18 Oct 23 , 2020 VOL . 39 • ISS . 22
Kayaking For Delta Stripers By Wes Ward
Spotlight On Kayak Fishing ...
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Several years ago , I was fishing for largemouth bass in mid-fall on the Sacramento River near Verona . It began as a pretty average day on the river catching quite a few small bass along a rocky stretch of levee with a small Rat-L-Trap . An errant cast resulted in a huge birds nest in my baitcasting reel . Inadvertently , I let the lure drift away from the bank and into heavy current in the river . As I fiddled with the backlash , the current carried the lure 30-40 yards downstream . After digging to the bottom of the knot on the spool , I quickly reeled in the line as the Rat-L-Trap skimmed the surface of the moving water back towards my boat . All of a sudden , there was an enormous explosion behind me as my rod loaded up and doubled over . The fish peeled line against the drag as it took off downstream . I did everything I could to keep what I thought was a 10 pound bass in check . After a great fight , I managed to wrangle the tireless trophy to the side of the boat , and slung it onto the deck . At that moment , my entire angling persona took a very drastic change . The satisfaction I had felt for so long every time I grabbed the lip of a black bass was completely erased by the striper . Since that day , a majority of my time on the water has been spent pursuing striped bass . A variety of methods and tactics can be used to catch stripers year round in the Sacramento Valley and Delta system . Although I have caught fish trolling and bait fishing , my favorite method of take has always been plugging . There ’ s just something about the satisfaction I get from the grind of casting and retrieving lures all day . The kayak provides an excellent platform for plugging , but can also be challenging . Unlike fishing from a boat , the kayak drastically restricts the area you can fish in a single outing . This requires kayak anglers to have a solid understanding of where and when stripers congregate , and how they react to changing conditions . Tackle selection can also be an issue on the kayak . There just isn ’ t typically room for 6-8 different rods and reel setups along with piles of tackle boxes like I typically carry in the boat . To simplify things , I stick to three basic lure presentations when kayak fishing for stripers . My go to package is a standard soft plastic swimbait body rigged on a ½ or ¾ ounce lead head . The swimbait can be fished at virtually any depth , at any speed , and is predominantly weedless . Most of the time , I choose either a 5 ” or 6 ” bait in any color as long as it is white . This is the workhorse of my striper arsenal , and is most frequently used as a search bait to locate the fish . My second rig is typically a jerkbait . There are many different shapes , styles , and colors of jerkbaits , but the basic idea is a shallow running , hard-bodied , lipped bait that exerts an erratic action in the water with a twitch of the rod . The action of these baits in the water seems to drive the stripers crazy and draw strikes when other methods simply don ’ t . Most strikes on the jerkbait come on the pause , when anglers least expect it , making jerkbaits very exciting to fish . During the late spring and summer months , I tend to replace hard-bodied jerks with soft plastic baits , such as a Zoom Fluke . The outcome is usually the same . My third , and by far most favorite , setup for strpers is a topwater plug . Seeing a big striper explode on the surface a split second before the rod loads up is really the pinnacle of striper fishing for me . Like jerkbaits and swimbaits , there are many types of topwater plugs available from poppers to walk-the-dog style baits . All of them will catch stripers . However , my personal bias is for glide baits , like the Delta Wood Bomber . They have a great action that other baits just can ’ t mimic , and are easy to fish effectively , even from a sitting position on the kayak . Now that you have your tackle tied on , it is time to figure out where to fish . Striped bass can be found in most of the rivers and tidal waterways that drain into the Delta as well as in the bays and Ocean . I target them primarily in fresh water . Although there are more and more resident stripers in our waterways , the fall and spring typically provide the most active concentrations of fish . Almost anywhere on the delta you paddle between September and May , stripers
can be easily found on sonar . Sometimes deep , other times shallow , and often suspended , they can be schooled in the middle of the widest stretches of river or spread out in the backs of sloughs and cuts . Finding them is not typically an issue , however , there is definitely some skill involved in locating actively feeding stripers , which are the ones that will ultimately strike a lure . When deciding where to find feeding stripers , I look for three key patterns in the stretch of water I am fishing . If any one of the key patterns is not present , the chances of catching striped bass is greatly reduced . The first thing to look for is shallow flats adjacent to deeper water . Stripers migrate in schools using deep water pathways , and move shallow to feed . It is common to fish in areas less than a foot deep working out towards deeper water . In the delta , tules and other vegetation grow along the edges of shallow flats , providing an excellent break for stripers to coral unsuspecting prey . This is where I usually start plugging . Once you have found a suitable flat , the second feature to key in on is bait . Striped bass often move shallow to feed , so having an abundant food source is key . Look for small baitfish in the area . Sometimes , they are easy to spot , as they break the surface fleeing predators . Other times , I rely on subtle clues to indicate the presence of bait in an area . Birds are always a great tool for locating bait . If there are birds present in an area , most likely there is something attracting them . Also , remember that the bait you find may not be the direct food source that stripers are feeding on . Small bait attracts other fish that stripers will feed on . Even schools of tiny baitfish can still indicate the presence of big striped bass . The final key to locating feeding striped bass is current . This is by far the most critical of the three key patterns to look for . Stripers relate to current . Very rarely do I catch stripers , at least larger ones , in still or calm water . You want to fish the most turbulent , ripping current you can find . Eddies , current breaks , and rip currents are ideal places to hold stripers . Flats and shallow islands create natural current breaks on both the upstream and downstream sides . Focus on these areas first before moving into the mid sections of the flat . Tides have a huge impact on current duration and strength , especially on the Delta . Knowing the tide schedule before you get to the water greatly increases your chances of finding ideal areas to focus on . During slack or small tides , irrigation pumps as well as the wind also create current that the fish will relate to . The key is to find moving water , no matter what is driving it . Once you have located bait on a flat with heavy current , any one of the three tackle options is more than capable of enticing a striper to strike . There are subtle differences where one may prove to be more effective than another in certain situations , but have confidence that all three options will catch large fish in these conditions . Just cast , retrieve , and hold on ! Ever since catching that first striped bass , I have been developing and improving my skill set to consistently catch large stripers the way I want to catch them . For me , that is from a kayak with a topwater plug . In the words of Tom Amberson , one of the most experienced striper anglers on the West coast , that is my : “ Epic Pelagic Goodness .”