CA DELTA REPORT
Updated - 12/14/2005
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Bob’s Bait Report www.themasterbaiter.com
Even the weather was good last week with a couple foggy days, fishing for striped bass and sturgeon has been fair but it was not very good as expected. The weather is continuing well with the temperature about low 60 during the day and mid-30 at night.

Water is getting clearer. This will help for striped bass fishing picking up again.
Since water is really cold, most small striped bass was rarely seen in the Delta channels. For this reason, pile worm is the good bait at this time of the year for striped bass. Of course, mud sucker, jumbo minnow, shad, blood worm, sardine; anchovy are also the good baits for striped bass.

Fishing for sturgeon was good last week. Don McDonald from Walnut Grove got two sturgeon 66” and 59” in two consecutive days 12/07/05 and 12/08/05 at private boat dock that’s close by Rye hotel on ghost shrimp. Alex Garcia from Sacramento got 68” sturgeon on ghost shrimp at Isleton Bridge on 12/08/05. Tom McLaughlin from Antioch got 55” sturgeon at the mouth of Georgiana slough and Mokelumne river on 12/06/05. Eddie Chan from Stockton got 68” sturgeon and 32” striped bass at the split of South and North Mokelumne river on ghost shrimp on 12/05/05. Anthony Quan got 5 channel catfish on anchovy at Mokelumne river on 12/06/05.
There were number of striped bass have been caught in Sherman Island, Decker Island, along highway 160 up to Isleton Bridge. Most striped bass were average weight about 5 lb. Some sturgeon was also caught at Rio Vista Bridge up to light 49 at Cache slough.

For some nature reason, grass shrimp bait seem to be good from Sherman Island down to Martinez bridge meanwhile ghost shrimp work well from Decker Island toward Cache slough, Steam Boat slough, or old Sacramento river. Fresh salmon roe with little brown sugar was also the good bait for sturgeon at Sherman Island and Decker Island.
The incoming days would be good for sturgeon and striped bass fishing in most of the Delta channels. A lot of biggest striped bass shown up in very shallow water from 5 to 7 feet in very end of slough along the Mokelumne river likes Hog Slough, Sycamore Slough, Beaver slough, or Snodgrass slough. It could be a lot of baits available in these areas like minnow, crappie, or blue gill.

If you are intend to fish for sturgeon in the Delta channel, three main baits should be used as grass shrimp, ghost shrimp, or Lamprey eel.
The good baits for striped bass are pile worm, blood worm, mud sucker or jumbo minnow if you fish in San Joaquin area.
Best luck to you all and keep on fishing.

The demand for baits would be very high and number of baits store in the Delta couldn’t handle with that huge demand. For that reason, if you plan for fishing trip in the Delta, be sure to call to your favorite bait store to check for the bait you prefer to. The bait stores information can be found in the www.californiadelta.org or www.fishdelta.com.
Good luck and wish all of you and your family having wonderful Thanksgiving weekend.

The Wilson Files- Mark Wilson

Dan, Monday, November 28, 2005...Fred Hicks went striper trolling with me today. We trolled Rebels in 12' to 16' of water all day. We trolled around Sherman Island on the Sacramento River side. The water turned pretty clear and was at 56 degrees. An overcast day mixed with sprinkles and some wind. A good day for trolling? No, it was a lot slower today than it has been. We did manage about 20 hits for 5 shakers and 8 keepers to 8 pounds. We kept a 4 fish limit between 6 and 8 pounds. Headed to Vieira's early to clean fish and home right at rush hour traffic. That's it. Good luck. Catch you later - Mark.

Big Trout lead the way

Angels Camp-Excellent trout action awaits , with big 3-to-5 pound fish being caught by trollers and bank anglers alike. Bite is best in the morning. Trout are moving to the surface, and most trollers are having luck 10-25 feet deep. It is important when trout are near the surface to have plenty of line out while trolling (your lure should be 100 ft. behind your boat). Your boat chop will spook the fish from the water’s surface, and you want to give them time to come back up and see your lure. Many trollers had luck in the dam/spillway area or in the mouths of major creek arms and coves. Coves and creeks will be the hot spots for most of the cold winter months. Shad-patterned lures continue to produce the most fish. Try a broken-back or Countdown Rapala, a Cop Car or threadfin shad Needlefish, or an Excel lure. Most trollers are not using dodgers or flashers.

