Aluminum rig in Delta waters?

obmav320 · Post by **obmav320** » Sun Jul 28, 2024 3:24 pm

Hey everyone. New to the forum, but wanted to ask a question to you more experienced people with Delta waters.

So I want to start fishing the California delta. Just about my entire life I have fished the lakes and reservoirs all around California, but I have never fished the body of water I am closest too, which is the Delta. I just always heard the Delta was dirty, salty, and you cant eat the fish out of there so I wrote it off. Im mostly a sport angler, but I do like to take a few fish for the dinner table from time to time. With my work schedule and my one year old daughter, I just dont have the time or energy to travel to the different bodies of water around California like I use to. Its actually why I have become more interested in fishing Delta waters. I can literally drive 10 minutes from my home and be on the water.

I have a Phoenix 920 Elite and a Vexus AVX1980. My concern with the Delta at this point is any salinity in the water and it destroying my boat. I dont plan on fishing my Phoenix out there, so it will always be the Vexus when fishing the Delta which is an aluminum rig. Do I need to be concerned about the salinity destroying my boat?

BIG DADDY BLUE RANGER · Sun Jul 28, 2024 3:37 pm

Not a bit, lot’s of aluminum rigs on the delta without any issues. I would not even worry about the salinity level unless you like to run way out west beyond Antioch.

JVGondal · Post by **JVGondal** » Sun Jul 28, 2024 3:40 pm

No the salinity won’t hurt your boat. It’s not t enough to be a concern
The delta is hard on our boats because of all the shallow water hazards
Many areas the water is dirty and has a lot of vegetation
We always end up with vegetation on the bow from the troll motor
Once you spend some time out there I bet you bring the Phoenix out.
Mostly the delta will leave a scum line around the hulls water line you will need to wipe off

Be safe

obmav320 · Post by **obmav320** » Sun Jul 28, 2024 6:44 pm

JVGondal wrote: ↑Sun Jul 28, 2024 3:40 pm No the salinity won’t hurt your boat. It’s not t enough to be a concern
The delta is hard on our boats because of all the shallow water hazards
Many areas the water is dirty and has a lot of vegetation
We always end up with vegetation on the bow from the troll motor
Once you spend some time out there I bet you bring the Phoenix out.
Mostly the delta will leave a scum line around the hulls water line you will need to wipe off

Be safe

The reasons you listed are the exact same things others have told me. Its why I dont plan to run my 920 Elite out there and instead want to run my AVX1980 in the Delta. The whole aluminum boat and salt water was making me a big nervous though. Thank you very much for your reply. Do you guys running on the Delta ever have to use any of those washes that rid of salt or flush the motor? If so, how often are you doing it?

obmav320 · Post by **obmav320** » Sun Jul 28, 2024 6:46 pm

BIG DADDY BLUE RANGER wrote: ↑Sun Jul 28, 2024 3:37 pm Not a bit, lot’s of aluminum rigs on the delta without any issues. I would not even worry about the salinity level unless you like to run way out west beyond Antioch.

I do plan to explore the Delta a bit, but I wont be running that far. Thanks for the reply

JVGondal · Post by **JVGondal** » Mon Jul 29, 2024 9:40 am

probably don’t flush as often as I should
I flush for 15 minutes every 50 hours or so
Sometimes more often when I run in vegetation
The water is not any more corrosive than the lakes we just run through more weeds and junk in shallow waters
My concern is water passage blockage

monte300 · Post by **monte300** » Mon Jul 29, 2024 6:38 pm

I wouldn’t worry about corrosive water on the Delta. Four months ago I sold a 24 year old fiberglass bass boat that was used exclusively on the delta. I didn’t wipe down the hull nearly as often as I should have and I made about 500 trips out there with this boat. When I detailed it in preparation for sale I was amazed how well the hull and gel coat looked.

obmav320 · Post by **obmav320** » Mon Jul 29, 2024 7:37 pm

Thank you everyone for chiming in. It seems my concerns about the salinity of the water were unwarranted. Id always heard that the Delta waters weren't the cleanest and that there's a lot of junk out there, which is the reason Im just not going to run my Phoenix out there. Besides that, I purchased the Vexus for the purpose of having a rig I was ok with beating the snot out of, but I also don't want to ruin the thing. Ill just make sure I clean the boat up really good and flush the motor every few trips. I plan to take my first trip out in the Delta this weekend. Im in Stockton. Any tips on the best place to launch?

JVGondal · Post by **JVGondal** » Mon Jul 29, 2024 8:53 pm

Buckley cove Ladds marina has the best ramp in Stockton

Paradise point marina is a great spot ramp is small

Fryle · Post by **Fryle** » Tue Jul 30, 2024 6:10 am

2 boats just so you don’t have to beat one up. Good lord where on earth are you working??? Are they hiring??? lol. I run a 18ft crestliner aluminum rig in the delta, don’t flush my motor and have 0 issues running it. 115hp saves on fuel and the 18ft aluminum rig saves fuel towing only costs me 50-60$ to run the delta for the day.

JVGondal · Post by **JVGondal** » Tue Jul 30, 2024 8:34 am

Fryle wrote: ↑Tue Jul 30, 2024 6:10 am 2 boats just so you don’t have to beat one up. Good lord where on earth are you working??? Are they hiring??? lol. I run a 18ft crestliner aluminum rig in the delta, don’t flush my motor and have 0 issues running it. 115hp saves on fuel and the 18ft aluminum rig saves fuel towing only costs me 50-60$ to run the delta for the day.

Some of our friends here say to ask the boss for a raise as the economy is booming
LMAO. Like myself 2 boats are just about of the question for you too

.

nate50 · Post by **nate50** » Tue Jul 30, 2024 11:36 am

I fish the delta regularly, I have a tracker 175. I actually love the aluminum oat out there cause it sits a little higher in the water which allows me to get into some skinny water that fiberglass boats either cant or don’t want to ding up their 80k plus boats. The down side of the aluminum boats out there is the wind I get blown all over. My rig is only 17ft, the bigger boats may handle the wind better. I do always check my boat for any where the paint got scratched off and make sure to touch it up with some paint so I don’t have exposed aluminum. My boat is a 2016 and is still going strong