Wednesday, Jan. 07, 2009

Fishing Report for Jan. 7

DELTA / STOCKTON

Striped bass fishing took a rebound for a few days around the New Year in the deep water near Martinez. Jim Smith of the Happy Hooker boated 15 bass to 25-pounds and a 60-inch sturgeon early in the week to go with 8 bass to 25-pounds Friday. Live bullheads and mudsuckers are the top baits. Things slowed a bit over the weekend with diminishing tides and a smaller bite window. Benicia Bait reported slow fishing with minimal angling pressure for both sturgeon and stripers in the bigger water in the main channels with the exception of a few large stripers near the Mothball Fleet. In the Pittsburg area, Kevin Yost of Lucky Strike Fishing said the best sturgeon action has been on the evening incoming tide with salmon roe. The bite is very light, so he has switched to a 24-inch leader weightless on 30-pound braid with the Aqua Spinner scent dispenser. There have been quality stripers to 14-pounds landed on frozen cured shad in Montezuma and Nurse Sloughs. Allison at Hap's Bait in Rio Vista said overall fishing has been slow, but there have been a few sturgeon taken down stream off of Sherman Island or up river at Cache Slough with ghost or grass shrimp. On the San Joaquin River, Jay Sorensen of Jolly Jay's Guide Service has boated sturgeon to 52-inches and limits of schoolie stripers in deep water holes on the lower San Andreas Shoals. The water temperatures are still cold in the 46 to 48 degree range. Randy Pringle, the Fishing Instructor, reported stripers are back on the move in the San Joaquin system despite the cold water temperatures. Flocks of birds are working the shad boils as far upriver to the Turning Basin in downtown Stockton. Call: Happy Hooker (510) 223-5388; Randy Pringle 543-6260; Kevin Yost, Lucky Strike Fishing (707) 301-8050, Mark Wilson Sport Fishing (916) 682-1630, Fin Addict Sport Fishing 367-4665.

DELTA MENDOTA CANAL AND SLOUGHS

There is little interest in the local canals and sloughs over the past weeks with the cold weather and good trout bite on the lower Kings and the San Joaquin Rivers. Clay Rutledge of Bob's Bait in Bakersfield said stripers averaging from 3 to 5 pounds have been taken out of the southern portion of the Aqueduct with chrome/black RatLTraps or blood worms. A few fish in the teens have been landed.

LAKE DON PEDRO

Planted trout are still the best thing going with continued easy limits off the banks near the Marina and Fleming Meadows. Manny Basi of the Bait Barn in Waterford said RoosterTails in yellow or red/white, Kastmasters in blue/chrome or rainbow glitter Power Bait have been the hot offerings. Some anglers have reported limits within 10 minutes of fishing. Bass fishermen are also bothered by trout while throwing spinnerbaits, rip baits or drop shotting shad-colored plastics. The bass bite is slow with a few quality fish landing on swimbaits, but the fish prefer the natural feed to the wood or plastic. Drop shotting shad patterned plastics have been the best thing going. The Lucky Craft Staysee 90 rip baits in chartreuse shad or ghost minnow have picked up a few bass, but trout are hammering the rip baits. Basi added that another local body of water, Turlock Lake, has been producing trout limits on rainbow glitter Power Bait near the inlet. Call: Monte Smith 581-4734, Danny Layne-Fishn' Dan 586-2383, Bait Barn 874-301.

McCLURE RESERVOIR