Fall 2011/Spring 2012 Delta Fishing Report

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February 13, 2012 San Joaquin, Sandmound Slough Franks Tract Mokelumne River Water temp:: 50-51 Visibility 2-12 feet	Stripers - Fishing is slow. Even if the fishing is not great the delta is in one of its more spectacular periods with warming afternoons, new greenery emerging, the air filled with birds and the signs of spring all over. If one fishes hard all day you can expect to boat anywhere from one to five fish with the chance of a fish over five pounds in the mix. A bonus at this time is the likelihood of picking up a largemouth or two since the fish are now in the pre-spawn and are moving into shallow water. No fishing reports for the next two weeks. I'll be in Arizona soaking in some sun.	Stripers subsurface - Besides working the 12 to 15 feet water with T-14 its time to start working the shallow water over the top of the weeds with an intermediate line. When working deep, use long pauses and a clouser or whistler. In shallower water add some of the Puglisi sunfish patterns.
February 6, 2012 San Joaquin, Old River, Franks Tract, False River Sandmound Slough Water temp:: 46-47 Visibility 2-12 feet	Stripers - Fishing is slow. The delta is a very lonely place right now. In two days fishing I saw one other fly fisher, about five boats dunking bait and no one trolling. The numbers of bass boats working the tulles for LMB was at least twice the number of people fishing for stripers. In all the hours fished I didn't mark anything on the graph, felt one striper tug from a juvenile and LDRed a largemouth. Water clarity varied greatly depending on location and direction of the tidal flow. I could see the fly 12 feet down in Sandmound Slough while the main San Joaquin was much more silty with visibilities from two to three feet. The change in the weather cycle is making fishing interesting regardless of current results. Sooner or later I'm hoping that we get a break and some fish migrate through the system.	Stripers subsurface - The few friends contacting me report having nailed a few fish to five pounds working the fly close to the bottom with extended pauses.
January 30, 2012 San Joaquin, Old River, Franks Tract, False River Water temp:: 46-47 Visibility 2-3 feet	Stripers - Fishing is slow. Although the water has shown signs of warming, fishing is still very slow. Hours of casting will produce only a few fish. The graph was blank the entire time and nothing on the screen could be proven to be a real fish. The Mokelumne is running muddy and adding turbidity to the San Joaquin for several miles in either direction of the confluence. No trollers or fly fishers seen on the water. Only bait dunkers have been reported as catching fish. I'll give the fish another couple of tries this week..	Subsurface - The few fish caught have hit the fly on longer than average pauses. Once hooked the pull is not great since the fish's metabolism is at its winter low. Clousers and whistlers in lighter colors produced fish. Unknown if darker colors may have been a better selection since I didn't put in a lot of hours on the water.
January 23, 2012 Water temp:: 46	Stripers - Fishing is slow. Again, these are third person reports. Fish are being caught but not in numbers. This will be the last week of counting on friends for reports. My boat is back in the water, and I'll be fishing Wednesday, Friday and Monday so should be able to give a first hand report on the delta. T Some good news though that should help the fishing. First, the rains. We finally have some fresh water flowing through the system. More is expected in about a week. The second is that the water has started on an upward temperature trend and should continue so for at least the next week with daytime air temperatures predicted to be in the mid 60's. Check back next Monday night. I'm getting excited about the spring! If you want daily reports, look on Facebook.
January 16, 2012 Water temp: 45	Stripers - Fishing is slow. Reports from friends who are braving the very cold morning temperatures are not encouraging with only one to three fish reported boated on average. At least the fish are not dinks, with most fish in the 4-6 pound class. I'm supposed to pick up my boat on the 18th and have a few things to do but should be fishing again by next Monday, the 23rd. Some other good signs are the reports of rain in the coming days, which should produce some fresh flows and some warmer water. Keep your fingers crossed for a good spring bite.
January 9, 2012 Water temp: 45	Stripers - Fishing is slow. My boat is not back in the water but reports from friends are not encouraging. Same as last week. Very low water temperatures and hard to get fish to strike. I hope to get the boat back some time this week and the clear afternoons and mild temperatures may start a warming trend. I've got my fingers crossed.
January 2, 2012 Water temp: 45	Stripers - Fishing is slow. My boat is not back in the water but reports from friends are not encouraging. Same as last week. Very low water temperatures and hard to get fish to strike.
