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Monday, March 2nd, 2020

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    Report: by BIG DADDY BLUE RANGER » Mon Mar 02, 2020 6:48 am

    That fish ate a swimbait just below the surface and was up in the shallows. After two straight weeks of nice weather fish are really active. Fri I ran all over the central/west/north delta and saw fish everywhere sunning and cruising shallow grass at low tide but the bigger bites were hard to come by since it was flat calm. Water temps have climbed up to 58-61 and it’s really easy to catch numbers of 1-3lbrs. Sat brought the big winds and it was game on for the shallow reaction bite. Good luck

Friday, February 21st, 2020

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    Water Temp: 50-53

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Launched early out of Paradise with high outgoing tide. First outing for 2020 so didn't have any high hopes; glad we approached it that way because we had zip, zero, goose egg, and a boat that smelled like skunk! Tried long pause jerkbaits at different depths, then plastics including drop shot, ned, and neko (5" stick bait in usual fish-catching fav colors green pumpkin and junebug, blk/blue flk, natural shad.... zip, zero, goose egg. Noticed some of our favorite areas had little to no growth on smooth bottoms. Lots of dead hyacinth and in some areas, we got closer to islands than we'd ever been. In one slough, we saw lots of growth in sections with open pockets where you could see straight down to the mud; and a smooth lane of no vegetation straight down one side. We also tried moving out to drop offs and ledges... zip, zero, goose egg. Decided to call it early and beat the traffic home... off the water at noon. Chatted with a few bass boats launching late morning and they too had either low numbers or nothing since first of the year. I guess I didn't feel too bad but I know there are others "in the know" and are able to catch. I guess my fishing buds and I will just wait for things to heat up a bit.

    Tips: Have nothing to offer; I don't ever feel qualified to give any tips but I usually offer up what worked for us; today, nothing we tried worked. Zip, Zero, Goose Egg. I'm open for any meaningful suggestions to try during these present conditions. Gonna keep going out during the week and hoping at some point any kind of bite will turn on. Any helpful insights appreciated!

Saturday, November 23rd, 2019

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    Water Temp: na

    Report: I remember growing up in San Francisco and going to Gus's on Balboa when it was just Stephanie and her dad, Gus Ernst. Deepest condolence to Stephanie and Family on Bill's passing.

Thursday, November 21st, 2019

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    Report: To all club members
    Thu 2019-11-21 15:15

    ybac Peter Lancestremere

    It is with great sadness to let you all know of the death of BILL SCOTT husband of Stephanie Scott. Owner of:
    Gus’s Fishing Tackle
    3710-Balboa St.
    San Francisco, Ca
    94121.

    Gus’ has been an institution in the fishing community forever.

    Sent from my iPhone

Monday, November 18th, 2019

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    Water Temp: 58

    Water Clarity: Clear (4+ foot visibility)

    Report: Rat L Trap Open: https://youtu.be/hYN00xa_130

Friday, October 25th, 2019

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    Water Temp: 61.5

    Water Clarity: Muddy (0-2 foot visibility)

    Report: Put out of Big Break at 10AM yesterday with Jimmy and the Shadow but couldn't buy a striped bass. Same thing happened last Sunday at 7AM. Water was like a sheet of ice with little to no wind. Threw reaction baits and trolled for about an hour with nothing on the radar. After 90 minutes of striped bass fishing switched over to fishing for Large Mouth Bass in Dutch, incoming tide, using a drop shot rig and we caught about 11 LMB ranging in size from dink to 3 pounds. Weather was beautiful. Off the water at 3PM. Where the heck are the striped bass?
    DogOn

    Tips: Drop shot with green pumpkin trick worm, 10 inches of line to the 1/4 ounce sinker worked really well.

Wednesday, October 2nd, 2019

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    Water Temp: 66

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Started early on Disappointment Slough throwing lipless and squarebills to see if anything would react. zip. Next threw black/blue jig; picked up 2, about a pound each. Brother threw Tokyo rig with junebug beaver, picked up a couple more, one was about 2.5lbs, the other barely a pound. Worked rock wall leading to the main channel at St Francis/Tinsley with whopper plopper; couple 12"ers and couple more blowups. Moved to another rock wall at Columbia and worked towards the other yacht harbor; Started picking up a lot of 6 - 12"ers on lipless cranks in the flat; was using a floating rat-l-trap and when i stopped to chat with my brother, hard strike almost pulled my rod out of my hand...turned out to be a 2lb crappie. Started pausing the floating lipless 10-15 seconds and picked up a bunch of 10-12"ers. Got tired of that and headed to White Slough. Nothing on reaction there, even with the long pause. Went to 5" General on 1/8oz shakey head; caught 3 more each. 1pm, called it a day.

    Tips: Not qualified to give tips... we junk fished trying different baits just to get bit. I didn't think the water had cooled that much from a week ago when it was 76; not sure what to try now but I'm thinkin' going forward, I want to keep trying the squarebills and lipless and add in jerkbaits with long pauses. For plastics, senko types in 5" are my go-to but I'm forcing myself to throw jigs; still not that great at it. Tokyo rig with sweet beavers work for my brother. Ned and Neko will probably get some play time too. Hopin' more reports come through with more real tips.

