Did some exploratory trips to the Delta recently. Went out with my boy Ben last Saturday not expecting much….tide was bottoming out, breezy, high water temps. And previous trips from a few weeks back had been dismal.
We made an impromptu stop at an iffy spot and we were greeted with a flock of birds lining the shoreline. First cast on a topwater plug and Ben was on board. I made a cast with a clouser on an I-line and hooked up next. The next few minutes were some of the better fishing sessions we’ve had in a while. Several doubles…all nice schoolies.
It was fun:


We got them while the getting was good. And like typical stripers, they were gone in a flash. Spent the rest of the morning hitting several spots and catching a few. Not a bad way to spend a summer day in the Delta.

Went back the very next morning with my wife. We didn’t run into any big schools but had enough takes to make it another good outing. Even had some on top.
Grainy pic of the topwater eat:


The ensuing fight. Even the schoolies put some serious bend on the old 10wt topwater rod:




And just like that, I got the good old striper itch again.
Tied some more rattle clousers for the box:


And snuck out this morning to fish the morning bite:
Not red hot, but got me a good one on top:


She did not hesitate. Sucked it way down deep:


That fish nearly gave me a heart attack. It bolted straight to the weeds. I held on tight to the line and my fly line snapped. Luckily she was buried in the weeds and didn’t keep running. I was able to grab the broken end of the floating shooting head as it slowly eased its way through the guides. I handlined it the rest of the way.
Photographic proof of the damage. The fly line had several cracks and weakened the exposed braided core. I’ll be sure to check the integrity of all my set-ups from now on:

No more players on top after that so I switched over to the rattle clousers and got one more:


Not a bad past set of trips. Hopefully it gets better from here on out.