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Hot-Bites Fishing Report By the Fish Sniffer Staff	April 30, 2008 Updated Regularly

WEST DELTA
These are red letter days in the West Delta with stripers, sturgeon, black bass and catfish cooperating with anglers. The hottest fishing is being enjoyed by striper trollers who are nailing big numbers of fish while working a number of different areas.

“We just caught and released a 40 pound striper,” exclaimed Captain Barry Canevaro of the Fish Hookers Sportfishing on April 27 before passing his phone Larry Himango, the angler that had caught the bass.

“We were trolling along and my rod went down hard. At first we thought my lure had snagged a log or something, but when we got it close to the boat we knew it was a fish. It fooled us because it didn’t fight like a 6 or 7 pounder with a lot of head shaking. The big fish moved slow and had a lot of weight,” said Himango.

“We are up here trolling near Light 45 in Cache Slough,” disclosed Canevaro. The big bass hit a Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnow. Overall the striper trolling has been excellent this week. Basically the bite is wide open. I’ve been trolling with both shallow and deep running Yo-Zuris and shallow running Bombers.

Color doesn’t seem to be much of a concern at this point, since the fish are aggressive, noted Canevaro. One of the keys to getting the best results is to avoid the crowds. Canevaro has been spending most of his time fishing up in the Walnut Grove area, but there are fish all the way down to the lower end of Decker Island.

“I’d describe the current sturgeon fishing as fair or average, but improving,” related Kevin Yost of Lucky Strike Charters. “Last week we had minus tides and big winds, which muddied the water and made fishing tough. When the wind would lie down we did okay while fishing a bunch of different spots in upper Suisun Bay and near the Mothball Fleet.”

Yost is averaging one keeper per trip while using salmon roe. “There are lots of jumpers showing, so I think the bite is going to come on strong soon,” he forecast.

Black bass fishing has been hindered by the fluctuating barometer, but anglers working with large plastic worms, small plastic swimbait and jigs are scoring some handsome fish.

Catfish anglers are finding success just about anywhere they choose to fish while soaking standard baits such as anchovies, mackerel and clams.

EAST DELTA
This is a great time to catch a huge limit of black bass in the East Delta, but to do it you’ll have to tailor your tactics to match the temperament and activity level of the fish. Recent cold fronts have caused the bass to become lethargic, but they are still willing to feed as they prepare to spawn.

“The fishing is good for big fish,” disclosed Randy Pringle of the Fishing Instructor Guide Service. “You have to work for your bass, but we are getting limits between 23 and 30 pounds almost every day. We got an 11 pounder last week. I’m fishing with Dan Dunsford right now and he just put a 3.5 pounder in the boat.”

“Over the past week our top bait has been a 10 inch Power Worm Texas rigged with a ¼ ounce weight. Motor oil with red flakes and green pumpkin have both been good colors. The key to getting hit on the worm is fishing it slowly. You don’t want to hop it. Instead just let it set on the bottom and wiggle it. Don’t expect to get a lot of bites. We are only getting from 7 to 15 hits per day, but the fish that do hit are big quality bass,” continued Pringle.

“In addition to using the Power Worms, my clients are also working black and blue Persuader E-Chip Jigs tipped with a Berkley Chigger Craw. We were throwing jigs yesterday and ended up getting a pair of 7 pounders on them,” said Pringle.

According to Pringle, reaction baits are catching few fish at this time. The recent series of cold fronts that have swept through the state have prevented the bass from getting really active and aggressive.

“The bulk of the bass have not spawned yet. The way the water temperature has been going up and down, I think we can look forward to finding fish on beds for the next 2 months,” predicted Pringle.

RIO VISTA
The spring striper bite seems to be peaking in the Rio Vista area as both trollers and bait anglers battle big numbers of fish. Sturgeon fishing remains consistent for anglers soaking a variety of baits, but overall sturgeon fishing pressure has been light with most anglers now concentrating on the hot striper action.

“Striper fishing is absolutely great and lots of fish are being caught,” related Meeka Birring of Rio Vista Bait. “This week we have been seeing some fairly large bass showing in the catches. Trolling is working well, but bait is producing quite a few fish too. For example, an angler named Sean brought a limit of bass weighing 9 and 10 pounds into the shop. He caught them while fishing pile worms off Sandy Beach. Barry Reid also scored a limit while fishing pile worms. His fish went 7 and 19 pounds.”

“For anglers targeting sturgeon, the bite has been pretty good up in Cache Slough and down in Montezuma Slough. The sturgeon are hitting on a variety of different baits including ghost shrimp, pile worms, eel, roe and fresh shad. Fresh shad is a good bait because it has been hooking both stripers and sturgeon,” added Birring.

Audie Urbano at Hap’s Bait described the current striper bite as “wide open."“Both trollers and bait anglers are having great success and there are some big fish around. I heard that a troller landed a 50 pound bass over in the San Joaquin a few days ago. Bass weighing 12 to 15 pounds have been pretty common,” said Audie.

“The sturgeon fishing has been pretty good, but it is tough to get a first hand report because most of the anglers in our area are now targeting stripers,” added Audie.

Rene Villanueva of Steelie Dan’s Guide Service has been enjoying excellent trolling while working above Rio Vista. “Limits have been the rule over the past several days,” reported Villanueva on April 24. “Today my 4 anglers had limits to 8 pounds by 10:30 in the morning. We got all of our fish today while trolling shallow running Yo-Zuri minnow plugs. There are some large bass beginning to show. My largest fish so far this spring went 22 pounds.”

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Area Fishing Maps West Delta Lower Mokelumne River

The Delta, comprised of a hundred plus year old system of levies and canals built to control flooding from the Sierra spring snow melt run-off, is the confluence of the Sacramento, Mokolumne, and San Joaquin Rivers. All the anadromous species pass through the area during their migrations. Permanent residents include sturgeon, largemouth & smallmouth bass, big channel cats, and carp.