shotting shad-patterned worms or grubs, or dragging a Carolina-rigged 4” or 6” worm on a long (3 foot) leader. Throwing deep-diving shad imitation crankbaits and Rattletraps will also entice a bite. Dragging a jig along rocky points in the creek arms, as well as submerged island-tops near mouths of creeks, may catch you a larger bass. You may want to try a top-water bait in the early morning.

Catfish: We are still seeing a surprising number of nice cats. Tuttletown, Angels Cove, Glory Hole Point, 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. Mike Swart of Antelope, Ca, Diane Kiyota of Sacramento, and Pat Martin of Ione caught some nice cats on mackerel and sardines while fishing near the spillway/dam area. They had 6 big catfish, weighing from 4.7 pounds all the way up to 8.2-pounds, as well as a bass and a couple of nice trout. They caught the biggest fish this week, so they win Glory Hole Sports’ Big Fish of the Week Contest and a free deli lunch! Richard Wignall of Avery caught a nice 4.7-pounder near the spillway as well.

Crappie and bluegill: Slow. Try fishing live minnows or trying to entice them with jigs in red/white or purple/white. Best spots on the lake are the south side of the lake near Bear Cove, the back of Coyote Creek, Black Bart Cove, and in cuts upriver near the Parrotts Ferry Bridge that have a lot of stand-up trees in them. Fish are moving deeper, so target 20-30 ft. depths. As always, fish tight to structure

Lake Pardee

Water conditions: The Lake water level has leveled off and is the same as last report, just about 4 to 5 feet below spill. Water temperatures also remained close to last reports figures. Temperatures measured 76 degrees at the surface and 72 degrees at the 20ft mark. Water clarity is good to 13 feet.

LATE BREAKING NEWS—LOU CARSNER A LONG TIME RESIDENT AND AVID CAT FISH ANGLER LANDED A 45 POUND CAT FRIDAY EVENING IN THE MARINA AREA-WHAT A MONSTER!!!

Trolling-Continued ideal Lake conditions, cool mornings, pleasant temperatures, water like glass and very few boats. Trolling very good recently at the face of the Dam and around the red buoy in the same vicinity. While heading there try dropping a line in right outside the Narrows and anywhere along the East bank to the River Mouth. No need to go too deep, try 25 to 30 foot trolling depths. The winning combinations are night crawlers behind blades and flashers for the purists while others are having good luck with smaller fire tiger spoon shaped lures behind a dodger.

Kokanee fishing has been very slow, haven’t heard of any caught in the last two weeks. This time of the year the Kokanee are usually losing scales, turning red and moving upriver to spawn.

Bank fishing-Cooler water temperatures in and around the Recreation Area are encouraging recent plants to school and hold longer near the Bridge, the Launch Ramp and Rainbow Point. Early morning or late afternoon is still the most productive. Watched a double load of 3 to 5 pound Rainbows planted Friday afternoon at the Launch Ramp. This plant should produce some great memories for lots of Bank Anglers this weekend. As a rule the bite after the plant is early before the sun is hard on the water. Newly planted trout can’t resist silver/blue casting lures and black wooly flies. For the more experienced and smarter Trout use a sliding sinker rig with a night crawler or processed bait in rainbow or chartreuse with sparkles Cast out further and put your bait in the deeper channels 30 to 50 feet off shore.

Cat fishing is still good in Rattlesnake Cove, the extreme South End and the backside of Deer Island. Most popular baits are chicken livers, chorizo, and sardines or anchovies.

As of 09/23/05 a total of 56,000 lbs of trout has been planted by Lake Pardee and the Department of Fish and Game.

Good Luck---Tight Lines.

Camanche Bass and Catfish Action Decent
Reports from those who have been visiting Camanche are encouraging for the Bass anglers. The bass bite continues to be red hot this week. Lots of 1-4 pound bass are being caught around the rock piles and cliffs in the Lancha Plana area. Camanche Jack's worms and leeches in smoke, green, or purple are the colors most often mentioned. The submerged island tops in the main part of the lake have been giving up plenty of bass this week. Fish 10-15 feet deep, near deeper water. Tube baits and deep running crank baits are the ticket here. The big bass for the week was caught by young Dillon Parrish, of Elk Grove. He caught an awesome 6.2 pound bass on a minnow, fishing from shore in the campgrounds at North ShoreI have been fishing topwater lures, such as Ricos or Lucky Craft Pointer minnows in Rainbow or orange are taking some good ones as well. Works areas with wind pushed current around brush and thick grass cover near the Causeway and dike #1.

Catfish action has slowed down just a little but still biting. Use Mackerel, liver or nightcrawlers from 8 to 20 deep after dark. The Camanche arm and Causeway cove are among the hottest areas to try. Don't overlook the Trout or Beaver ponds at Southshore for after-dark Catfish.

Trollers who are on the water very early, or late, report finding fish from Hat Island to the Dam, above the old river channel. Now that water temperatures have topped 81 degrees the fish are very deep during the day .between 45-65 feet. Needlefish in chartreuse color, and R-Lures and Ex-Cel lures in green/gold, and blue/gold are reported as the most successful colors this week. The bait fishing at Dike 3 continues to be great for overnighters using Power Bait, Power Eggs, or night crawlers, especially when using underwater lights at night. Anchor in about 50 feet of water, and drop your bait to the bottom. The Camanche Hypolimnetic Oxygenation System, trade named the "Speece Cone", has been in operation since the 13th of August. The H.O.S. distributes oxygen to the lower lake waters at the dam. The southern end of the dam will soon become the best place to try for Trout as the oxygen-laden water provides ideal conditions within 30 feet of the surface. The "cone" usually operates until mid-to-late October to improve the waters released into the Mokelumne river fish hatchery.

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