Delta Discussion

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Kyle46N
Posts: 136
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2017 5:55 pm

Delta Discussion

Post by Kyle46N »

Wanted to pick the brains of those who know the Delta. I've only been fishing it for a couple months now, and my struggles are coming on the higher tides. If the fish are not busting the frog, I can't find them punching or however else. As soon as the tide drops out about half way till half way up the incoming, I have no problems finding the fish. It's just easier to find them when they get pulled out of the jungle. I'm sitting here and reflecting on how I've approached the high water situations, and to this point, I've 100 percent fished the vegetation....from edges to as far back as possible. One of the nagging thoughts I'm having though, is "Could these fish still be on the outside of the vegetation even though the water is up?" Of course, I know there are a large percentage of fish underneath the vegetation. All I have to do is watch one of the 100's of youtube videos of bass getting ripped out of the mats. But are they all underneath there? I haven't spent much time testing this out because I'm also trying to figure out how to find these punch fish (which in the long run is probably more important), but I also don't have much confidence because the fish are not "supposed" to be out there. So, does anyone work this pattern? Fishing outside the vegetation on high water? Is it even worth spending time on? Not sure if it's necessary to mention, because there seems to be a lack of "fishing discussion" on this site, despite a bunch of viewers, I'm not looking for ANY specific areas. Jut wanting to discuss general info on the Delta. I'm sure there is a reluctance to share any kind of info on the Delta due to all the tournaments this time of year.
Will C
Posts: 47
Joined: Sun Oct 06, 2013 6:03 am

Re: Delta Discussion

Post by Will C »

Interesting as I am a foothill guy who struggles along at the Dirty D also. It is my favorite love to hate water. I tend to spend time running areas that have deep water and a variety of cover near the main rivers. High tide I almost always go reaction baits ,minus the spring time when temperature and pre spawn locations catch my eye. I have seem more huge fish in the protected lakes there in the afternoons than I can count.

I may have this all wrong but high tide scatters and sets up predator fish to await and lurk edges as things get moving. Low water and no movement keeps me confused and I tend to get out on the deep breaks and lake fish this place. Carolina Rig lately.

There is no other place I would rather be and time on the water here can be a challenge on the tough days. Last year I went out with Cooch and tried to use that day to verify and validate what my mind has confused me on. It helped.

More times than not my wife has done well siting in the back and patiently kicking my butt with her wacky senko.

Hope others will share as I once heard you can watch Dee Thomas flip a spot and catch em but that don't mean you will catch crap there. It is not so much the spot but the anglers technique and confidence in what he is doing.
Moleman
Posts: 20
Joined: Mon Nov 10, 2014 1:34 pm

Re: Delta Discussion

Post by Moleman »

Im actually the polar opposite, for me low tide is a struggle and high tide lets me fish how I want to. on a high tide I look for tule points and areas with isolated cover. On a high tide you should be thinking about ambush fish. This is when they get right up against the tules, and position themselves accordingly. As for punching, it can be a grind. somedays its not gonna happen and others it seems like that's the only way to get bit. I will say this, the most successful punchers are the ones that truly break down each and every mat, looking for differences and keeping a mental note on what they feel under the water. A lot of times the fish will be on the break, almost synonymous to ledge fish. so keeping track of depth can be key. I consider one of my strong suits to be punching, and I think that you need to fish a mat multiple times on different tides to really unlock its potential. After doing so, I know where the bites are gonna happen and I know how to be most effective. Hope this helps, PM me if you have anymore questions i'm always down to help.
Crankbaitwhohaha
Posts: 11
Joined: Sat Jun 06, 2015 9:07 am

Re: Delta Discussion

Post by Crankbaitwhohaha »

Hard work is the only thing that's gunna help you, everyone has to put their time in. Spend their money get away from the wife all that. It's not easy, hard work and time spent. U can pay a guide or u can put in your time. There is no definite way to do anything, especially practice. Go out there pay close attention to the tide, and make casts. Earn it... shortcuts are dead ends
monte300
Posts: 952
Joined: Thu Mar 02, 2017 12:18 pm
Location: San Ramon

Re: Delta Discussion

Post by monte300 »

As a dedicated cranker, I used to love low tide because I would scrap the edges of weedlines fishing parallel. However, through the years the places with weedlines changed and the weedlines went away. Now I target the high tide throwing lipless crankbaits over the top of the weeds.
Kyle46N
Posts: 136
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2017 5:55 pm

Re: Delta Discussion

Post by Kyle46N »

monte300 wrote:As a dedicated cranker, I used to love low tide because I would scrap the edges of weedlines fishing parallel. However, through the years the places with weedlines changed and the weedlines went away. Now I target the high tide throwing lipless crankbaits over the top of the weeds.
That's what I'm doing now on the lower tides, but throwing swimbaits instead of cranks.
Kyle46N
Posts: 136
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2017 5:55 pm