December 26, 2011 Water temp: 44	Stripers - Fishing is slow. My boat is not back in the water but reports from friends are not encouraging. Very low water temperatures and hard to get fish to strike.
December 19 2011 Water temp: 45	Stripers - Fishing is slow. My boat is not back in the water but reports from friends are not encouraging. Very low water temperatures and hard to get fish to strike.
December 12, 2011 San Joaquin, Mokelumne Rivers, False River, Middle River, Old River, Frank's Tract, Water temp: 44-46 Visibility: 6-8 feet	Stripers - Fishing is slow. With my boat being out of service my time on the water was limited but from what I and friends have found, fishing is SLOW. While there seem to be a good number of fish in the system, the cold water has shut the bite down. At 45 degrees, stripers eat only about one time a week. If you're lucky enough to find that hungry fish, you'll get a good solid take. The fish will be lethargic however and won't put up near the fight that it is capable of in warmer water. I hope to get my boat back in a week to ten days but I don't expect any real change in the fishing until late January.	Stripers - Subsurface. Go with a proven fly worked close to the bottom. Expect grabs both on the strip and the drop.
December 5, 2011 San Joaquin, Mokelumne Rivers Water temp: 49-52 Visibility: 6-8 feet	Stripers - Fishing is good. Although my boat is now out of commission I've received enough reports from friends that I can say that fish seem spread out throughout the system but mostly singles to twos and threes and most from 18 to 20 inches. I have not received a single report of a fish to five pounds the entire week. The Mokelumne, below the bridge at B&W to its mouth on the San Joaquin is holding a large amount of barely legal fish, most from Willow Berm to the bridge. The San Joaquin, from Eddo's to 14 Mile Slough also has fish but in twos and threes although a few are larger than the 20 inches common to the Mokelumne. I haven't heard of any reports from the area of Stockton, Mildred, Disco Bay or the sloughs off the Mokelumne. I hope to be back on the water in about three weeks. I'll try to keep posting with the information I'm receiving. from friends.	Stripers - Subsurface. I don't have the exact patterns that others are using other than chartreuse over white clousers and gray over white clousers. While water temperatures are rapidly dropping, low and slow does not seem to be the best producing as of yet. A good popping strip, fished within 3 feet of the bottom still is the best producer.
November 28, 2011 San Joaquin, False River, Holland Cut, Franks Tract, Little Franks, Middle River Mokelumne River Water temp: 49-52 Visibility: 6-8 feet	Stripers - Fishing is fair to good. Fish are finally being reported in some reasonable quantity throughout the delta including areas such as Franks, Connection Slough, Mildred, Little Mandeville as well as the south delta. While not in great numbers, anglers willing to spend a day casting can expect from six to a dozen fish by the end of the day. Size run from dinks to 7 pounds with a good number of the fish in the 18-20 inch bracket. The drop in water temperature is responsible for the water clearing and visibilities are improving, especially on the outgoing tides. While incoming tides have always been mo particular favorite, the active fish seem to be working both tides and sometimes favor the outgoing. Unfortunately, the drop in water temperature has slowed the fight from some of the fish. But a reasonably sized striper will still out pull almost any other fish on an inch by inch comparison.	Stripers - Topwater. Surprisingly, even with the cold water, some fish are coming up to take a noisy fly on the surface. Perhaps the additional few fish in the area have introduced the need for competition for food. Give it a try in water eight feet or less. Stripers - Subsurface. Nothing much has changed. The fish are still responding to a quickly stripped fly with a number of pauses mixed in. It's important to get the fly DOWN to where the fish are. The bigger fish seem to be found on the channel edges but if there is any thing consistent about the delta right now, it's a lack of consistancy! Quick sinking line, short 4 foot 20 pound leader, chartreuse/white or gray/white clousers.
November 21, 2011 San Joaquin, False River, Dutch Slough, Big Break, Three Mile Slough, Mokelumne River Water temp: 50-53 Visibility: 6-8 feet	Stripers - Fishing is fair. Fish are now showing in the inner delta as well as the major sloughs and rivers. Bait fishermen are doing well fishing deep, 35 feet or more. Fly fishers are having to cover lots of water and work the edges of the drop offs to find bigger fish. With the drop in temperature, the fish are not pulling as hard when hooked but still strike a fly readily. Work the flats and edges where they connect to deeper water and channels.	Stripers Subsurface. Make sure you're getting down deep enough to be working near the bottom. Use a short leader, four feet maximum to stay in contact with your fly. Fairly full chartreuse/white clousers and whistlers are the go to flies.
