Fishing report, Nov. 25-Dec. 1: Success bass a best bet; ripbaits scoring at Bass Lake

Compiled by Dave Hurley and edited by Roger George, a former Olympic-class decathlete at Fresno State (he still holds the school record). George guides in the greater Fresno area and holds the striper record at Millerton Lake. Telephone numbers are in 559 calling area unless noted.

Photo gallery

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Best bets

Delta stripers, bass and sturgeon hitting, Alan Fong said. San Francisco stripers, halibut, crabs and white sea bass on tap, Jerad Davis reported. New Melones bass and trout bites good, Kyle Wise said. Success bass weights up, Gary Wasson reported. Don Pedro trout plant excites anglers, Ryan Cook said. Aqueduct stripers and catfish on a tear, Jake Figgs reported.

Valley

West-side waterways

Striper 3 Catfish 3

Jake Figgs of Valley Rod and Gun in Clovis said, “The northern section of the aqueduct from Los Banos to Kettleman City remains excellent for those tossing Duo Realis 120s in Ivory Halo, Prism Smelt or Ghost Minnows as Neo Pearl has been very difficult to find. Flukes on a scrounger head along with topwater lures are also effective at times as the stripers have been boiling on the surface.”

In the southern section of the aqueduct in Kern County, Pete Cormier of Bob’s Bait in Bakersfield said, “The weather has been much colder, and there are fewer fishermen heading to the aqueduct now that there are trout plants in the local lakes and at Buena Vista, but there are still dedicated fishermen tossing flukes, Lucky Craft Pointers or Diawa SP Minnows along with soaking sardines, anchovies, blood worms and jumbo minnows for either catfish or striped bass.”

Call: Valley Rod and Gun in Clovis 292-3474; Bob’s Bait Bucket in Bakersfield (661) 833-8657

Eastman Lake

Bass 2 Trout 2 Bluegill 2 Catfish 2 Crappie 2

The algae bloom is thick, and combined with the lake at 7% of capacity, most bass fishermen are finding other options.

Call: Eastman Lake 689-3255

Hensley Lake

Bass 2 Trout 2 Catfish 2 Bluegill 2 Crappie 2

Similar to Eastman, an algae bloom is present, but Figgs found some action for largemouth bass to 1.5 pounds with 6-inch Senkos over a shallow rockpile. He said, “Carp are all over the shallows, and various dough baits will pluck the carp out of the lake.” The lake rose to 18%.

Call: Valley Rod Gun, Clovis 292-3474; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Hensley Lake Hidden Dam 673-5151

Lake Don Pedro

Bass 2 Trout 3 Kokanee 1 King salmon 2 Crappie 2

A huge plant of 9,000 pounds from the Department of Fish and Wildlife was released at the launch ramps at Fleming Meadows and Blue Oaks, and Ryan Cook of Ryan Cook’s Fishing found tremendous action for the planters with a 1/4-ounce Kastmaster. The introduction of the rainbows will get the swimbait bass going in the coming weeks. Cook reported a steady improvement on the bass bite with ½-ounce G-Money jigs in green pumpkin with a twin-tail trailer along with tubes over 45-degree gravel banks or secondary points at depths from 5 to 45 feet. The suspended bass have been more difficult to get to bite. The lake held at 68%.

Call: Monte Smith of Gold Country Sport Fishing (209) 581-4734; Kyle Wise – Head Hunter Guide Service – (209) 531-3966; Ryan Cook – Ryan Cook’s Fishing – 691-7008

Lake Isabella/Bakersfield area

Bass 2 Trout 2 Crappie 2 Catfish 2 Bluegill 2

Cormier said, “The local lakes have been planted, and everyone around here is buying Power Bait or nightcrawlers. Ming and the River Walk are planted, and the private concessionaires at Buena Vista are putting in Lightning trout along with some large rainbows in excess of 5 pounds. Lake Isabella has been kicking out quality catfish on nightcrawlers, live minnows, mackerel, or Triple S Dip Bait. The bass bite should slow down with the colder weather, but there are still crappie coming out of the marinas in the South Fork or over isolated rockpiles with minijigs or medium minnows.” In the upper Kern River above the dam, trout plants are scheduled this week, and salmon eggs, live crickets, nightcrawlers, or Panther Martins will be effective for the recently-planted rainbows.

