Save Our Stripers!
www.saveourstripers.org

We need our chamber members help to defeat proposed legislation to deregulate the striped bass. A Kern County assembly woman has introduced legislation to open them to unlimited take, no size limit, commercial fishing, etc. as retaliation to our efforts to protect our delta water. If you feel this will affect your members businesses please visit the site and sign on in opposition:  www.saveourstripers.org.

If you have more questions, write or visit the California Sportfishing Protection Alliance at www.calsport.org. Note that all fishing organizations in our region and our state oppose this legislation. Our Department of Fish and Game disagrees with the premise of this legislation and is currently fighting a similar attack on our striped bass fishery in court. Your support in opposition is CRITICAL in helping to crush this legislation before it has a chance to ruin our fishery and harm your business!

FishDelta.Com - Fish Reports

FishDelta.com is a new Delta Chambers member. We will now be adding the link to their fishing reports each week on this page. Some of the reports are duplicates. CLICK HERE to read the FishDelta Reports.

Also, for those missing the old Delta Chambers Fish Forum, you can now go to FishDeltaBuzz and participate in their fishing forums. Click Here

Dan Mathisen
Email & Website

Guest Report by
Dale "Fishwisher" Gillespie

During this cold, grey season it is unusual for me to hook the boat to the motorhome and head for my beloved delta. But I desperately wanted to tie my last sturgeon tag to something about 65” long before it expired on January 1. The weather forecast predicted calm winds, tolerable temps and a chance of some rain. That was good enough for me; I loaded up - including my little Mr. Heater - and headed for Rio Vista.

In my old age I’ve given up overnighting at anchor, and spend my nights aboard my cozy motorhome. During the past few years I have been launching, berthing and RVing at Brannan Island – but the new ramps there are still under construction and there are only two lanes to launch. Further, I cannot seem to contact anyone to see when they’re open – and rumors continue to float around about it closing. So I’ve been staying at Delta Marina in Rio Vista during my delta adventures. It has several advantages over Brannan Park: It is walking distance to Rio Vista’s downtown restaurants, The Point Restaurant is just across the parking lot, and I enjoy their wonderfully maintained grounds, dock and ramp.

By 1330 on Monday I was anchored near the ship channel off Decker Island, enjoying the cloudy but mostly calm day. I offered eel to any passing sturgeon ‘til after dark, fishing through the end of a flood tide and the beginning of a huge ebb tide. The tides were big that day – and I think that helps turn on the sturgeon bite. But there would be no sturgeon for me that day. Rats. Shortly after dark I reeled in and returned through the darkness and light rain to Delta Marina’s dock.

Day 2 was a replay, but with more hours of fishing. I called it quits just before dark and headed back to the dock – still skunked and more disappointed. I blame the cold water for the slow bite; I’ve never done too well with sturgeon during the winter months.

Day 3 dawned absolutely calm and perfect - and would be my final try for the year. I figured my best chance at a sturgeon would be on Suisun Bay. I motored downriver 25 miles to my honey hole, and spent the day trying to make use of that final sturgeon tag. I fished an incoming current to its end, and an outgoing current ‘til I ran out of time – and luck. I wanted to be sure to arrive at Delta Marina’s dock before dark.

Once again, my fishing has lead to spiritual growth. I left the marina the next morning humbled by my lack of success, yet inspired to carry on during the coming new year. Even though I had an unused sturgeon tag to send to DFG with my 2009 report card, that card recorded a total of eleven legal sturgeon, two of which I kept; I had released nine. 2009 had been my best sturgeon year ever, and with my newfound humility came the faith and hope that 2010 may be even better!
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A correction to last week’s report: The regulation requiring us to wear our fishing licenses for all the world to see will not expire ‘til March 31, 2010. I reported last week that it expired on January 1 - my apologies for the error.

Dale "Fishwisher"
Dale's Fishing Blog
Email

Delta Bank Fishing
by Roland “Innovate” Aspiras

Happy New Year! This year I’d like to start with some tips that I’ve gathered for winter fishing, based on various questions that anglers have asked in the recent weeks. Winter fishing can very productive chasing stripers and sturgeon, however there are a few factors that you need to keep in mind before and during your trip.

Winter Runoff
Large amounts of winter runoff usually mean high water, lots of debris in the form of sticks, leaves, branches and in some cases entire trees can be seen floating downriver. Fishing effectively can be a challenge, requiring you to constantly check and clean off your tackle of debris.  Fast current requires large sinkers up to a pound in weight to hold bottom, and sometimes it isn’t enough. And of course, underwater trees and snags are very common. A rig that isn’t properly holding, and bouncing along the bottom will eventually come into a contact with a snag. Most anglers fish medium heavy tackle on the bank, and I can tell you that it aint easy trying to break off a snag with line 20 lb test or more! There are a couple things you can do to avoid these problems.

1. Cast close to shore. In many cases the current next to shore will be slower compared to the middle of the slough or river. Having less line out means less surface area for the current to grab hold of and sweep down river.
   
2. Move. If you find yourself getting snagged often in a particular spot, move. You can either try a few yards up or down from your current location or move to an entirely different spot.
   