November 14, 2011 San Joaquin, False River, Dutch Slough, Big Break, Three Mile Slough, Mokelumne River Water temp: 53 Visibility: 6-8 feet	Stripers - Fishing is poor to fair. If you don't have great expectations, you can still have a pleasant and sometimes rewarding day on the delta. Just be prepared to do a lot of casting and cover a lot of water. The large schools of dinks are.in the south delta along with some 5 to 6 pound fish. The main rivers hold some bigger fish but they are far and few between. Work the flats as well as the banks. For some reason, the outgoing tides seem to be the more productive of the two and early mornings the best time of day. EVERY striper angler should write the California Fish and Game Commission in opposition to the DFG suggested change in regulations for the striper fishery. These changes are solely a result of pressure by the West San Joaquin Valley water districts and have noting to do with the crash of the salmon and smelt populations. A sample letter can be found at: http://www.kiene.com/forums/showpost.php?p=107711&postcount=2	Stripers Subsurface. The standard drill still applies, express line, chartreuse over white clouser, fished close to bottom with a series of long quick strips and pauses in between.
November 7, 2011 San Joaquin, False River, Dutch Slough, Big Break, Three Mile Slough, Mokelumne River Water temp: 53 Visibility: 6-8 feet	Stripers - Fishing is Poor. Although the folks fishing the bay say that the fish are moving up the system, few seem to be reaching the San Joaquin. Hours of casting generally produce nothing more than a hand full of small stripers.. If any fish are still emigrating up the delta they are very slow in getting here.	Stripers Subsurface. Tough to recommend anything when it appears that one's casting into empty water. Perhaps the next few weeks will show an improvement. It certainly can't get much worse.
October 31, 2011 San Joaquin, False River, Dutch Slough, Big Break, Three Mile Slough, Broad Slough, Sacramento River Water temp: 58 Visibility: 6-8 feet	Stripers - Fishing is Poor. It appears as if the fish are actually exiting the delta rather than migrating into the inland waters. The reports from other anglers plus fishing results this week are dismal. Very few fish are being graphed as well. The limited amount of action found is limited to the big waters of the San Joaquin and Sacramento Rivers. No optimistic reports at all from the interior delta.	Stripers Subsurface: Not much to recommend. Go with the old standbys, clousers, whistlers and other subsurface flies, fished on express type lines.
October 24, 2011 San Joaquin, False River, Dutch Slough, Big Break, Three Mile Slough, Broad Slough, Sacramento River Water temp: 61-63 Visibility: 6-8 feet	Stripers - Fishing is Fair. It's hard for me to give fishing a fair rating but on most days it is possible to catch a few dinks and one or two fish over the 18" DFG adult rating. What's missing are the larger fish while the schools of dinks are small. The season started with a bang in August but it seems to be going the wrong way. Some believe that the stripers have not moved up from the bay while others believe the population has finally crashed. Most people are fishing the big water and leaving the interior delta alone since few fish are being reported caught in the traditional inner delta. Fly fishers are having to deal with trollers and bait fishers along the long shorelines of the major rivers. Remember that most of the trollers have over 100 feet of line out and try to ignore the ones that cut between you and the shore, even though they end up driving in the weeds and snagging up much of the time.	Stripers Topwater - Only an occasional fish is seen taking bait on top. Blind casting in the shallows does produce some strikes but they are far and few between. Are topwater stripers the new, "Fish of a thousand casts?" Stripers Subsurface - If there's one asset that really pays off when fishing subsurface, it's the ability cast a long line, especially to punch a line into the wind for a long cast. The more time in the water, the greater chance of a hookup. If wind is causing the boat to move away from the fly after the cast, dump some line on top to help the fly get down fast before starting your retrieve. While a series of quick strips followed by pauses is producing strikes, a less aggressive strip seems to work as well. I'm only using one fly lately, the fly that is the go-to fly when fishing gets tough, a chartreuse over white clouser. The fly is tied on a short, 3 foot 20 pound leader.
