Delta Trip with Jerry from Lodi !
Hi Folks,
This fishing report is actually a couple weeks old but since I am new to this board I thought I would share it with you all. In the meantime I also learned how to post photos on this site.
I got out a while back to do some fishing and to learn a little about the great fishing opportunity we have right here in Central California, the Delta. A month or so back I had contacted fellow board member, Jerry from Lodi, about getting out with him sometime to fish the Delta for stripers. Jerry guides for folks fishing the delta and after a few friendly e-mail exchanges I could tell he would be a lot of fun to fish with and very helpful for me to learn about fishing this great resource. I told him I was particularly interested in learning about areas where I could use my kayak and he said he had some ideas about that.
Jerry said it was too early for good striper fishing then but said the largemouth fishing had been pretty good either early or late. He offered to take me out when I could get away for a half day and so we settled on last Wednesday afternoon. Jerry teaches at a Stockton High School and told me he could meet me at his boat by 3:00 pm and we would have close to 5 hours of fishing. Jerry keeps his boat at Korth’s Pirates Lair Marina on the Modelumne River, a short 50 minute drive from Sacramento down Highway 5 and then East on 12 to the Marina.
Shortly after lunch on Wednesday I eagerly left the office and headed south in anticipation of a fun fishing evening and learning more about fishing the delta. I am always early in meeting someone to go fishing but Jerry was right behind me about 10 minutes ahead of our 3:00 meeting time. We loaded our stuff onto his boat (a great fishing boat!) and shortly we were on our way. For our trip Jerry took me to a different area farther from where he normally starts fishing to show me what looks like a convenient area to be able to launch and fish from my kayak. I will definitely check this area out fishing from my kayak.
We started out with sink tip lines and wooly buggers casting in toward the shore, where the riprap and weedbeds provided the fish their cover. Initially the fishing was pretty slow with the sun still up pretty high. It was however a beautiful day and very little boat traffic on the water. I was enjoying just being out on the water exercising my casting arm and catching a few little guys along the way. As the day moved on and the sun dropped we ultimately switched to surface poppers, gurglers etc and things really started to click the last hour of our trip. We started getting lots of hits, caught some bigger fish, and even had a double. To top things off Jerry caught a real dandy shown below.
Here are a few of the pictures from our trip.
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...1jerryfish.jpg
Jerry with a feisty largemouth early on
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...2billsfish.jpg
Yours truly also with a feisty largemouth
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...ghtingfish.jpg
Jerry fighting a real nice Delta Largemouth!
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...rysbigfish.jpg
Jerry with a Dandy Delta Largemouth!
http://i108.photobucket.com/albums/n...eltasunset.jpg
A beautiful Delta Sunset to top off a great evening. You can now see this photo on Jerry’s web page
Check it out at: http://www.DeltaStripers.Com
A couple other bonuses for me, Jerry is an old time music fan! He had a nice collection of Western and old time Country stuff and a good CD player right on the boat. While out on the water I got to listen to Ranger Doug and Riders in the Sky while catching largemouth bass on the surface! I tell you it doesn’t get much better than that! Fishing with Jerry was also very comfortable as he seemed more like an old fishing buddy than a fishing guide. You can tell he knows his stuff too.
All in all, a great evening of fishing, some pretty decent catching and for sure a great time out on the water. Many thanks Jerry for this trip and the knowledge you have shared as I peppered you with questions out on the water as well as through our e-mail exchanges.
Guess what, I get to fish the upcoming striperfest November 4th with Jerry and Marty Seldon. Can't Wait!
Best Wishes and Tight Lines to all!
Bill