Several quality rainbows were caught by anglers rolling shad, including The Glory Hole Sports Big Fish of the Week Contest (salmonid) winner Scott McGowan of Merced. He trolled frozen shad approximately 12 ft. deep at the mouth of Mormon Creek to catch a 5.7-pound rainbow. Other anglers who had luck while trolling include Richard Kowski, Gary Gellerman, Larry Gross, Coogie Sierra, Kenny Layne, Phillip Bruckon, Erik Momyer, and Kristopher Momyer. Anglers who are bank fishing are having best luck in Angels Cove and Glory Hole Point. Some are throwing spoons and others are using rainbow or chartreuse Power Bait or nightcrawler/marshmallow combinations. Anglers who caught nice bank fish (almost all were in excess of 4 pounds!) include Michael Kiernan, Mark Tipton, Don Long, Richard Kowski, Lucky Slayton, Mike Carpenter, Butch Joyner, and Al Judnich.

Bass action not so good, Most bass being caught are in the 1-2 pound range. Fish are holding in 22-30 feet of water. Target the mouths of creek arms and submerged islands. Wind the wind comes up, fish the banks and points that the wind blows into- the fish will move shallow to chase the bait that the wind is blowing into the shore. Drop-shot rigs with shad-patterned or crawdad-colored worms are going to produce the most fish, but bigger fish will be caught with brown jigs or swim baits, such as Huddlestons. Jigging a spoon over submerged islands, 30-40 feet deep, is another good choice for winter bass fishing. Dennis and Dustin Tarap won the Anglers Choice Semi-Pro Tournament on Melones last weekend, with a 5-fish limit weighing 10.04-pounds. Father-daughter team of Steve and Alexandria Sepulveda took second place with a 9.04-pound limit that included the big fish of the tournament- a 2.6-pounder.

New Melones Lake is currently holding 1,967,300 acre-feet of water, and is at 81% capacity. The lake is full and beautiful. The lake elevation rose slightly last week, and is at 1,049 ft. above sea level and only 39 ft. from full capacity. Surface water temperatures are approximately 58-60 degrees. The lake has turned over. Water is fairly clear.

Lake Pardee

Dropping Like a rock and Closes Sunday October 30th

Camanche Fog brings the trout to the top

Wallace-With the arrival of some early morning fog and clouds this past week, top lining for trout proved to be the best bet for trollers here at Lake Camanche. Anytime the light levels are low (early, cloudy, foggy) is a great time to start trolling right on the surface with Rapalas in black/gold, black/silver, Fire Tiger; or Needlefish in Fire Tiger, Cop Car, or Shad colors. Trolling with a dodger/night crawler combination has also been very successful. The area from Hat Island to Little Hat Island to the dam has been the best area for most of the trollers, although a few reports of fish being caught up the river from the highway bridge to Arkansas Bend have been received.
The action at the South Shore Pond continues to improve with the dropping water temperatures. The trout are now moving toward the shoreline and away from the middle of the pond. The best results are with Power Bait, Power Eggs, and nightcrawlers. Shore fishing at Chevron Point at South Shore, and the day use point at North Shore has been productive for folks using Power Bait, Power Eggs, and inflated night crawlers tipped with Power Bait. Kastmasters and Magic Bullets can be very effective when fished before 7 a.m.
This week’s trout plant of 1,200 pounds will be at North Shore.
BOTH NORTH AND SOUTH SHORE STORES ARE CURRENTLY CLOSED FOR INVENTORY AND RENOVATIONS. BOAT RENTALS ARE AVAILABLE DURING THE STORE CLOSURE, (EXCEPT December 24-26), BY TELEPHONE RESERVATION ONLY. PLEASE CALL NORTH SHORE (209-763-5166) OR SOUTH SHORE (209-763-5915) FOR DETAILS. BOTH STORES WILL RE-OPEN Dec. 30th.

Pennies on the dollar for fishing rods, reels, baits, lures, and more? You be the judge!
Team Daiwa, Lucky Craft, G-Loomis, Fenwick, Heddon, Yo-Zuri, St. Croix, Shimano, Strike Pro
Rat-L-Traps, Lures, Bucktail Jigs, Spinnerbait, Crankbait, Buzzbait, Marine Electronics, and lots more!