Re: Delta Discussion

Post by Kyle46N »

Crankbaitwhohaha wrote:Hard work is the only thing that's gunna help you, everyone has to put their time in. Spend their money get away from the wife all that. It's not easy, hard work and time spent. U can pay a guide or u can put in your time. There is no definite way to do anything, especially practice. Go out there pay close attention to the tide, and make casts. Earn it... shortcuts are dead ends
Not looking for shortcuts. That's why I'm talking about general info. That's why I also made it clear I'm not looking for specific areas. Just talking fishing....this is what this forum is for right?
Kyle46N
Posts: 136
Joined: Thu Jun 08, 2017 5:55 pm

Re: Delta Discussion

Post by Kyle46N »

Thanks for the advice. My son and I went out from 6 till 6 today and did pretty good. Similar to most of our past trips. About 20 fish total, everything 1-3 lbs with one 6er thrown in. We found a pretty good frog bite this morning on the high tide. They were really slurping it. No explosion, no airborne displays, but eating it almost like they were chewing on it...lol. FYI, I really like that LunkerHunt frog with the little kick legs. First time using it and that was the most open water strikes I've had on the Delta. Great action. We did our low tide thing with swimbaits on grass flats and weed lines. That's where the majority of our little fish came. Then I caught the 6 lber flipping a D-Bomb on rock line with tulle clumps, but next to 10 feet of water with very little submerged vegetation in front of the tulles. It seemed as if the fish could get right up against the tulles, and made it easy to put a bait in front of them. Also caught about a 25 inch striper in a shallow weed pond inside one of the islands up the Molekumne. Kind of a weird place, but he was hanging out in the grass. It was a beautiful day and a nice break from the heat lately.
db220
Posts: 53
Joined: Thu Dec 02, 2010 8:20 pm

Re: Delta Discussion

Post by db220 »

Not looking for shortcuts. That's why I'm talking about general info. That's why I also made it clear I'm not looking for specific areas. Just talking fishing....this is what this forum is for right?[/quote]

Now you see why a lot of people don't ask for fishing advice here. Some people act like they never got any advice on how and what to fish. They learned every single thing by themselves with while being raked over hot coals.

I've been trying to figure out the Delta for a while. I've found that at high tide throwing everything from topwater to senkos in the trough between the riprap and the inside weed edge pays off. I will use more reaction baits at those times.
At low tide I tend to throw weightless senkos on outside edges of tule islands near deep water or that's when I punch the outside edges of mats. I'll also throw lipless cranks on the outside weed edges.

I'm no expert by a long shot and I haven't been able to get a single frog bite all summer so take it for what it's worth.
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Otay Michael
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Re: Delta Discussion

Post by Otay Michael »

Cooch had a great video on fishing the Delta, if not a few. Do a search for sure. This site has dozens of them, click on Videos above. Here's just one by Bobby Barrack on many techniques at the Delta. These guys give up tons of info.
http://www.westernbass.com/video/bobby-barrack
Otay Michael

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johnabsmith
Posts: 32
Joined: Thu Feb 25, 2016 10:24 pm

Re: Delta Discussion

Post by johnabsmith »

The delta is intimidating. I've been on the river over 15 years and still don't know jack. Start off with deciding whether you want numbers or quality (rare occasions you'll have both) then fish accordingly. I think confidence is the biggest key. Confidence in what you're throwing, the area you're fishing, and the tide. We could be on the same front deck throwing the same bait and one of us will wack em while the other lays an egg. I started off fishing the delta with 2 rods. All I did was flip the worm and chuck the lipless until I caught em. Eventually I ran into some good ones and got addicted. The river is déjà vu so you can have multiple spots that are identical so make mental notes on current, vegetation, and bottom composition. It's a reason the fish are there. Enough hours on the water you'll gain a sort of intuition where you know how to catch em based on the conditions presented. I'm not a baller so 1 guided trip for me would equal about 10 trips if I were to go out on my own. I'd much rather figure it out myself. There's enough info on this site to get you pointed in the right direction and off to a solid start. good luck!
crawdaddy
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Location: San Jose, ca

Re: Delta Discussion

Post by crawdaddy »

First be honest with yourself and determine what your strengths are when fishing and start with those techniques in likely looking areas. I know it all looks good out there but spend your time around ambush areas such as tule points and inflows/outflows to start. Once you feel confident and catch a few doing that then expand to areas that "look fishy" and either reap the rewards or take your lumps. With a few exceptions stay in moving water, not ripping current but you always want flow, no current generally means no bites for me.
I would rather jog home from my own Vasectomy than spend Saturday at the mall.
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