Canoeing the Delta

[John H]

We did a little canoe fishing in the Delta today. The nice weather had the weekend kayakers out. There were boats in the spots we wanted to fish so we had to press on to some new to us water. We found a good spot with some nice outgoing tide current seams and nobody around. It seemed like there could be a bunch of fish hanging around but only a striper, a bass and a pike minnow were caught. Fun day.

[MThompson]

The last few fish you've posted are beautiful specimens. Nice deep bodied healthy fish. From now until they spawn is when the largemouth look they're best. Footballs.
Nice day to get out but I figured you'd be out shopping for bass boats instead...

[John H]

Those are healthy fish. Delta largemouth in general seem to be really thick especially when the get up around 17 or 18 inches. Some of the bass I got in the fall were chunks.

Not to brag on my own photo too much but the striper shot here is super sharp and the fish is perfectly exposed. They don’t always come out like that so I am happy when they do. The water is underexposed so the color of it is a little funky but you want to expose for the fish and not for the background.

I did do a little on line boat shopping. I need to go look at a few.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Some years back (40?) my friends Mike and Kris Fong did some canoeing in the Delta.

They wrote an article about it and it was published in a magazine.

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In the Florida "Backcountry" there has been a group of fly fishing canoers.

Chico Fernandez and Flip Pallot both have talked about it.

The canoes allowed them to get way back into the flooded jungles.

Chico told me they liked a Tumblehome 16' canoe that was flat bottom with a keel and about 36" wide.

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Canoes are still a big deal the further North you go......

[John H]

Bill -

The canoe is fun. It makes the place feel wild and isolated but it doesn't move fast. It is no Nitro boat.

What happened at that lake you went to?

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

We went last week to the new bass lake, Headwaters Lake, but the water was too cold for our methods......62 degrees.


We have a nice warm period coming now in Florida so in about a week we will go again.


We did get the name of a fly fishing guide and will go with him soon too.


Again, all you need is a week of warm winter Florida weather, in the 70s, and the bass bite will be good.


They say that Dec through May is the window for LMB in FL.

They say that March/April is topwater time.


We will keep reporting about the new Headwaters lake...........

[Randy Lee]

Hey John,
Congratulations you nailed the Delta Trifecta! All though there are many different types of Trifectas achieved in these waters. That's why I love fishing there. So many different types of fish grabbing a fly. From sunfish to sturgeon. Never seems to disappoint.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Stripers, SMB, LMB and panfish are the common catch for most.

On occasion someone nails a King salmon heading up to spawn.

Not sure how many catch Steelhead on flies in the Delta.

Some catch Steelhead in sloughs in the winter fishing for catfish with worms and clams.


What different species have you caught fly fishing the Delta?