Delta 8-26

[Hairstacker]

Fly fished the Delta out of the inflatable kayak for a little less than 3 hours this morning. Beautiful day with only a slight breeze. Was nice to arrive and find that I was fishing the top of the outgoing tide:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v484/Sachlil/8-26-07Delta1.jpg

Decided to tie on a green/yellow Dahlberg frog pattern I had tied over the weekend and fish the shallows up against tules, weed patches, rocks, logs, pipes, etc. Immediately picked up this one:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v484/Sachlil/8-26-07Delta2.jpg

This was a fun fish because I had cast toward a clump of tules and lined the tip of one of the tules, which left my fly dangling about 10" above the water. I twitched the fly and the very moment the fly touched water, the bass just nailed it. He must have been watching that fly in the air. :D

Continued to fish the frog for a couple of hours, picking up a bass here and there, all in the 12" - 14" range. Here's another photo:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v484/Sachlil/8-26-07Delta3.jpg

At one point, I was paddling up the middle of the slough and noticed a school of fish busting baitfish directly ahead. Although the frog pattern wouldn't have been my 1st choice, it's what I had on, so I tossed it out as far as I could and stripped it like gang-busters, hoping to pick up what I believed to be stripers. Well, I did get a couple of hits but I just didn't hook up. :(

Given the busting baitfish I just saw, coupled with the lower water level with the outgoing tide, I decided to go for a reaction bite. So I tied on a red/white deer hair Tap's Bug and fished a favorite point with a lot of current, as well as the outside edge of weedlines by ripping it across the surface like an escaping baitfish. Well, didn't pick up any stripers but did manage to pick up a few more LMBs like the others I had been catching. My approach was to start ripping the bug as soon as it hit the water and the bass that hit seemed to hit it immediately. Great fun when you get them really active like that.

All in all, it was a fun 3 hours! Wouldn't call it hot by any stretch and nothing big but definitely enough topwater action to keep me on the edge of my seat. It was good to get out there again. Gotta love the Delta!

[David Lee]

Good stuff there Mike !!

Are you seeing much bait (Threadfin Shad) ??

David

[JerryInLodi]

Mike, how was the boat traffic this weekend. On Sunday I worked on my boat for a short time and then fished the main channel of the San Joaquin in an area protected by a tule berm. Lots of boats up and down. The berm protected me though so fishing was just fine.

Fishing has been great on the weekdays. Afternoon fishing has been producing two dozen fish per rod with an occasional slow day now and then.

Fish holding patterns seem to be changing again along with the season. Where I was finding lots and lots of fish on the rocks and in the current and not so many fish in the frog water, I've seen a movement back to that quiet water in the last few days. Still plenty of fish in the rocks and current though.

It could be because the stripers are definitely in as you saw. I missed a 8-10 pounder yesterday, was hooked up to another briefly and had a few more grabs. T-14 and chartreuse over white clouser. Wow, I'm really out of practice!

Trollers have been nailing stripers all week in numbers.

Get in touch before you head out sometime and if you like, I'll throw the canoe on top of my van. It will be fun to be able to get into water that just's not accessable with my boat.

[JerryInLodi]

David, I see a lot of small shad as the sun drops. They're jumping along the shore, some obviously being chased by some underwater behemoths and others jump when the poppers land.

Speaking of seeing things, a seven foot sturgeon rolled right next to the boat yesterday. And my grass shrimp flies were all at home. Don't think my seven weight would have been up to it anyway.

[mikenewman]

Hi Mike

I know it's sacrilege to a committed "hairstacker" but I usually tie on a foam popper when the stripes are busting bait - huge fun! :D
Good to see you getting out there.

Cheers
Mike

[Hairstacker]

David -- Yeah, it was fun! I forgot my sunglasses, so I didn't see much in the water but, as Jerry mentioned, I saw evidence of them sometimes when my fly spooked them or a predator was working. Also, the water I was working wasn't very clear, so schools are very difficult for me to spot under the best of circumstances.

Jerry -- Where I was fishing, there was almost no boat traffic. Then again, that's usually how it is there. I only saw one bass boat go by yesterday.

Interesting comment about the presence of stripers -- I know there's some around year-round but I usually don't start looking for them to show up in numbers until mid-September or so, when it seems like there's much more of them around and you see them actively working the shad, which seem to be schooled-up in much greater numbers at that time. I think that's about the time the shad start spawning in the weeds? Maybe I need to re-think my timing on stripers. . . .

I'll PM you about getting out there in the canoe. :D

Mike -- Nothing wrong with foam. :lol: I know a lot of guys target topwater stripers very successfully with gurglers. Nevertheless, I have a particular fondness for the red/white Tap's Bug, which is all I tied and used when I first got into topwater LMBs, so I get a particular kick when I get a striper on one, even if it's not a particularly big one. :D

[SullyTM]

Mike...Those rock walls look familiar. What time of day did you launch? Was there any bug activity?

Later...

[Hairstacker]

Thom, it's the same area we fished. :D I launched around 8:00 and quit at 11:00. Didn't notice any bug activity to speak of but, then again, the only bugs I pay attention to are dragonflies and damselflies.

[SullyTM]

Thanks, Mike...I was just wondering if the "bite" in September is due to more late Summer bugs.

Looks like the inflatable is holding up.

Thom

[jbird]

Great report and pictures mike. Congratulations on a good day on the water. I need to get after some bass soon :D

J

[JerryInLodi]

Hairstacker, I had two guests tonight (Monday). The fish were active when we first started and stayed that way right to the top of high tide. Then, although I know I was over extremely productive water, the bite totally stopped. NOTHING! For 45 minutes it was just plain casting practice. I even changed location twice. Then the water started moving again and the bite came back on. Does moving water have anything to do with the bite. I would say so!

Also picked up two stripers on the poppers. As I said above. They're here!

[Hairstacker]

Jay, thanks! :)

Jerry, I agree with you about moving water, as I've had the same experiences. In fact, the last time I launched at the bottom of the low tide, I mosied over to a good area, tied the kayak up to some tules, and just enjoyed the scenery while I waited for the water to start moving again. I remember it seemed like a long wait at the time, though. :lol: