All new, pimped-out Fishing Reports are here!

We’ve completely tricked out our Fishing Report section and turned it into a one-stop information hub that features updated fishing action, weather, maps, photos, water conditions, tides and more! And this is just the beginning…we’ll be constantly expanding it into new waters in the immediate future!

To check out our new honest, accurate and regularly updated fishing reports for Nor Cal rivers, saltwater and Delta, click

HERE

Or go to the menu bar and click “Fishing Reports”

Spring Striper Time!

Well, after damn near a month of battling viral pneumonia (not fun by the way!), I finally got back out on the water Monday for a quick scouting mission on the Sac. Being sick so long, I had to cancel a bunch of trips, but I just can’t put off any more guide days so Reilly and I put the boat in the water yesterday…plus I just needed some sun on my face!

We found a pretty nice pick on stripers throwing artificials. They were all schoolies to about 8-9 pounds and all but 1 was over 3 pounds. Nothing huge, but the fish were extremely hungry and gulped down our baits with extreme gusto!

All the Valley rivers have stripers in them now and this is just the beginning. Over the next several weeks, expect lots more fish — and bigger hens — to arrive.

New Pimped Out Reports Coming Soon!

Me being ill has temporarily postponed the launch of our super tricked-out Nor Cal fishing report section, but it’s coming soon. STAY TUNED!

CA to declare war on striped bass?

Have you heard about the kookey new Bill that would basically declares war on California striped bass?

Introduced by Assemblywoman Jean Fuller, R-Bakersfield last Friday, AB 1553 would lift fishing restrictions on striped bass, which are non-native to California. The rationale is stripers are invasive, apex predators that devour endangered fish such as Delta smelt, winter-run Chinook salmon and the soon to be listed longfin smelt.

By allowing for anarchy-style fishing (no size or bag limits), striper populations could be severely effected by over-harvest, resulting in yet another opportunity lost for the state’s anglers. In addition, the bill would cancel any revenue raised by the Bay-Delta Sport Fishing Enhancement Stamp that was slated for striped bass recovery.

“This bill is just trying to strike a balance,” Fuller said. “The state’s water system is failing and we are taking all these steps to alleviate the impact on endangered fish, which has a major effect on people up and down the state that don’t have enough water.”

California native fish expert, noted biologist Dr. Peter Moyle from U.C. Davis says this about it:

“There is no hard evidence that striped bass specifically have caused any fish declines or even suppressed fish populations in the Delta, although it is certainly possible under the right circumstances.” Read his entire response at Alex Breitler’s blog in the Stockton Record.

And there’s the rub. It’s all about the water. She’s throwing stripers under the bus when the real problem with the Delta system is a lack of water. If you need any more proof of that, just look at who’s backing the bill — the Modesto Irrigation District and the Kern County Water Agency. Kinda says it all doesn’t it?

There’s no denying that striped bass eat untold thousands of salmon and smelt. But so too do largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, spotted bass, black and white crappie, channel catfish and a whole host of other non-native species. Are we going to try to get rid of them all, too?

Plus, before we started exporting record amounts of water out of the Delta in recent years, you never heard much talk about the so-called “striper problem.” Stripers (and all those other invasive species I just mentioned) have co-existed with salmon and smelt for 150 years. The massive, record-high water diversions have come about only over the past few years. Is it a coincidence that so many fisheries are suddenly in dire straits? I think not…

We aren’t addressing the issues here, people, and by doing that we will see the decline of all our fisheries.

Hope those suckerfish can hang on…they soon may be all we have left!

All New Report Page Coming!

Hey everybody! Just wanted to let you know that we’re currently building a bigger, better FishwithJD at the moment and will soon have the West’s best, most accurate, honest and up-to-date fishing reports from the top guides in their respective areas soon.

Initially, we’ll be covering CA & Oregon and then expanding from there. Hang in there for a bit while we get all the bugs worked out — it will definitely be worth the wait! Check back soon!

North Coast has steelies

While it has been a dreadfully tough start to the winter steelhead season on the North Coast…conditions have been great but the fish just have not been showing. Still, if you put your time in, there are some nice fish to be had. Here’s a dandy wild chromer from the Trinity…

And another beauty from the Eel system…

Both were caught and released last week by clients of guide Mike Stratman out of Eureka.

No fishing…

Well, with the San Mateo and Sacramento International Sportsmen’s Expos these last two weeks, I’ve been busy doing seminars and about all that’s been biting for me has been in my 30-gallon aquarium…

Here’s my upcoming seminar schedule. Hope to see you out there at the ISE this week!

Sacramento ISE, Thursday, Jan. 15

• 12 Noon: Delta Stripers Techniques and Tips in the California Sportsmen’s Theater

Sacramento ISE, Saturday, Jan. 17

• 3 PM: Alaska Fishing Expert Panel in California Sportsmen’s Theater

Sacramento ISE, Sunday, Jan. 18

• 2 PM: Delta Stripers Techniques and Tips in the California Sportsmen’s Theater

First Fish of 2009!!

Just a quickie report this week as I’m not doing a whole lot of fishing over the next two weeks as I’ve got seminars to do at the International Sportsmen’s Expos in both San Mateo and Sacramento (see the schedule below).

However, Ransom and I were both kicked out of the houses by our wives New Year’s Day, so we made a 2-hour, last second trip down to the Delta that afternoon. Man, was it ever cold and the fish weren’t too cooperative in the 47-degree water, but we managed to catch a couple, including this nice (though skinny) bass that Ransom caught on a popper…the first fish of the year!
Read more

DELTA FISHING REPORT

For honest, accurate and regularly updated fishing reports for the California Delta, saltwater, rivers and lakes, check out our FISHING REPORT SECTION

Pre-Christmas Striper Report

Well, the weather’s got us on hold at the moment…but prior to these storms, striper fishing was as good as it has been all season. Every trip was yielding at least 30 fish and 50+ wasn’t out of the question.

We were still getting fish on poppers in the mornings and evenings and on swimbaits in between. The streak of 20 plus pounders came to an end, but there were still good numbers of 10-14 pounders in the mix. Read more

Stripers Going Strong!

While it’s been super chilly in the pea soup fog down on the Delta lately, the striper bite has been very good and I’ve been getting somewhere in the mid-20’s to 35+ fish per outing so far this week. We haven’t had any real jumbos over the past few days, but there have been nice fish like this in the mix every trip…

The nice thing about this fog is it has helped the topwater bite stretch longer into the day. Over the past three days, the white stuff has been hanging around at least until 1 p.m. and the stripers have continued to feed on the surface as long as the sun’s been blocked out.

On Saturday, the sun never really came out but the fog burned off on Thursday and Friday in the afternoon and we switched to throwing swimbaits for plenty of biters like Harry’s nice keep-sized bass:

The water temps have come down quite a bit since the warm weeks leading up to Thanksgiving. Right before Turkey Day, we had 59 degrees but that’s now down to 52-54, which is really about perfect. This bite should just keep building until we get a bunch of muddy water in the system (not likely anytime soon) or a prolonged cold snap that drops the water temps down into the low 40’s.

At this rate, we should still be knee-deep in stripers at least into the New Year!

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