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Rickey Noel Mitchell
08-10-2006, 07:05 PM
Launched from Lundborgs yesterday at about 2;00 pm. The tide was moving out. I didn’t waste any time fishing in front of the marina so I stuck my paddle in the water and didn’t stop paddling till I got past the wall. Not only was the tide outgoing, it was also a full moon, while not my favorite time to fish I was in a kayak, so when they’re not biting I simply enjoy the ride. Besides... any time you can fish is a good time to fish. Now if the traffic’s not agreeable my drive to the Delta can be as long as three hours. However, once I’m on the water and I see the miles of tules and grass beds--a heaven for bass, large mouth and striped--every mile of the drive is worth it.
I paddled and pedaled till I got past the rock and tule wall to the first opening to open water. I made my first cast a little before the old abandoned party boat. It was my third cast that the bass ate my chartreuse and yellow Dahlberg. My first bass of the day was about twelve inches of altitude shaped like a football. After that I pedaled along the tules casting to openings and any other promising spots.
After a while the tules got denser and what I thought were promising spots and openings were inside the tules!
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n265/paddle-and-flies/DDeeper.jpg


So I paddled in among the tules and the tule soup, picking out what I thought looked like an opening in the soup, actually was about a twelve inch diameter hole at best. I did what I thought was an ok under-handed swing maybe four different times before it landed in the hole.
http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n265/paddle-and-flies/DDalhberg.jpg

Something smacked the Dahlberg right away, but it didn’t take. I maintained control and did not yank my fly out of the hole. Now about this time things were getting intense; the tule soup around the hole was moving up and down, just before it erupted like a geyser.
Now I had about ten feet of line out at the most. My 9 wt was bucking like a rodeo bronco, getting bent into the letter U and my tiptop was going in and out of the water. Until I finally saw the bass I was thinking double digit, but once I lifted it into the yak I saw the only thing that was double digit was its length, which was about 14 inches.
After releasing the bass, I realized I’d implanted myself in the tules. I then had to back out the way I'd been drug in. I paddled on till I saw more holes in the soup back among the tules and then repeated the same scenario two more time with two more fish. I’m now toying with the thought of calling my yak the Tule Rat. After getting my fill of swinging my fly in the tules, I paddled out onto open water and some grass beds. Not hard to find in the Delta. As I got to the grass beds I stood up so I could do some scouting. What I saw were large holes among the grass beds, and in those holes were tons of bluegill, and where they are…bass are. That theory became fact my first cast into one of the holes with another twelve inches of Delta attitude. This scenario was repeated several more times. All and all, despite an outgoing tide and a full moon, I’d had one of the best days of fly-fishing from a kayak for bass in my life. http://i114.photobucket.com/albums/n265/paddle-and-flies/DBass.jpge

Kevin Doran is right --the Delta is the best bass fishery in the world, however, there is no way I’m going to use a seven wt for that kind of fishing, an eight wt maybe.

Hairstacker
08-10-2006, 08:23 PM
Hey Rickey! GREAT report, sounds like you had a blast! There are some nice spots where you were. The tule line on that side is separated from the main lake by a huge weed flat and lots of tule clumps, beds, and weedy gunk that I think discourages motored-boat anglers from getting in there. A perfect venue for a kayak. . . . 8) 8) 8) It's also amazing how clear that water is in there, isn't it? When I was there, I saw some nice schools of bluegills scurrying about as well. Did Lundborg charge you anything just to launch or were you camping there as well?

mikenewman
08-10-2006, 10:21 PM
Hi Rickey

Afternoon heat and a full moon phase: hardly worth bothering really - no wonder you had such a tedious few hours :lol: :lol: :lol:
Great stuff!
Mike

Bald-heron
08-11-2006, 05:48 PM
Rickey
Great photos and report - Mother nature's filters at work in the estuary-even a floral display. The game's worth playing as Mike noted even with heat, moon, and long drives as supposed negatives. Good on ya!
Gary

Rickey Noel Mitchell
08-11-2006, 05:54 PM
Thanks guys, Lundboarg will charge 8$ a car . You can launch as many yaks as the car can carry.