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Thread: Back In the Delta

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    Davis
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    756

    Default Back In the Delta

    If you don't count last week when the wind chewed me up and spit me out it has been a while since I was in the Delta . The wind was not chewing on me today. He either lost his teeth or was not hungry enough to bother chewing me up. In either case the Delta is a pretty fun place to go in your kayak when conditions are pleasant. I thought for sure I was going to get a good fish on topwater but it did not happen. I do not like the high and rising tide first thing in the morning for topwater. Bass seem to like to feed in the early morning but if the tide is not to their liking they will pass up the morning window and feed another time. My theory is they only need a couple of short feeding windows each day so they can be choosy about when they feed. I did get two fish I would guess were 3 to 3.5 pounds. One was on my new gear-fly which has gotten bit but is not doing much better than my other flies. I got a couple quick pictures of the two fish but they both gave me the slip before I could get a better picture and weigh them. Good job by them for getting away before I could stress them out a little more. I got a crisp picture of an osprey. Super sharp bright yellow eyes and huge talons. Incredible bird. I saw him early but the light was bad and he moved upstream as I went by. I found him in good light later and got some shots. His wing looks wierd but he flew just fine so I think he was healthy. I also got a photo of a snowy egret. I love their yellow feet. Their plumage is so bright the exposure never seems to come out right even with some editing. I chased a kingfisher but he would not let me get close. The moon was looking good and the sunrise had a little color. All in all a fine morning.


















  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
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    Sebastian, FL, USA, Earth
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    How does God make a pure white bird? Just so beautiful.




    John, Not a fan of fishing during the big moons.


    Over the years I have had people tell me that during a full moon the fish will feed mid-day?



    I have my two old "Full moon stories":


    1) At Pyramid Lake, NV ~40 years ago an old Native America said to me, "Big moon, no fish."


    2) At El Pescador Lodge in Belize the owners told me not to bring fly fishers during a full moon week.



    How does everyone else here feel about the full moon?



    PS: Just heard NASA was planning another Moon landing?
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Byron Bay,Australia
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    344

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    The best Bonefishing on Kiritimati can be had up to and a few days after the full moon spawning.

  4. #4
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    Jan 2005
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    100% DF.................

    As most know I went there 13 times in the early days and it is one of Gods finest destinations.


    We had an old customer who went during the full moon weeks, more than once a year.

    We called him "Full Moon Fred".


    I did go several times on the Full Moon but myself and my groups did not particually enjoy the situation.

    I think it was the 3 days following the full moon?



    You would go across the bay in boats over to Paris Flats and wade in slightly deeper water, 3 feet?

    The larger Bonefish were in big schools, cruising around near the surface mostly interested in spawning.

    Guide could take the older, not so good fly fishers and walk up to the schools and cast over them.

    Then after you hook a big Bone it would run off and Sharks and Giant Trevally would eat them.

    We did that one morning and my group did not want to do it again.


    The people who ever bad mouth Christmas Island usually have never been there.

    They would say, "I heard it was mostly small Bonefish." but fish over 20# have been netted.

    Other than the Full Moon fishing, if you fish near and over the sides of the flats you can get bigger Bones.



    My wife Marilyn is not color blind like many men, including me, and she can cast very well to 60 feet.

    One day, years go she landed about 30 Bonefish in one day with her favorite guide Simon, and one was 10 pounds.



    I hooked a large Bonefish while wading across a deeper stretch of water. In 4 feet of water you can only see big ones.

    It was going away from me on an angle so I did a "Hail Mary" cast out in front of it and it picked it up.

    It spooled me with 200 yards of backing. I got up to shoulder deep going after it, then "thunk" it was gone.



    Many years ago in my slide show for Christmas Island I had a slide of a friend's beautiful wife in a bikini with a 13# Bone.

    This was my friend Dave Egdorf's beautiful wife, Kim. They have had a famous remote lodge in Alaska for decades.

    https://www.facebook.com/westernalaskasportfishing/
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Sep 2007
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    Davis
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    756

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    A few times I have thought I had the good tides figured out only to go out and get skunked on what I thought was sure thing tide. Now I just go when the wind is not blowing and hope the fish bite. I do like the falling tide with a low around mid morning. There is a saying that 90% of life is showing up. I think that applies to Delta bass fishing as long as you show up before sunrise.

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jul 2006
    Location
    Petaluma Ca
    Posts
    686

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    John,
    GRAND reports as usual. Grand pics too. Early AM and late PM can produce some fine topwater action with those rockfish, mostly blues though.
    Bill,
    I love fishing bass topwater at night on a full moon. Even small blow-ups and misses look like washtub holes in the moonlight.
    ....lee s.

