Windy weather doesn’t stop Delta stripers from biting
It takes more than a brisk wind and rough water to stop dedicated anglers from enjoying a top-notch spring striper bite.
“Make sure that you bring rain gear and warm clothing,“ James Netzel of Tight Lines Guide Service, said the evening before our striper trip on the Delta. “The weatherman forecasts wind tomorrow, so it’s going to be wet.”
The weather forecasts proved to be correct, with 25-30 mph winds blowing against a strong outgoing tide, making for a wet and rough morning on the San Joaquin River in the Prisoner’s Point area on Thursday, April 28.
Along on the trip were myself, Chad Donley, pastor of Ham Lane Church of Christ in Lodi, Steven Burke, a former pitcher for the Boston Red Sox and Seattle Mariners, and Netzel’s deckhand, Roy Rodarte of Elk Grove.
After the five us left the dock, we bounced through the waves and wind to the spot where Netzel aimed to fish. We soon began trolling with deep-diving Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows in chartreuse with black dots, tipped with chartreuse plastic worm tails, and “Clown” colored lures, tipped with pink and chartreuse wormtails. To let out the proper amount of line, we used Lamiglas Mark Wilson rods teamed up with Daiwa Lexa Line Counter reels, outfitted with 25-pound test Fins braid.
We hooked up fish just minutes from putting our rods in the water. Donley hooked the first keeper of the day, I caught the second keeper and then Rodarte hooked a keeper striper also. We also released some shakers.
But Burke hooked into a fish that appeared to be much bigger than the rest.
“Get all of the other rods out of the water,” urged Netzel. We quickly reeled in the rods so they wouldn’t tangle up with Burke’s line and watched the battle.
After a fifteen minute battle around the boat, Burke finally got the fish in, a 33-pound female, according to his digital scale. After we took some photos, Netzel successfully released the big hen back into the water.
It was the biggest striper put in Netzel’s boat so far this year. Burke also caught and released an 18-pound striper during a previous trip with Netzel this spring.
We resumed fishing and the hot bite continued, with just a couple breaks between bites.
This has been a very good season for Netzel. “I’ve been fishing just about every day except for Sunday and Monday, which I take off. The fish are averaging a larger average size this year. Last year there were a lot of 18 and 19 inchers, while this year we’re catching a lot of stripers in the 24 to 26 range,” he observed.
Now that it’s May, he noted that the fish aren’t as spread out as they were in April and March. They’re holding in tight schools, what Netzel calls “haystacks.” “You’ll see pods of male stripers clustered around big females on the fish finder,” he said.
We ended the day keeping 10 fish, full limits for all 5 anglers, with one big hen released, along with releasing a lot of undersized fish.
Netzel has been switching back between the San Joaquin River and the Sacramento River in the Delta, depending on the water conditions, weather and where concentrations of fish are located.
“We’ve caught limits every day on our trips this year, although it took 2-1/2 hours to get the first keeper yesterday,” he noted.
“March produced slower fishing – we needed to drift live minnows to get the fish to bite,” he said. “But the fishing in April was on fire. This season was definitely better than the last two.”
After he finishes striper fishing at the end of May, Netzel will begin his kokanee fishing adventures at Stampede Reservoir near Truckee on June 1. Information: (888) 975-0990.
Stampede Kokanee Salmon
Kokanee fishing has begun for anglers trolling hoochies, spinners and other offerings, tipped with white corn, behind dodgers in the top 20 feet of water. “The kokanee already are averaging 13 to 13-1/2 inches this early in the season,” noted Netzel.
San Francisco Bay Halibut
Captain James Smith of California Dawn Sportfishing reported solid halibut fishing on Monday, May 2, while drifting with live shiners and jacksmelt and then trolling on the slack tide. The 9 anglers landed 21 halibut to 15 pounds and 2 striped bass. Information: (510) 417-5557.
Contact Stockton Record Correspondent Dan Bacher at danielbacher53@gmail.com.
This article originally appeared on The Record: San Joaquin County fishing: Delta stripers still biting in high winds