Call: Bob’s Bait Bucket in Bakersfield (661) 833-8657; North Fork Marina (760) 376-1812; Golden Trout Pack Station 542-2816

Lake Kaweah

Bass 2 Crappie 2 Trout 2 Catfish 2

Gary Wasson reported a decent spoon bite at 25 feet in depth along with some action on jigs or plants on the drop-shot. The lake remains extremely low at 5%.

Call: Sierra Sporting Goods 592-5212

Lake Success

Bass 3 Crappie 2 Trout 2 Catfish 2

The lake is very low at 7%, but there were some impressive weights taken during the recent Xtreme (formerly Porterville Bass Club) tournament with a winning limit at nearly 19 pounds with the second-place team posting just over 15 pounds.Wasson came in third with his partner Joe Baeza at 12.17 pounds, and Wasson reported the best action coming on jigs. The Sequoia National Forest has partially reopened, and information on the current closure and open areas is available at fs.usda.gov/sequoia.

Call: Sequoia Fishing Co. 539-5626, sequoiafishingcompany.com

McClure Reservoir

Bass 2 Trout 2 King salmon 1 Kokanee 1 Crappie 2 Catfish 2

The bass action has toughened up, and the winning limits have been in the 11-pound range as the bite has been off. Cook said the key is to downsize and fish very slow. “Instead of using a 5- to 7-inch worm, I have dropped down to 2 to 3 inches along with small-profile G-Money jigs on a 1/4-ounce jig head.” 8,000 pounds of catchable rainbow trout were released into the lake, and the Barrett’s Cove launch ramp is the best place to target them from the banks. The swimbait bite should pick up in the coming weeks. Walt Lee of the Kerman Bass Club confirmed the tough bite with their 15 teams weighing in a total of 33 bass with an average weight of 1.22 pounds with two big fish at 2.00 pounds. The winning limit was just shy of 7 pounds. The lake held at 38%. The Bagby, Horseshoe Bend and McClure Point North launch ramps are closed due to water levels.

Call:Ryan Cook – Ryan Cook’s Fishing – 691-7008

McSwain Reservoir

Trout 2

The last trout plant occurred at the end of October, and trout fishing remains fair from banks at the Handicapped Docks, the Brush Pile and the peninsula by the Marina with various colors of trout dough bait, inflated nightcrawlers or silver/blue Kastmasters. The lake levels remain high.

Call: McSwain Marina (209) 378-2534

Millerton Lake/San Joaquin River

Bass 2 Striped bass 1 Shad 1 Bluegill 2 Crappie 2

Figgs said, “The bass bite remains tough with the best action on the bottom with tubes or small-profile jigs in green pumpkin on a 1/4- to 3/8-ounce jig head. The reaction bite remains nonexistent.” The lake rose slightly to 34%.

Park hours are 6 a.m. to 6 p.m.

Sycamore Island has closed for the 2020 season. The property will reopen on Feb. 5.

Call: Valley Rod & Gun 292-3474

New Melones Reservoir/Tulloch

Bass 3 Crappie 2 Catfish 2 Trout 3 Kokanee 1

A recent trout plant of catchable rainbows brought numerous 10/11-inch rainbows into the lake, and they have moved out into the coves near Glory Hole as well as the spillway. Kyle Wise of Head Hunter Guide Service said, “Trolling small Optimizer Jr. Spoons on a long set back of 150 feet has been effective for multiple hook ups.” Glory Hole Sports in Angels Camp reported an improved bass bite in the coves and creek arms around the shad schools. Shad-imitation spoons, plastics on the drop-shot, or small swimbaits are all working. The Glory Hole and Tuttletown boat launches are open at the middle ramp, but the Angels Cove launch ramp is closed. The lake rose slightly to 63%. The New Melones Lake Marina store is closed for the season including boat rentals. The lake rose to 63%.

