Fishing Report: Week of Oct. 28

Published online on Wednesday, Oct. 28, 2009

Compiled by Dave Hurley and edited by Roger George, a central San Joaquin Valley native and local fishing expert.

BEST BETS

Delta stripers ramping up, Randy Pringle said. San Luis stripers on consistent bait bite, Ly Tu said. Eastman bass stirring, and Pine Flat best local bass option, Merritt Gilbert said. Limit trout fishing at McSwain, McSwain Marina said. Trout limits possible at Shaver, Dick Nichols said.

ROGER'S REMARKS

The anglers with the fastest boats are not always winning the tournaments. So why do anglers spend so much time and money on bigger engines just to pick up a few measly miles per hour? My guess: the need for speed. The exhilarating experience of rocketing down the lake, water flying behind you and the scream of a powerful engine torquing out some mean RPMs can be as addicting as catching a big bass.

Because of that, there's a lot more going on at the lake than just fishing, with several unofficial and unannounced "competitions."

One is what I call "lag racing." Here's how it's done: An angler deliberately lets another boat that's somewhat slower get a little ways ahead. The tactic is to follow the unaware prey at a slight overtaking speed while getting a handle on how fast he can go. The aggressor makes his move at about 100 yards behind the leader, effortlessly accelerating and cruising past. The unofficial rules of the game are that the move must be dominant, you act nonchalant, and of course, you never acknowledge that you would stoop so low as to thrash someone else on the water. Waving and mocking as you pass are considered bad form since the best part is acting like you didn't mean it - you just couldn't keep all the horses under your engine's cowling reined in any longer.

If you see that you are being set up for this maneuver, the best thing to do is either quickly pull into a cove as if fishing there, or slow way down while looking intently at your depthfinder. This renders the pursuer helpless because now you can't be beaten fair.

The ultimate form of angler domination is beating someone to a hot spot. You can hear these guys at the dock before first light, talking about how they are going to slay the fish, not knowing the "competition" has sized them up. If you're fast enough, the trick is to let them get just far enough away to think they have no pursuers. Timing it just right lets you pass the boat - now full of sullen and demoralized anglers - about a mile or two from the destination, where all that'll be left for the second boat are leftovers. Of course, I have only observed this kind of tactic!

- Roger George

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PHOTO GALLERIES

Check out catches from local anglers that have submitted photos from their outings ...

Gallery #32 (new September 23)
Gallery #31
Archived Galleries

Take your digital camera with you so you can send us your pictures for our galleries. Please send your photos to fishpictures@fresnobee.com. Please include the following information: Your name, city, type of fish, length and weight of fish, when and where caught, and what type of bait used. Large photos work best — we can crop and reduce a picture, but we can't expand a small picture and make it look decent. You can also send photos to rogergeorge8000@sbcglobal.net.