Fishing Report: California Delta April 19, 2018
It’s been a while since I last took my boat out. I’ve been so busy with family and events. My last trip to San Luis Reservoir was more than two months ago when I fished during a cold front in the rain and cold. Itching to go again, Nick and I decided to hit San Luis Reservoir for some striper action.
I called the wind hotline on the way there but it wasn’t working. As we passed O’Neill Forebay, I could already see the white caps. I scanned the lake for the warning lights. Green meant good, amber meant caution and red was lake closed to boating. And there it was off in the distance, a flashing red light.
We didn’t want to wait it out and hope the wind would die down. So off to the California Delta we went. We knew it was going to be tougher since we had missed the morning bite but we had to get our striper fix on.
It was an hour n half drive from San Luis Reservoir. We launched out of Russo’s Marina and decided to target Franks Tract and the smaller sloughs around it. I’m not too familiar with the area. I’ve only ventured up to Franks Tract once. So this was unfamiliar fishing grounds for me.
We decided to hit the smaller sloughs first thinking the fish would hold up there since it was the peak of high tide. We trolled the Atlas Rigs around bends and points. Trolled along the levees and deeper end of the sloughs. On our first stretch, I was able to catch a striper on the new mini Atlas Rig prototype.
I barely lipped the fish on the chartreuse colored mini Atlas. We continued trolling and BAMM! Another fish on the original Atlas Rig. The stripers were hitting on the chartreuse. This one choked it.
We kept trolling the smaller sloughs but the bite seemed to have died. We decided to try inside Franks Tract along the levee walls. The first pass, it was fish on. Most of the fish were smaller striped bass but they kept us busy.
I wanted to try something new and target fish that were shallow up against the levees. I had success catching stripers along the levees casting lures and flukes in the past. So I decided to use a planar board.
With a Planar board I could keep my mini Atlas Rig in the target zone and not spook the fish by going right over them in the shallows.
With the mini Atlas tied on, the planar board pulled it about 8-10’ from the waters edge. The mini was light enough for the planar board and at 30’ out, its depth was about 4-5’ underwater.
We continued trolling along the levee wall. Then it happen. Out of the blue, it was fish on!
I unhooked the striped bass, took a pic and released it. I put the mini Atlas back on the planar board and a few minutes later, fish on again. They were loving the mini Atlas along the levee. We kept trolling the area for a few more fish.
The best bite was the out going tide. They were hitting on the chartreuse colored Atlas Rigs. We caught about 14 striped bass on both the Atlas Rig and the mini Atlas Rig. Most stripers were caught along the levee walls. The majority of the catches were inside Franks Tract.
It can be intimidating fishing unfamiliar bodies of water but my confidence in the Atlas Rig has kept me consistent over and over again. Stripers like to chase bait fish and most bait fish school up. The Atlas Rig imitates a bait ball which entices the striped bass to take the bite. After a while you start to recognize which colors and speeds work the best. You start recognizing the type of cover or structure that worked in the past and you relate that to the current pattern.
You’ll discover new patterns or kill it when you recognize the same pattern from weeks before or from years ago. Once you get a fish or two, you know you’re on the right track. Catch and repeat.
We really did a lot of searching before finding the right pattern. They weren’t in the smaller slough but in the main body of water. They liked the faster trolling speeds and the outgoing tide was the better bite. With each trip, you pick up on these little things and hopefully from reading my fishing reports and using what I use, it’ll cut that learning curve down so you don’t have to play the guessing game when you’re out there.
Below is the video from this trip. If you learned something form this, subscribe to the FishAholics youtube channel and leave a comment.
Now you know. Go get em!
You can find the same gear I use in the affiliate links below.
–TackleBuilders Atlas Umbrella Rig