Call: Glory Hole Sports (209) 736-4333; Monte Smith (209) 581-4734; John Liechty Xperience Fishing Guide Service (209) 743-9932

Pine Flat Reservoir/Kings River

Bass 2 Trout 2 Kokanee 0 King salmon 1 Catfish 2 Crappie 2

Figgs said, “Prior to the front moving through at the start of the week, there were limits to 13 pounds landed as far up the river arm as possible with weightless flukes or plastics on a wacky-rig, but the deep bite in the main lake has been limited. There is some action with 4.5-inch plastics on the drop-shot near Deer Creek. There are also some crappie found near the docks at Deer Creek. Trout trollers are starting to show up with the lack of high-country options.” The Bass 101 Valley Children’s Hospital fundraising tournament on Saturday raised $840. The lake held at 21%.

In the lower Kings, the flows remain consistent with the lake stabilizing. Panther Martins or trout dough bait are working for the holdovers from the recent plants.

Call: Valley Rod & Gun 292-3474; Sequoia Fishing Co. 539-5626

San Luis Reservoir and O’Neill Forebay

Striper 2 Catfish 2 Bass 2 Crappie 1

Roger George of Roger George Guide Service reported a very slow troll bite with the best action in 40 to 75 feet of water for stripers to 22 inches. He said, “The numbers and size are both the lowest that I have had in quite a while.” Alex Tran of Coyote Bait and Tackle said, “There is a topwater and glidebait bite along with flukes on a ½- to 3/8-ounce scrounger head in Portuguese Cove and near the Trash Racks. Jumbo minnows continue to be a popular choice for those drifting bait.” The lake rose slightly to 46%.

In the O’Neill Forebay, Tran said, “Undersized striped bass continue to dominate action with jerkbaits such as Lucky Craft Pointer 100s along with topwater lures.” The ratio of shakers to keepers remains around 5:1. A few anglers are soaking bait near the Highway 33 Bridge or the Medeiros boat ramp or Highway 33 with pile worms or anchovies.

At San Luis, there are three wind warning and lake closure lights near the Basalt Entrance Station, Quien Sabe Point, and the Romero Visitor Center. At the O’Neill Forebay, the lights are located near the old Medeiros boat ramp and above the South Beach Area. Amber lights signify caution conditions for winds or other concerns while red lights indicate the lake is closed to boating and all vessels must immediately vacate the lake.

Call: Coyote Bait and Tackle (408) 463-0711, Roger George of rogergeorgeguideservice.com 905-2954

High Sierra

Access to the Sierra National Forest was restricted per a temporary closure effective through at least Nov. 24. Updated information is available at fs.usda.gov/sierra.

Bass Lake

Bass 2 Trout 2 Kokanee 1

Figgs said, “The lake is sporting the only reaction bite in the region with ripbaits such as Megabass Max Shad Plus One along with plastics on a Neko-rig as anglers are reporting up to 30 bass per outing.” The private areas of the lake are open, but the Sierra National Forest-controlled areas remained closed until at least Nov. 24. The Sheriff’s boat is still operational, and boaters must possess the motor permit. Trout trolling is fair with Wedding Rings tipped with a nightcrawler behind a dodger or blade/’crawler combinations. The lake dropped to 64%.

Edison/Florence/Mammoth Pool

Edison was at 24%, Florence 15% and Mammoth Pool 24%.

Call: Vermilion Valley Resort at Edison Lake 259-4000

Shaver Lake/Huntington Lake

Kokanee 2 Trout 2

All access to Shaver Lake remains restricted per order of Southern California Edison. Road access to Huntington Lake and Camp Sierra is available for residents only during specific times with a permit. Shaver was at 73% with Huntington at 70%.