Monday, September 16th, 2019

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    Water Temp: 70’s

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Crazy weather day. It rained for three straight hours. Had fun day with bites on everything we threw. Super tough for us to nail anything down specifically. Of our best 5 two were flip, one was punch, one was plopper, and a chatter bait. Lots of little fish on senko. Super fun

    Tips: Still trying to figure out better fish. Flipping is my dead ringer was best.

Sunday, September 15th, 2019

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    Report: by Kyle46N » Sun Sep 15, 2019 8:44 pm

    Anyone see any salmon in tbe sloughs off the Mokolumne yet? I was up there 3 weeks ago, and not a fish to be seen. I have 1 or 2 more trips to the Delta before I head to Afghanistan again. Hoping to put the kids on a slough salmon. I will say, the bass were chewin red squarebills along any rocks in the river though. We caught a ton after we realized the salmon were not there yet. That'll be the plan again this week. Thanks!

Wednesday, September 11th, 2019

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    Report: by ElGuapo » Wed Sep 11, 2019 3:09 pm

    Launched out of Russo's at 7 and started a low tide milk run. Water temps were in the low 70's and never got above 77 throughout the day. Air temps were comfortable all day, in the 80's. Wind around Franks Tract got into the low teens in by mid-morning which made boat positioning a challenge.

    Thankfully recreational boat traffic was significantly down from the previous holiday weekend and water has cleared up a bit in some of the areas where ski/wake boats had muddied the water.

    Caught a lot of fish throughout the morning on the punch rig but they were all smaller fish. Also had a ton of short strikes tearing the tails off the baits. Started getting more quality bites as the water warmed and we were further south. Here's the best bites:

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    Report: by jeffrm20 » Wed Sep 11, 2019 11:15 pm

    My son and I launched out of Tiki around 4pm and headed towards Mildred Island. Picked off a bunch of dink bass wacky rigging a 222 Senko along rocky banks and tule pockets. Found an open water flat and fished jerkbaits and lipless cranks. Found some dink striker and picked off a little better bass before having to call it a night.

Tuesday, September 3rd, 2019

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    Report: by DBbass » Tue Sep 03, 2019 7:48 am

    Fished around Discovery Bay on Friday and Monday. Caught a lot of fish, but nothing with any size. The highlights were watching the sheriff marine patrol pulling over multiple bad actors around the west entrance into Discovery Bay. Great people watching for sure. Very happy to have law enforcement out on the water.

Monday, September 2nd, 2019

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    Report: by JF209 » Mon Sep 02, 2019 2:10 pm

    I fished on Friday from first light to 2pm. Best day of the year for me, so far. Caught several 3 and 4 pounders on a variety of techniques on the main river as well as back water.

Monday, August 26th, 2019

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    Report: by ElGuapo » Mon Aug 26, 2019 3:55 pm

    Was still down in the dumps after hearing a friend passed away earlier in the week. Wanted to get out on the water clear my mind. Glad I did.

    Launched at 7AM, about an hour before low tide. Water was 73 degrees at the ramp and seemed to stay in the mid 70's throughout the day, multiple locations.

    Threw a plopper for the hour or so but no takers. Started punching grass around 8:45 and had 17+ lbs in the boat by just after 9:15. Punch bite continued throughout the day, multiple locations, but no big kicker fish after that morning melee. Here's the highlights: https://www.westernbass.com/forum/delta-report-lbs-mins-video-t123269.html

Thursday, August 22nd, 2019

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    Water Temp: 75

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Got to Paradise early about 5am, no one around so took our time getting prepped; one other bass boat pulled up and launched; as soon as I hit the switch to tilt the motor up and remove the transom saver/tilt brace, I could hear the weakness in the hydraulic motor. I knew the battery was likely weak because my front electronics had been on and I hadn't realized it til morning. Decided to still try and launch and buddy echoed battery was weak and motor wouldn't turn. Here's where I wanna thank the fellow basser who launched his boat just ahead of me. He came over after parking his truck and offered a jump. I declined as I keep a Jump N Carry power pack. He offered other tips (like get it started and run up and down Disappointment a few times to recharge it) and after some misc chat, he went on his way. THANK YOU to the friendly bass guy, I appreciate it very much! (reminded me of when I gave another bass boat my half jug of oil as he had run empty, he insisted on giving me $$ which I kept refusing so he forced it into my buddy's hand ...positive karma I guess) Anyways, got the boat started and ran down Disappointment, turned left on the San Joaquin and ran down to 14mile and Buckley, then turned back and ran up to the San Joaquin side of the Delta Yacht Club. Tested shutting off and starting, good to go. Started fishing there with a jerkbait and squarebill for me, dropshot and neko rig for buddy. We caught a few 10-12 inchers; continued to work the flat, changing to a whopper plopper that brought up a 4lber. Then more 12"ers. Ran up to St Francis entrance and picked up more 10-12"ers on same offerings. Moved to Little Connection inlet and caught some 1 and 2lbers on 5" Berkley Generals in Junebug. Since we were only staying half day, ran to White Slough at 10:30 to finish out our morning through noon and that's where we started getting 1, 2, and 3lbers, dropshot, shakey head stick worms (Generals), and neko rigs, junebug and houdini colors. Fish were pretty aggressive; at least 3 of them didn't just do the usual 'tick tick', they grabbed and pulled my rod down hard, I thought they were striper hits on a crankbait but they were on my shakey head (owner ultra finesse ball head). Headed in at 12:15pm, decent half day.