October 17, 2011 San Joaquin, False River, Dutch Slough, Big Break, Three Mile Slough, Broad Slough, Sacramento River Water temp: 62-64 Visibility: 6-8 feet	Stripers - Fair. This fishing report actually includes fishing through the 20th. Fish are scattered throughout the west delta from Antioch to Rio Vista on the Sac and up to the mouth of the Mokelumne on the San Joaquin. Most fish are small. Anything over 17-19 inches seems to be a loner? To find even a few fish the order of the day is to move, move, move. Cover the water adequately but don't beat it to death.	Stripers Topwater - With so few fish in the system it doesn't seem worth it to bother casting topwater unless you see some activity to cast to. Stripers Subsurface - Cast long and allow your line to get in the fish zone. Use quick strips, and I mean quick if you want to stimulate the fish into hitting the fly.
October 10, 2011 San Joaquin, False River, Dutch Slough, Big Break, Three Mile Slough, Broad Slough, Sacramento River Water temp: 60-61 Visibility: 6-8 feet	Stripers - Fair and improving. The colder weather, fresh water in the system and drop in water temperature has produced some positive results. While fishing is still rated fair, signs of larger fish moving into the system is bringing out the anglers, baitfishers, trollers and fly flingers. On the San Joaquin side, fish have been reported up as far as Disappointment Slough, although mostly juveniles. The Sacramento side is fairing better with larger fish reported from Broad Slough to Rio Vista. Neither side is near what would be considered fast fishing. Fish have been very tide conscious and turn off and on, sometimes favoring the outgoing and sometimes the incoming. Low water slack tide is definitely a time out as are times of low water movement. Fish can be found in water as thin as one foot on cloudy days but move out with bright sunlight. A good sign for fishing but a pain is that the number of sea lions has increased dramatically in the delta waters. A month ago, one could fish a whole day without seeing one of these fleabags. L3 Rods I think I mentioned on Facebook that Larry Lee, L3 Rods, provided me with two of his custom designed striper outfits for use by my guests. So far, everyone that's had the opportunity to use one has had nothing but positive comments. They immediately improved their casting distance and were able to fish all day with the the lighter eight weight rod. Larry's Striper Special contains a nine foot, 8 weight, L3 rod, a reel and extra spool, An SA Custom Tip line and an appropriate amount of backing. Larry was supposed to give me a price for the outfit but has been distracted with the birth of his first grandchild. I'm fishing with him on Thursday so I'll try to pin him down on a price. I can say now that the package is one of those offers that's hard to refuse. Larry warrantees his equipment just like the big boys so you don't have to worry about after sale breakage. Larry's website is: http://www.l3rods.com/ His phone number is posted on his web page.	Stripers Topwater. Things have improved dramatically. The colder water and large amount of bait has fish moving into the shallows, especially early and late in the day. Working a topwater or intermediate fly in the shallows, using a constant strip and causing enough commotion on the water to generate a strike is worth trying, especially since the takes are so spectacular. Don't get, "Striper fever," when stripping. Wait to feel the weight of the fish before setting the hook. Even the biggest stripers will sometimes make several attempts before taking the fly deep enough for a hook up. Stripers Subsurface. If there's one thing that makes a difference in catch rate when fishing subsurface, it's line handling. It amounts to three things, a good long cast, getting the line and fly into the fish zone and a good retrieve. A long cast, 60-80 feet will allow more fish to see the fly. Many stripers follow the fly for quite a while before striking, with the majority of strikes on the pause or when the fly turns from the horizontal to the vertical next to the boat. Being able to judge how deep your line is, is a skill learned with practice. Are you fishing with the current, across the current, against the current? Do you see fish on the graph but just don't seem to be getting any grabs? Make some adjustment in your cast, i.e.. lead the boat farther or less, dump extra line after the cast, fish parallel rather than perpendicular to the bank. Speed up your retrieve. Slow down your retrieve, allow more pauses to allow the line to return to its previous depth. Finally, use a good snappy long strip. Stripers can swim ten times faster than you can strip in a fly. The strip should be at least 18 inches long and have some good "pop". Use a combination of strips and pauses to maintain fly depth. Unless the water is extremely cold, if you're graphing fish but not getting any takes, try speeding up the strip or slowing it down. You've got to convince that big wise old striper that what she's seeing is a baitfish, not a metal hook coated with bucktail and thread.
