Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3911 May 2020 | Page 15

15
May 2020
VOL.39 • ISS. 11
Gone Fishing
continued from page 14
slow your speed to about 3 miles per hour.
Stripers will still hit a fast-moving plug in
deep water, but the large lip and action of
deep divers doesn’t allow them to run well
at higher speeds. well to running at higher
speeds.
Anytime you can catch stripers while
trolling shallow water along the bank,
plugging becomes a viable option. During
the daylight hours, the best strategy is to
go with subsurface lures. Proven favorites
are Rat-L-Traps, bucktail jigs like P-Line
Pulse Raisers and small swimbaits like
Berkley Pogys. These baits can be thrown
with either spinning tackle or bait casting
gear spooled with braid.
With these subsurface lures, you want
make casts toward the bank, exploring
features such as pockets in tules or weeds,
fallen trees, rip rap points and irrigation
pipes that are discharging water. When
retrieving these lures don’t do anything
fancy just cast them out and reel them in.
When plugging with a Rat-L-Trap, the
strike will usually be hard. When using
bucktails or small plastic swimbaits the
typical bite starts with a series of grabs
and taps. When you feel that just keep the
lure moving and let the bass load the rod
before hammering the hook home.
I believe the most exciting fishing
available to Norcal freshwater anglers
comes in the form of tempting stripers
with surface lures. This shallow water
action takes place during the low light
periods of dawn and dusk as well as
on overcast days. Big swimbaits like
River2Sea King Kongs, walking baits
like River2Sea Rovers and Zara Spooks
and Pencil Poppers will all draw savage
surface explosions from hunting stripers.
When working the surface, you’ve got to
stay focused. Strikes might not come right
away, but since the bass that hit on top
are generally large you want to be ready.
Stripers very often miss the first time they
come up and slash at a surface plug. You
never want to set the hook on the splash.
KEEP WORKING THE PLUG UNTIL
YOU FEEL THE FISH!
This point can’t be over stressed. When
a big bass erupts behind your plug, the
reaction of most anglers is to either rare
back and set the hook before the bass
has the bait or to freeze and stop the bait
dead in the water. Both of these reactions
will result in a missed opportunity. If
you focus on keeping the bait moving no
matter what you see, you’ll feel the strike
and you’ll set the hook instinctively.
Well I’ve just barely scratched the
surface of the fabulous sport of tempting
stripers with lures and I’m already out of
space. You’ve got enough information to
get started. The rest of your instruction
needs to come out in the classroom that
we call the California Delta!
Expert Trolling Advice From Capt.
David Hammond, Delta Pro Fishing
Spring has arrived and with it the spring
striper bite is heating up throughout
the California Delta. After spending
the winter lounging in chilly backwater
sloughs, the bass are on the move with
spawning on
their minds. This
puts the fish on a
collision course
with Delta
trollers.
“The single
most important
information
when setting up
a day of trolling
on the Delta is
the tide,” relates
Captain David
Hammond
of Delta Pro
Fishing. “I use
a TideLog tide
book because it
has pictures of
the tides, which
makes it easy
to see how the
Limits and smiles all around! That’s what spring striper fishing is all about.
day lays out.
Photo courtesy of DELTA PRO FISHING, Elk Grove.
Look for smaller
tides of 3 feet,
or less, water
movement and look for the flood tide for
Hammond
patterns are chartreuse/silver, red/white,
the day. A smaller and flood tide typically
“When it comes to lures, you might
and rainbow. Remember to always replace
has a larger “bite window”, and the water
be surprised how few lures I use on an
the hooks and split rings. I prefer Owner
tends to be clearer. The “bite window” is
average day. Most all advertised striper
4X trebles (ST-66TN) and split rings from
the part of the tide when the fish are most
lures will catch fish, but what I look
Worth in size no. 5,” said Hammond.
actively feeding. This is typically the last
for in a lure is whether it is durable and
If you’d like to learn Captain
and first hour of the tide, but it can be the
consistent. That’s why I use Yo-Zuri and
Hammond’s striper trolling secrets first
whole tide when both a small tide and a
Bomber lures for all my trolling. The
hand, while catching a mess of Delta
flood tide are in combination.”
specific Yo-Zuri is the 5.25” floating in
stripers, give him a call at [phone].
“When trolling for stripers in deeper
both shallow (6’-8’) and deep diving
Don’t delay as the spring bite promises to
water (12’ to 18’), use your sonar and look (12’-16’), for the Bomber it’s the Long
be great and Hammond tends to book up
for fish at or near the bottom. These are
A-16A for shallow (6’ to 8’) and the B25A quickly. You can find Delta Pro Fishing on
the fish that are FEEDING. Typically, the
for deep (16’ to 18’). The best colors
Facebook.
fish you see suspended are just traveling,
not at all interested
in biting your lure.
Run the lures as
close to bottom as
possible without
snagging up,”
advises Hammond.
“Targeting stripers
in the shallow
waters, between 6
and 8 feet, involves
a whole new level of
attention and skill.
When trolling at
speeds between 4
and 5 MPH, things
happen fast. When
locating fish, the
sonar many times,
is worthless. With a
cone angle (sonar)
of 30 degrees you
just can’t see that
much in shallow
water. This means
you must really work
these areas over.
Make several passes,
in both directions,
while trying to
keep your lures in
the strike zone of
6 to 8 feet,” tipped
NO VIRUS
!
!
!
E
R
E
H
T
OU
GP 1971F Fishfinder/GPS Plotter
Powerful technology in the Ultimate
Combo unit. 9” Chart Plotter with built in
TrueEcho CHIRP Fishfinder.
Featuring Multi-Touch Interface, internal
GPS antenna, CMAP compatibility, Anti
Finger Print and Anti-Reflective glass
with excellent readability and brightness.
Call for Details and Special Pricing!
MARITIME ELECTRONICS
2855 Soquel Ave.
Santa Cruz, CA
[phone]
3807
Hand built in Fairfield, California. Since 1947
ASFB MARINE HILLSIDE POWERSPORTS
Sacramento, CA
Lakeport, CA
[phone]
[phone]
SALINAS VALLEY MARINE INLAND MARINE CHICO POWER EQUIPMENT
Salinas, CA
Antioch, CA
Chico, CA
(831 443-1616
[phone]
[phone]
www.klamathboats.com
TRADE WINDS
Santa Ana, CA
[phone]
COOS BAY MARINE
Coos Bay, OR
[phone]
3909