3. Use lighter line. Some anglers may dispute this concept, however I find it to be very effective. Lighter line has a smaller diameter which means less surface area and drag. For example, my choice for fishing normal conditions is 25 or 30 pound test monofilament. When the current is up, I may switch to 20 lb test. Superlines are another choice. 30 lb test braided line has diameter equivalent to 10 lb test mono.
   
4. Wait out the water. Some anglers prefer not to fish the river when the water is up, and for good reason. Tackle is expensive. Hooks, sinkers, leaders, and line all add up. Trying to yank snags can damage your rod or reel as well.  The whiplash from my line (25 lb test) snapping broke 2 guides on my surf rod once trying to pull a snag free on the Old Sac. After winter run off, I usually like to wait a week to a week and a half before trying my luck.

Water Temperature and Climate
Both stripers and sturgeon fall prey to cold water temperatures and drops in barometric pressure. There are a couple of ways for you to increase your success when fishing these conditions.

1. Fish shallow. This concept is very important during bluebird skies in the winter. Shallow water warms quickly during the day, drawing baitfish and gamefish. Metabolism increases as temperature rises, and so does activity. Stripers can sometimes be seen chasing threadfin shad in as little as 5 feet of water during the winter.
2. Down-size. Both stripers and sturgeon tend to bite very light in cold water temps due to their decreased metabolism. Use lighter line, smaller portions of bait, and smaller plugs for trolling if water clarity allows it.
3. It’s too darn cold. Temps in the valley can dip to the mid to upper thirties during certain parts of the winter. Mix that in with a great north wind and you’ll be in for a frosty heck of a time. The answer – invest in good cold weather gear. Hunting outerwear is my choice as it has good insulation. A good pair of insulated boots and some headwear is also required. Don’t forget insulated thermals, too. Of course, you can always stay home and wait until the weather warms up a couple degrees. A difference between 40 and 50 degrees is substantial and highly noticeable.

While winter fishing may pose more problems than success, it certainly goes overlooked by many anglers. Hopefully, these tips help in planning your trip and increasing your success.  

To all, have a fun time on the water, and always make sure to remember to pick up after yourself so the next person can enjoy the spot you just fished.

Roland “Innovate” Aspiras
Roland's Fishing Blog
Email

Isleton Area
by Can Nguyen -- Bob's Bait Shops

Can is out of town.

Can
Email & Website

Antioch-Oakley Area
by Chris Lauritzen -- Lauritzen Yacht Harbor

I don’t think of myself as a delicate flower but it is cold to the bone and damp today (Tuesday). It’s not cold enough to freeze this morning but the field behind the harbor office is all white as if there was a freeze.

We have had a couple of brave black bass fisherman launch this morning they are all bundled up like they were riding a snow mobile instead of a black bass boat. The one black bass fisherman I saw this morning was just working the levee banks in the harbor for something to do. Not much of a black bass bite.

In some respects it might be considered perfect sturgeon fishing weather. It wasn’t until 10:30 am or so before we saw the southern shoreline of Sherman Island or the top of the Antioch Bridge for that matter. Now at 2:00 pm there is high cloud cover with a slight breeze out of the east, kind of a tease that there could be a rain storm coming our way. It is just a tease because the barometer has not started to drop at all here at the harbor.

The water temperature in the harbor is in the 47.5 degree range while the ambient temperature is peaking at 49 degrees at 2:00 pm. Expect the water temperature out on the open water to be a degree or so lower.

We continue to have folks like Lori and David Dial of Antioch fishing for stripers and continuing to do very well. Here is David’s report: Broad Slough continues to be the number one spot for catching stripers.  He does not describe how many or what size but said that he and Lori caught and released lots of stripers even in the 47 degree water he was marking at Broad Slough. The other spot that was good but not great was on the north side of Sherman Lake near buoy 10 on the Sacramento Deep Water Shipping Channel. This past Saturday it didn’t matter if you were fishing the incoming current or the out going current stripers were still biting. David and Lori have been fishing with live mud suckers. Right now that seems to be the bait of choice for anyone who is fishing for stripers.

As I write this weeks report, there are still some twenty or so sea gulls that are about 100 feet or so above the entrance to Driftwood Marina. The sea gulls just keep circling and circling waiting for the right moment to dive at the water to bring up some live bait, most likely shad.

Tom Saunders has been a regular out here lately fishing one or two days a week mostly fishing for sturgeon. My sense is he is doing pretty good fishing, he just doesn’t advertise it very much. I would expect Tom to be out the first weekend in February for the original super bowl sturgeon derby.

Just a reminder that your 2009 sturgeon report card needs to be turned into the California Department of Fish and Game by January 31, 2010. There is an address on the back of the report card that tells you where to send it.

For those of you who still think about Dungeness crabbing off the coast, they are still catching a few off Bodega Bay. Best places to soak your traps are going to be Carmet, Salmon Creek or the Russian River. It seems there is a four to five crab average per pot right now.

Chris Lauritzen
Lauritzen's Yacht Harbor
Website