October 3, 2011 San Joaquin, False River, Mokelumne, Potato Slough, Dutch Slough, Big Break, Three Mile Slough, Broad Slough, Sandmound Slough Water temp: 66-68 Visibility: 3-5 feet	Stripers - Fair. The season has become more and more frustrating as time passes. A month ago things seemed like they would break open any day, now it's a struggle to find bigger fish anywhere and on some days the dinks shut down as well. Of course the first of the winter storms with fresh water in the system and dropping water temperatures could bring on some substantial changes. Most fish found have been in the area of the big water of the west delta. I have no reports of fish being caught inside the delta at all. At the same time, very few anglers are on the water, either bait fishermen, trollers or fly fishers, so any reports I've received are minimal. Recent conditions should have produced some topwater activity but nothing is happening most days. Most fish have been found in water anywhere from six to sixteen feet along walls and tullie banks when the current is moving. The minor outgoings have really been flat! LMB- With the drop in water temperature, the season is ending. Some fish will still be caught but for the most part, it's over until the late spring next year.	Stripers Topwater. Not much happening yet, perhaps because we need some bigger schools to work the baitfish to the surface. However, if you've got a second rod, don't leave the dock until it's rigged with a floating or intermediate line and proven fly. Pole dancers, gurglers and crease flies for a floater, bubbleheads, Puglisis, deceivers, whistlers for intermediates. Stripers Subsurface. Make sure your T-14 or LC 13 gets down where the fish are! If casting in strong current, dump some line after the cast to allow the head to sink. if you're graphing fish and not getting grabs you may be fishing over their heads! Make sure your strips are long and have some "pop". If getting grabs, use a strip set rather than lifting the rod tip. Fish are hitting multiple times before hooking up. Strip in the dinks, the bigger fish will put themselves on the reel. They don't need your help.
September 26, 2011 San Joaquin, False River, Mokelumne, Potato Slough, Little Potato Slough Dutch Slough, Big Break, Three Mile Slough, Sacramento River Water temp: 68-70 Visibility: 3-5 feet	Stripers - Fair to good. The west delta is cooling and the stripers are moving in (again). Larger fish were showing a month ago and then seemed to retreat back to the bay with the warm fall weather and water. The current cooling trend, though minor, has brought fish well up into the San Joaquin and the Sac. Most are diaper stripers but a few good fish are mixed in if you're willing to sort them out. The fish have been very active on the morning incoming tides and then shut down for the afternoon outgoing. That may change as the tide progresses through its 28 day cycle. Juveniles can be seen working topwater in small schools throughout the day, especially when cloudy or low light. What is really striking is the large amount of threadfin shad showing along the banks. Much more bait is visible this year than the last two or three. It should encourage migration into the inner delta and help with the topwater bite. LMB - Fishing is fair. Only a few weeks are left for a decent topwater LMB bite. Once the water cools down below 68 you can still bring fish up but not on a consistent basis. The larger fish are turned on some days and totally off on others. Locating them is equally a puzzle since some days they are more dense in medium cover, while on other days they seem to be very near the current lines. If you're not bringing fish up on one bank, just switch over to the other side and give it a try. If slow, move until you find an active feeding area. Try both moving and more quiet water. Once you key in on the water the fish are holding in, look for more of the same.	Stripers Topwater. Some smaller fish are being taken topwater or on intermediate lines. Charley Bishart's Pole Dancer, white or yellow gurglers with long tails and any fly that slides across the surface while making a commotion will produce grabs. Airheads, tube flies and deceiver types work well on an intermediate line. Use a series of long strips without pauses. Don't attempt to set the hook until you feel the weight of the fish. Stripers Subsurface -. Mike McKenzie said, "If it ain't chartreuse there ain't no use." That is still a good rule to live by. Chartreuse/White clousers, whistlers, and other streamer flies produce fish. Other choices are gray/white and a dark brown/tan or yellow. Present the flies on a quick sinking line. Work the flies close to the bottom by counting down. A series of snappy strips mixed with pauses will generate strikes. Use s strip set as to not pull the fly too far away from the fish if not hooked up. LMB Topwater Hair and foam poppers, sliders and divers all produce strikes with the larger fish being drawn to the larger flies. Pause as long as you can tolerate along the weed line at the end of series of chugs.
