Delta Stripers 4/9 and 10
Had some fun fishing over the past two days 25 + striper with the big fish going #12. A dozen or so keeper sized to #5 kept things interesting and worth slogging it out during the lulls. Better water as opposed to last weekend with better (1 to 2') visibilty, but cooler in the mid 50's. Fishing was best on the Sac side for us this weekend, with all but a few fish caught there. Variable winds both days with some gusty conditions in the afternoon.
4/9: Got Stevo-o's sled on the water with a greylight launch @ laurentzens. Today, it was Carlo, Steve and I, hoping that a week off the water would bring some improvement. Made the stop at last chance first, and everyone was feeling TW. With the high tide, we were able to get way back in there and around the other side, all of us silent and working hard to get the blow-up. Tried hard until we ended up were we started before making move up river.
Tried some rip rap spots, but really just killing time in that the ebb didn't happen until later in the morning. Off to check a pump thats been consistant. We see that it's dicharging as we slide up to it. A cast or two with a swimbait and I stick a LMB. That was enough keep us there for about a half hour, but that was it.
Made the move down to the Broad Slough area. Things look well enough with a decent ebbing current and water clairity, but pretty lifeless as far as catching some striper go. I got a shaker in that area and that was it for us after giving 4 spots the good try. Knowing we had 40 gallons at our disposal, I suggested that we go long and head up the Sac Side to check things out.
Good move. We tried a spot or two on the way up, but it got alot better for us once we got above the bridge. We stop on the this point/ledge combo that had 3' of water dropping to 30', with some nice current. It took a minute to get on top of them, but once we did, the catching commenced. Singles and doubles for about 40 minutes on some fair schoolie grade striper. I think we got 3 doubles...here's two of them:
It was a much welcome bit of action for all of us, and the added bonus was that they were eating a variety of baits. Swimbaits, rip baits....I threw the waxwing for a bit and got several fish:
Super Fun! Move up the ledge a ways and set up for another drift. One or two casts into it, it's Steve-O with a fish on again, this time with a bit of a rod bender:
Stoked. A drag-taken, around the boat kinda stoked. After a nice battle, super stoked steve with his #12:
High 5's around upon release! As you could imagine, the next hour we fished this area as if it was the only thing going. Only a few more smaller fish so more running around looking for the next biter. As it turned out, that would be the highlight of our day. Pretty slow everywhere else we fished, so we start the longer than normal drive back to the launch. Not without a few stops, however. One of those stops was at the pump we checked in the morning, and FINALLY Carlo got on the board with this chucky lil chunk:
And that was about it, unless you want to count the run we made above Franks Tract for nothing. A full day put in, with the boat running out of gas as I'm backing the trailer down as testament. Thanks for putting your sled in yesterday day Steve!
4/10: No need for the dawn patrol this morning as I was intent on fishin the ebb only. Woke up at the crack of 9am, gave Carlo a call and it was on (again).
We launched at Hogback today, and within 15 minutes we're fishin the spot we got into 'em the day before. 10 minutes later, skunks off the boat, but thats about all that happened there. Try a few different angles on the drift with no luck so we moved up river. Again, blanks on my bread and butter spots. After having some decent fishing yesterday, I was not overly pressured to find some fish, so I say to Carlo, "lets go check some new water." He's always down for anything, so we go.
The area I wanted to look at is one of those areas you see on the delta map and say "someday I'm gonnna check that out." Well, someday was today for me, so off we went.
Again, good move and a bit of luck on our side. We find an area that to me, is quintessentially a perfect striper plugging area - current, high spots, edges, etc.. Just perfect. Nice breaks here and there that looked really fishy, but weren't holding for us today. Someday, though:
Carlo's "someday" was today, too. He got a nice one that had brought him some self-needed redemption:
It was our best fish of the day. Better yet, I've got a new area to check, verified by a nice fish.
We looked around and made some more casts to some great looking water. I'm sure someday this area will be a producer.
With only a few more hours left, we made our way downriver, eventually ending up where it all began for us the other day. I got 4 to eat a lipless crankbait, while Carlo got his on a rip bait:
And thats how our day ended.
All in all, a fun weekend with some fun guys. No big bite for me, but putting friends on a good fish or two is just as good, no doubt.
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Originally Posted by cutbait