Call: Dick Nichols – Dick’s Fishing Charters at Shaver Lake Sports 841-2740; Todd Wittwer – Kokanee.net Guide Service 288-8100; Dinkey Creek Inn 841-3435

Wishon/Courtright

Trout 2

Road access on the McKinley Grove Road to Wishon and Courtright is available for residents only during specific times with a permit.

Call: Wishon RV Park 865-5361

Ocean

Half Moon Bay

Rockfish 3 Striper 2 Crab 3 Sand dabs 2 Surf perch 3

Crab limits remain the rule for the party boats willing to move their gear into deeper water while those will shallow strings have been struggling. The weather has been rough along the coast, and it is expected to be particularly rough on Wednesday before coming down starting on Thanksgiving Day. Captain Dennis Baxter of the New Captain Pete moved his crab pots to deeper water, and he said, “We are back in the crab with pots ranging from 25 to 30 crab. We had 17 limits of both crab and rockfish on Thursday, but the bottom-grabbing rockfish have been scarcer. We have a light load on Friday, but we are full over the weekend. We also have a morning trip on Thanksgiving Day.”

Second Captain Michael Cabanas of the Huli Cat went to the Deep Reef on for 18 limits of crab and rockfish with pots up to 31 crab, but the rockfish counts dropped on Sunday with ½ limits of rockfish to go with 19 limits of crab. Baxter had a similar score with 12 limits of crab and ½ limits of rockfish.

Call: Captain Dennis Baxter – New Captain Pete (650) 576-3844; Captain Tom Mattusch – Huli Cat (650) 619-0459

Monterey/Santa Cruz

Rockfish 3 Striper 2 White sea bass 1 Crab 3 Sand dabs 2 Surf perch 2

Chris Arcoleo of Chris’s Fishing in Monterey said, “We had 20 limits of rockfish and 2 lings on our rockfish-only boat, the Star of Monterey, on Sunday while the Check Mate returned with 18 limits of rockfish and nearly four crab per angler. We also picked up a random bonito here and there this week. There is some room on the weekends toward the end of the month of November, but the weekdays still have limited room.”

Allen Bushnell of the Santa Cruz Kayak Fishing and Surfcasting Guide Service said, “As hoped for, the small tuna-like bonito have made their way into Monterey Bay, according to Todd Fraser at Bayside Marine. He reported, “Fishing was good for bonito today near the east edge of the Soquel Hole down to Pajaro. The bonito are biting on Rapalas and feathers on the troll and MegaBaits for the anglers casting at boils.” Fraser added, “The fishing was good for lingcod and rockfish near Four-Mile. Crab fishing has been best up the coast near Davenport in 190-240 feet of water. There have been a few halibut caught near Capitola and Five-Mile beach.” Rodney Armstrong on the six-pack charter boat Salmon Streaker from Santa Cruz is finding success on his crab combo trips. Armstrong said, “This weekend was good for crab. We pulled 41 Yesterday and 60 today. Fishing was a little slow this weekend. Hopefully when the king tides go away it will get better!” Aboard the lovely Miss Beth, Captain JT Thomas reported, “We did a tag team trip shared with The Raybert. Five clients on each boat. There was BIG competition between the two boats. Who got the most, who got the largest. Go Fish Santa Cruz Charters had early limits of rock fish including nice coppers and browns. They were done early and opted to pull crab pots. Two pots yielded fifty crab.”

Call: Chris’ Landing (831) 375-5951; Allen Bushnell – Santa Cruz Kayak and Surf Casting (831) 251-9732

San Francisco Bay

Halibut 3 Striper 3 Rockfish 2 White sea bass 3 Leopard shark 2 Sturgeon 2 Crab 3

The weather outside of the Golden Gate was rough on Monday, and the boats that have normally been scoring consistent rockfish limits at the Farallons were limited to the coast where the action has been slower all season. Captain Jerad Davis of the Salty Lady out of Emeryville went up to the Towers near Duxbury for 3/4 limits of rockfish, and he said, “I was going to see if the fish were going to bite, and if they didn’t, we were going to make this a crab-only, but we found good action on the first drift with some doubles. We picked away at them for some excellent quality vermilions, black rockfish, blues, and gophers along with 4 ling cod to 15 pounds. The crab action remains great, and it was easily limits. It looks like we can make it to the Farallons on Tuesday, but Wednesday looks like a crab-only day. Starting Thanksgiving Day, the weather is coming back down, and we have plenty of room on Saturday as we have completed our last whale watch of the season.

