Delta questions

nate50 · Post by **nate50** » Mon Apr 22, 2024 6:09 pm

Hey everyone,

I wouldn’t consider my self a great delta angler by any stretch, but I usually catch fish and enjoy my day out fishing just not many of the delta giants that people talk about. I was out this past Sunday (4/21) launched out of B and W fished the weed flat by Perry’s and got a 7lb on a lipless. Then I went the rest of the day with out a bite, I threw he kitchen sink at them lol. I did catch 2 strippers about 12 inches or so. I fished franks and little potato mostly. I don’t want to say it was a bad day cause of the big fish…. Going 8 hours or so without another bass was tough, it’s was an outgoing tide all morning and into the afternoon.

What am I missing? Or is it just tough for everyone.

monte300 · Post by **monte300** » Mon Apr 22, 2024 8:05 pm

It sounds to me like you like to throw reaction baits? I’ve been fishing the Delta for 40 years and consider myself a decent reaction bait stick. One of the reasons I don’t fish tournaments is because I don’t like to punch or throw plastics, so I would simply be donating my entry fees. One of the things I love about the Delta is Most times I can catch at least a few fish fishing exactly the way I love to fish and some days I whack them pretty good. I’ve had many days like the one you described. It’s funny because every spring when the water temp creeps up into the low sixties I come out thinking the reaction bite will be on and I’ll often get humbled. The way I go about fishing the Delta once the water temp gets to 70 degrees and beyond is when I really start whacking them. In short I think there are plenty of guys struggling out there recently.

nate50 · Post by **nate50** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 4:57 am

You nailed it, I prefer to reaction fish and am guilty of force feeding them moving baits. Or at least trying to lol.

tunaman · Post by **tunaman** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 6:41 am

Gotta watch those strippers… never know what they’re carrying!

If the tide was outgoing the entire time, that means you started at or near the top of the tide since the tide swings four times a day. Makes sense that the big fish would have been up when you started…

As the tide pulls out, so do the fish. You may not have been fishing deep enough, or they might have been hunkered down in the thickest cover in or near deeper water.

monte300 · Post by **monte300** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 7:42 am

nate50 wrote: ↑Tue Apr 23, 2024 4:57 am You nailed it, I prefer to reaction fish and am guilty of force feeding them moving baits. Or at least trying to lol.

My favorite way to fish is parallel cranking the outside of weed lines on low tide. Unfortunately, I don’t have many well organized weed lines like I did 20 years ago. Now I mostly crank in between weed clumps and tules on a high, outgoing tide.

nate50 · Post by **nate50** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 3:38 pm

Well monte we might need to go crankin together

Caleb.Smith · Post by **Caleb.Smith** » Tue Apr 23, 2024 8:11 pm

nate50 wrote: ↑Mon Apr 22, 2024 6:09 pm Hey everyone,

I wouldn’t consider my self a great delta angler by any stretch, but I usually catch fish and enjoy my day out fishing just not many of the delta giants that people talk about. I was out this past Sunday (4/21) launched out of B and W fished the weed flat by Perry’s and got a 7lb on a lipless. Then I went the rest of the day with out a bite, I threw he kitchen sink at them lol. I did catch 2 strippers about 12 inches or so. I fished franks and little potato mostly. I don’t want to say it was a bad day cause of the big fish…. Going 8 hours or so without another bass was tough, it’s was an outgoing tide all morning and into the afternoon.

What am I missing? Or is it just tough for everyone.

Spring time can be one of the most hit and miss times of the year, the fish are in all stages of the spawn and every area is dependent on water temp, clarity, tide, and grass growth and they all fish different. Plenty of tough days out there although makes it hard to complain about a 7lbr!