September 19, 2011 San Joaquin, False River, Mokelumne, Potato Slough, Dutch Slough, Big Break Water temp: 69-71 Visibility: 3-5 feet	Stripers - fishing is fair. The diaper stripers are moving into the west delta in medium sized schools but larger fish are hard to find. Bait is plentiful and you can see small flurries of topwater activity at any time of the day. The water is still unseasonably warm for the last part of September and probably keeping more fish from moving into the system. Some real fall weather including a few clouds in the sky would really help the striper fishery. LMB - fishing is good. What's holding back the stripers is good for the LMB. Warm water and lots of bait plus the approach of winter means Mr. Bucketmouth is chowing down before the cold weather moves in. Some days the fish are on most of the day while on others they work in the morning and evening and take the mid day off.	Stripers Topwater. If you're on the water by six you will have an hour or so of topwater action. However once the sun is up the action slows. Some colder weather, some cloud cover, the sun a little further south will all help improve the action. Stripers Subsurface: Chartreuse over white 2/0 clousers will produce plenty of strikes from juvenile stripers and perhaps, if you're lucky, a bigger fish. Fish the flies on a quick sinking line, with a fast strip, allowing for lots of pauses between 1, 2, 3, or 4 strips. Work the fly close to the bottom for maximum effectiveness. LMB Topwater: Big poppers produce a few big fish. Smaller poppers produce more fish but smaller. Cast to shore and chug the fly to the weedline. Once there, stop and let the fly rest as long as possible. Pick up and repeat.
September 12, 2011	My boat broke a throttle cable so I wasn't able to get out on the water. I'll be back fishing next week.
September 5, 2011 San Joaquin, Potato Slough Middle River Holland Cut Dutch Slough, Big Break Water temp: 70-72 Visibility: 5 - 6 feet	Stripers - Fishing is fair. A return to summer conditions may have moved the majority of the stripers back down the system into the bays. The fish that were in the west delta last week are not showing up on the graph in any numbers. Some dinks still remain but the larger fish are harder to find. If you're looking for more frequent reports, take a look at my Facebook or Twitter pages. I try to post the daily results depending on how busy or tired I am. The links to both are above. LMB - Fishing is fair to good. The LMB topwater bite is a day to day thing, Some mornings are very productive, others a bust. The evening bite is similar although improving. The bite does continue well into the morning and starts early in the afternoon, although most of the fish during those periods are small with the larger fish hitting early in the morning or in the late evenings.	Stripers - Topwater: Not much appears happening. I've heard of some action very early (5am) in the morning but nothing once the sun is up. The same with intermediate lines in shallow water. Stripers - Subsurface: The standard 3/0 chartreuse over white clouser produces grabs when fish can be found. A series of quick strips followed by pauses keeping the fly within two feet of the bottom in water 8 to 15 feet deep should produce some grabs. LMB Topwater: Both sliders and poppers are being taken with sliders bringing up lots of smaller fish while large poppers bring up fewer but bigger fish.
August 29, 2011 San Joaquin, Potato Slough Middle River Holland Cut Dutch Slough, Big Break Water temp: 71-73 Visibility: 5 - 6 feet	Stripers - Fishing is good. Most of the fish are to be found at the west end of the delta since the interior delta water temperatures are still in their 70's. Not a lot of schools yet but when found, the fish hit and pull hard in the warm water. A four pounder will put you on the reel. LMB - Fishing is good. Lots of smaller fish with most willing to hit a popper or slider. The morning bite produces bigger fish but can end as early as 9am. The evening bite is longer, starting as early as 3pm and lasting till dark but most of the fish are small. If you're looking for more frequent reports, take a look at my Facebook or Twitter pages. I try to post the daily results depending on how busy or tired I am. The links to both are above.	Stripers - Topwater: I haven't been on the water enough this fall to give a credible report on topwater action Stripers - Subsurface: A chartreuse over white 3/0 clouser, stripped quickly, close to the bottom with enough pauses added to keep the fly down will produce fish. LMB - Topwater: Fish to three pounds are taking topwater presentations including poppers and sliders. The action starts before daylight and can extend to past 10am. The evening bite starts fairly early as well with fish taking topwater presentations as early as 3pm but the average size of the fish is smaller

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