    Tips: Not qualified to give tips, but what I mentioned above is what worked for us. I used the 1/8 or 3/16oz owner ultra finesse ball head jig with a junebug general as my dropshot weight (to double up chances and it works) with a standard size 1 or 1/0 for my dropshot hook 16-18" up (MMIII 6" dropshot offering). I caught several on either one, sometimes bottom shakey head, sometimes dropshot. No doubles this time out but it's happened before. Buddy hit majority of his on the neko rig. btw, if I may offer up, per Shin Fukae, "neko" is pronounced "necko", not neeko. Just thought I'd offer that up. Anyway, tight lines, bent rods, and THANX HUGE, AGAIN to the friendly bass guy at the ramp!

Thursday, August 15th, 2019

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    Report: by ElGuapo » Thu Aug 15, 2019 5:32 pm

    Launched out of Russo's just after 7. Water at the ramp was 73 degrees. Caught a few on top water, frog and drop shot right off the bat at the north end of Franks but nothing to write home about.
    Got to punching around 10 and did that for the next 5 hours or so with some intermittent, unsuccessful froggin'. Had a lot of tentative bites that resulted in high velocity tungsten chipping the side of the boat in one case. :evil:
    DBW is definitely spraying a lot more fish holding weeds both submerged and floating unfortunately. Not sure why they're not spraying all the algae choked hydrilla.

    Highlights in vid here: https://www.westernbass.com/forum/delta-report-t123115.html

Wednesday, August 14th, 2019

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    Report: by johnabsmith » Wed Aug 14, 2019 11:13 pm

    I was just talking to George at Bay Tackle about how much harder big fish have been able to come by and snuck out right after with my old man. Just before dusk we made casts on my favorite stretch of river, and we swing at the same exact time. On my swing I boat flip a striper on a sweet beaver, which doesn’t happen often. When he swung, something swung back. I PROMISE YOU a whole tullie clump lays over then I hear the braid start ripping off the spool. After what seems an eternity I reach down and grab a lip with both hands. didn’t have a scale but I caught one just shy of 12 on a previous trip and this was EASILY bigger (photo does not justice, almost didn’t want to show it!). It was just his day and as he said, “guess I just been living right.”

    only fished 5pm-dusk all on a 200yd stretch. super hot day, incoming tide, super big waxing gibby. 2nd best was 6# and caught multiple good fish all old school flipping breaking down tullies fishing fast with accuracy. easily one of the best days in life.

Tuesday, August 13th, 2019

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    Water Temp: 77

    Water Clarity: Stained (2-4 foot visibility)

    Report: Left Buckley Cove at 630 and headed west. Started on top water and fish were aggressive until 9 catching fish up to 5lbs. Fish started moving to different positions due to outgoing tide so we switch tactics to Crankbaits and chatterbaits in 6-10 feet of water that produced some bites up to 2 1/2lb fish. Again the bite started to slow so we broke out punching and swing headed jigs with crawfish and that produced a few in the heat the day on slack tide and 100 degree temps. The area was wide open. Only saw 3 other bass boats out cruising.

    Tips: Stay adaptable and move with the fish. Lots of busting bait in the morning take advantage of it by having frogs, buzzbaits and whopper ploppers on deck. Take lots of water and food to grind out the hot day, if you put the work in and go where the fish move it you shouldn’t have a problem.

Tuesday, July 30th, 2019

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    Report: by ElGuapo » Tue Jul 30, 2019 10:19 pm

    Launched out of Russo's just after 6AM. Water temps in the low 70's, 2-4' visibility. Water temps topped out at 77 degrees, air temp 101. Ran up to the north end of Franks and through a sammy and plopper. Got bites and blow ups but no quality fish. At 10AM ran around and found a spot with healthy grass. With all the spraying the state has been doing this has become a rarity. Immediately started getting bites on the punch rig. Ran out to another spot further east where there had previously been healthy grass only to find it had been sprayed as well. Pulled a quality fish out a decaying clump of hydrilla, punched some floating vegetation for a while then ran back to the previous spot for another round. The fish had reloaded and we caught a few more punching the same spot. At that point I was starting to get dizzy from the heat and ran back to Russo's.

Saturday, July 27th, 2019

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    Report: by Kyle46N » Sat Jul 27, 2019 10:24 am

    For any of you forum members looking to just put friends, family on numbers of fish right now, head to the Delta with drop shot in hand. Any 6 to 7 inch trick worm style/straight tail style worm will do. Make sure to cast into the water. And proceed to catching. Seriously, for highest numbers any inlets/outlets near flooded islands are awesome, but any tule edges on any island works also. I've had my wife and kids out there thd oast few weeks with 50 plus bass days and even hit 80 or so on one trip. Hope this helps someone have some fun.