  7. #7
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    Jan 2005
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    About 40 years ago around Sacramento we fly fished stripers only at at night time. PM, all night and AM.

    The belief in those days was that a Stripers could not be caught in the day time on a fly, seriously.

    White streamers AM and PM and then Black all night.



    Once, many years ago at the mouth of the Feather river when the Sacramento and Feather rivers were both low we were wading all over

    that place at night on a full moon. It was really beautiful. It was Joe Shirshac and I and some other CFFUers.



    In the last 20 years Joe Shirshac mostly used a Black streamer in the lower American river floating with Andy Guibord.
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Fair Oaks , California
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    3,406

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by Bill Kiene semi-retired View Post



    How does everyone else here feel about the full moon?



    Since you asked .....

    I fish a remote , small , shallow Mangrove Estuary in Baja Sur . My favorite time to be there is December/January , during the full Moon . The tidal range is the greatest at that time , whatever Fish are in will be concentrated in a few channels that are less than 12 feet deep . The tropical and sub-tropical Fish cannot leave for the Pacific due to the cold water , so as long as I fish the last 1/2 hour of outgoing , low slack , and the first 1/2 hour of incoming (lack of strong currents means lack of weeds in the water , fouling your fly) .... they are all within my range .

    It works for me !

    D.~

  9. #9
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    Jan 2005
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    David, That is exciting that you figured that out by yourself.


    I am not very good at the tides like others and guides but I have picked up bits and pieces here and there.



    Today, in Florida, we are retired and just go out on weekdays only and look for 10 mph or less winds for fly fishing.

    If we threw the tide situation in there, added on person responsibilities, we would never go.

    _________________________________________

    I got advice from one of the old commercial crabbers who used a large boat and crabbed in the ocean.

    He said for me, crabbing inside Tomales Bay, have my crab traps out during the slower part of the tides and slack tide.

    He told me that during the time of the tide when the water was moving it's fastest the crabs are burrow into the sand.

    So when the tide slows and then goes slack they come out and scavenge the bottom.

    ___________________________________________

    For drifting inside the bay for Halibut with bait he said to go out at the start of the incoming tide because there was less seaweed.

    On the outgoing the fishing is good too but lots of seaweed is being flushed out then and makes fishing more difficult.

    ___________________________________________


    Around the full moon and dark of the moon you get flooding tides or spring tides that have higher and lower water levels.


    When the moon is smaller you have Neap tides that have more subtle change in the highs and lows.

    ____________________________________________


    Some people go to Christmas Island for two weeks in row so they get the big tide changes for Trevally one week.

    On the real high tides the Trevally can get up onto the flats to chase the schools Milkfish.

    During the really low tides everything is forced off the flats to be eaten by gamefish waiting for them.


    Then the other week they have neap tides with subtle changes Bonefish.

    With the very little tide changes, on the equator too, you can fish good water levels to fish all day long.

    ____________________________________________


    I guess for flats and surf fishing you want an incoming tide in the morning.

    ____________________________________________


    At low tide in the back country lots of the bait fishing and crustaceans are forced out into the deep water to waiting gamefish.

    _____________________________________________


    In the Yucatan when the tide is very high the small Tarpon can run way up the creeks and in the mangroves where we can not go.


    On an extremely low tide the small Tarpon will be forced out to the mangrove and creeks push out into the vast grass flats.

    ______________________________________________

    At extreme tide changes in the "Spring" is when you can go clamming on the very low part of these tides.

    _____________________________________________


    Studying the "Moon and tides" is another amazing part of all fishing near or on the oceans.

    _____________________________________________

    The tides really effect the salmon and steelhead sitting in the tide water pools.

    ______________________________________________

    The tide actually effect the fishing all the way up to the mouth of the American river.

    _____________________________________________


    The tide really effect the fishing in the Delta so many locals learn about these effects.

    Years ago Mark Pinto told us the tides in the delta were kind of like "hatches" are to the trout, with an hour or so of good fishing.

    _____________________________________________
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Sep 2011
    Location
    Byron Bay,Australia
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    344

    Default

    Some gold in your replies there Bill and your many years of experience shine bright.I've always linked my trips to Kiritimati with the phases of the Moon and (as you say) always go for at least two weeks in order to get a good spread of Spring and Neap tides.
    Re big Bonefish there,the biggest one caught that I'm aware of (as told to me by the late legendary Guide Moana Kofe) was a twenty pounder caught and released by his son off the bow of Moana's tinny (aluminium punt) down the back of the lagoon known as the Nine Mile.
    Cheers

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