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Central Delta

Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2016 10:07 am
by RA8R55
Hey folks, the Delta is really new to me. I've been out a couple of times just to see what it is all about. I was overwhelmed with the amount of water to fish. I launched from B&W, motored up the south mokelumne about 3 mi and started fishing(bass). I got into them, but did not get the quality of bass I hear the Delta is know for. I'm looking for some tips to watch for or general locations. Anything would be helpful. Thanks

Re: Central Delta

Posted: Wed Jun 22, 2016 11:51 am
by Bass hack
Fish around heavy cover is my advice. All the fatties I have caught this time of year have been in 4 -12 ft of water. I'm still a novice, so YMMV.

Re: Central Delta

Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2016 6:41 am
by RA8R55
Thanks for the tip. I'll try it out this weekend

Re: Central Delta

Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2016 11:56 am
by TravisH
Always pay attention to the tides.. The tides play a huge roll on where the fish are going to set up and the direction they will be positioning in.. High tide (up shallow) Low tide (outter edges of tullies or Grass line)... A huge help for me is the Navionics mobile app on my phone, it helps me Navigate around safely with gps and depth contours plus has tide information all in one app...

Travis Huckaby

Re: Central Delta

Posted: Thu Jun 23, 2016 12:58 pm
by Bass hack
TravisH wrote:Always pay attention to the tides.. The tides play a huge roll on where the fish are going to set up and the direction they will be positioning in.. High tide (up shallow) Low tide (outter edges of tullies or Grass line)... A huge help for me is the Navionics mobile app on my phone, it helps me Navigate around safely with gps and depth contours plus has tide information all in one app...

Travis Huckaby
Travis,
What is the best chip to get for my lowrance hds units to fish the delta? I'm not sure which one to buy, the navionics, navionics +, or sonarcharts.. Right now I am using the lowrance charts.

I would also like to note I do have another unit that has the navionics charts, but they dont seem very accurate in many cases.. Generally good, but i think the last time the usgs took soundings in the delta was over 40 years ago (1967 IIRC). For example, I notice sometimes, the chart will say 30 ft of water and its only 10 or sometimes it will say 12 and its only 6 etc. I guess it is a river so it is always changing...

Do you have any statistics on the number of anglers that contribute soundings data to the community edits? Do the community edits take into account the tidal lever for whatever time the soundings were taken?

Sorry for so many questions, but these things rattle around in my head at different times and you seem like the person I should ask.

Re: Central Delta

Posted: Wed Jun 29, 2016 12:27 pm
by TravisH
Hello there Bass Hack, I would definitely recommend the Navionics Hotmaps Platinum card for your Hds unit.. They are our top of the line mapping card that has all features from 3d overlays,Sonarchart(1' depth contours), Tide charts.. As far as your Navionics card you have, it definitely sounds like its an older card.. We have the freshest data updates available and you would be surprised on the amount of recordings that get done daily... Im on the delta on a weekly basis and always recording sonar logs and uploading them for freshest data updates and will even be going out this coming Friday to do more sonar logging.. if you have a specific area in the delta that you feel isn't up to par, feel free to let me know and I will update that area...

Travis Huckaby

Re: Central Delta

Posted: Thu Jun 30, 2016 2:43 pm
by mark poulson
Travis,
I have the first version of the HDS5. Is it possible to get tide readouts on that unit?

Re: Central Delta

Posted: Sat Jul 02, 2016 3:03 am
by Cooch
Delta bass are in full post spawn and summer patterns. Fishing too shallow all day will results in lots of smaller fish. The shad are also now in full spawn, look for visible signs on the grass edges and out in the clear grass flats off shore. Fish down below them to find the bigger fish that are down out of the currents and foraging on what ever prey is gorging on the shad balls. Jigs, a t-rig and dropshot are excellent tactics, stick to craw and blue gill patterns. That TNT Booby Trap jig with a Yamamoto Green pumpkin Flappin hog is a can't miss bait right now! A top water bait like a Yamamoto Shibuki Pop or any Double Buzzbaits is deadly along the outer edges of the canopies extending off the levee banks and tulle islands that have a good 6-10 foot drop right at the edge, visible grass on this outer canopy edge can be a big fish holder as well. You can punch this canopy as well for plenty of bites, yet most days, these have been the same smaller fish we're catching in the shallows with an occasional really good one.

Re: Central Delta

Posted: Wed Jul 06, 2016 5:56 am
by TravisH
Goodmorning Mark.. Yes your HDS 5 unit is capable of reading the tides as long as your using an Updated Navionics mapping card..