The Delta: How hot was it?

[JerryInLodi]

I fished yesterday, starting late at about 11am. It was hot enough to work up a sweat even then. Even so, I did get bass to come to the popper but takes were quite a few casts apart. I switched to a two inch olive woolly bugger fished on a Type VI sink tip, cast at the shore and stripped in as slowly as possible without hooking up on the rocks. Bingo!

I stuck a number of fish up to two pounds. I couldn't take any pictures since the decks were so hot I didn't want to fry a fish while it posed for a quick picture. The wind was almost non existent and the sky was void of any clouds. The temperature topped 104. Hot, hot, hot.

I fished until dark. The topwater bite never did really shine with all the heat but it did come back about 6pm.

Things look cooler and much more fishy today with a small amount of wind and some cloud cover to help.

[Hairstacker]

Good job Jerry! As much as I like to fish topwater, I believe (like you apparently do) that there are just times when you just have to make the adjustment if you want to get into good action. For me, it usually means switching to a Clouser, although the topwater has to be pretty darn slow before I take that route. :D

That said, I also always find it very satisfying when you make an adjustment based on an educated guess and it works, no matter what kind of fishing it is. Again, good for you! :D

[HC]

Jerry, I had similiar experience at Franks yesterday mostly along toolie berms near from the rock wall on the easterly side. I timed my arrival to fish the incoming tide. Lots of fish were around and took small poppers, clousers and wooly buggers too. Big fish was near 4 lbs on a popper at about 4 pm. I did see a few striper boils which I took to be juvies. Except for the heat it was a fine day. Harley

[JerryInLodi]

Harley, I'm surprised we didn't bump into each other. I fished the north wall along Old River inside Frank's, starting at the ferry by Fisherman's Cut. The water was exceptionally clear and I could sight fish the woolly bugger down to about five feet deep which made it less tedious. I was actually able to see about 3/4 of the grabs.

Watching a LMB take a woolly bugger under water is an educational experience. Some dart at it, hit it hard and turn and run. Others peck at it like a bluegill. Some swim up to it, follow it and then just suck it in. If you couldn't see the take you'd never know you had a fish on.

I had planned to fish the east wall but the super clear water on Old River made fishing the sub surface stuff fun.

Nice to see you had a big fish come up to the popper on such a hot day. It's been my experience that getting big fish to come up on super bright, super hot days is tough, especially in the mid afternoon hours.

On the striper boils. I'm getting up at 4:30am Friday and heading down for about 2.5 hours fishing as the sun comes up. The bigger fish are all over on the surface from what I've been told and actually saw a couple of days ago.

Hairstacker, I have to say that working stuff sub surface is about as much fun as hand washing a pile of dishes most of the time. It takes a lot of concentration and lots of line management to keep the fly down and working without moving it too rapidly and without hanging it up on the rocks or in the weeds. But, as you say, sometimes if you want to catch fish, you make the sacrifice. Oh yeah, like fishing is actually some kind of toil and labor!!! Ha Ha!!

[HC]

Jerry, I too noticed the clear water conditions and thus tried a #6 green WB and yes I could see it working along and getting harrassed by blue gill and small bass, I would not have bet there were so many blue gill present. At one point with the rod tip in the water while working the bug slowly and twitching it, I felt a weird grab and noticed a group of small LMB pecking at the rod tip. I think they grabbed the loop to loop just as it went through the tip top. I mean they were on that day. Interesting note, The 3 bass taken on the surface hit my largest cork popper, like a strong reaction bite. Nothing doing on the small foamies. Its nice to get one with shoulders once in a while. Harley

[JerryInLodi]

Harley, two of the barbers at my barbershop are tournament bass fishermen. They definately believe in the "big fly, big fish" theory. While they admit that they sometimes catch big fish on stuff as small as 4" rubber worms, generally, they throw big stuff. As an example they talk about the big swim baits they throw now.

I think some of the most violent strikes are reaction strikes, like when you drop that popper right next to the shore and a really big bass explodes on it as soon as it touches down.

I went out Friday am and looked for working stripers. Only found a very few small ones. About 7:45 the water warmed fro the bright sun and the LMB turned on big time. I got smashed by four fish that easily would have topped four pounds but never did get one to the boat although I had all four on for different periods of time. I was really surprised at the LDR's on some of the fish. They seemed to be hooked up solid until a head shake. The bite slowed down by nine but the fish were still grabbing the fly, just not as often as that first hour.

My wife and I went out this morning from six to eight. It was like totally different water. Again saw only small stripers chasing shad. On the LMB, very few grabs, smaller fish. The air temperature was at least eight degrees cooler and there was a good breeze on the water. Unlike Friday, 76 degrees at 7am and no wind at all.

I'm beginning to think that the bass have built up an internal clock and know when weekends start. It's been a while since I've experienced a wide open bite on a weekend, regardless of whether it's in the morning or evening, heavy boat traffic or light. Yet, every week, during weekdays, I find two days out of the five where the fish will eat almost anything that touches the water.