The Happy Hooker out of Berkeley was also out on Monday, and they put in 23 limits of rockfish and crab along with 1 ling cod to 9 pounds while the two boats out of California Dawn Sport Fishing combined 38 limits of rockfish and crab along with 38 ling cod on Sunday. The commercial season has been delayed from the scheduled Nov. 15 opener until at least Dec. 1 due to the presence of humpback whales off of the California coast as the commercial fishery has been responsible for the vast majority of whale entanglements. An announcement regarding the opening of the commercial season is expected this week.

Captain Trent Slate of Bite Me Charters out of Loch Lomond Marina in San Rafael has been taking crab/striped bass combination trips, and after pulling his deep string, he has been returning to find ‘lights out’ striped bass action in San Pablo Bay near the various islands.

Inside the bay, the “ghosts” are back in the bay as several party boats zeroed in on the white sea bass at the end of the week.

Ed Liu of Bay Tackle in El Cerrito said, “The sea bass were at Red Rock, Angel Island, and the Bay Bridge, and the Barbarian had limits of sea bass by 10 a.m. after pulling crab pots. Flash Fishing was also out there, and he had 1/2-limits and two other party boats had between 1/2- and 3/4-limits.” This latest round of sea bass will set off another flurry as six-packs and private boats will be on them.

For striped bass, Liu said, “We are knocking out up to 100 stripers in the mornings before working on the East Bay shorelines with either the Z-Man or KVD swimbaits in white, chartreuse, or green/gold. On a bad day, we are only picking up from a dozen to 20 stripers ranging from 18 to 30 inches, and the stripers have the fluorescent blue hue of just coming out of the ocean. Normally at this time, the stripers would be dark green or brown, but this has been an unusual year at best. The stripers have been anywhere from the Bay Bridge to Crockett on the east side. The Marin side is starting to pick up, but the stripers have been on the small side.”

Keith Fraser of Loch Lomond Bait and Tackle in San Rafael reported halibut have been coming out of the Paradise Cove on live smelt, and one pair of anglers returned with three halibut to 20 pounds. 15-year old Zack Pollack scored an amazing 30-pound halibut at Angel Island. Fraser said, “This is unheard of, halibut at the end of November. We have also had numbers of legal striped bass in our harbor as one of the boats across from the bait shop landed 5 legal stripers within a short period of time from the back of his vessel.”

Call: Captain Trent Slate Bite Me Charters (415) 307-8582; Captain Jerad Davis, Salty Lady (415) 760-9362; Captain Steve Mitchell of Hook’d Up Sport Fishing (707) 655-6736; Happy Hooker (510) 223-5388

San Luis Obispo

Rockfish 3 Surf perch 3

Near-limits of rockfish with some improvement on the ling cod counts was the story over the weekend as the Endeavor, Avenger, and Starfire out of Morro Bay Landing took out 64 fishermen on Sunday for 233 vermilion, 118 copper, 242 assorted rockfish, 4 ocean whitefish, and 22 ling cod to 16 pounds with 16 of the lings taken on the 12-hour trip on the Endeavor. Out of Virg’s Landing in Morro Bay, the Fiesta was out on Monday with 19 anglers for 20 vermilion rockfish to 4.5 pounds, 113 assorted rockfish, and one 4-pound ling cod. Out of Port San Luis and Patriot Sport Fishing, the Flying Fish and Patriot were out on Sunday with 41 passengers for near-limits of rockfish consisting of 25 vermilion, 11 copper rockfish, 294 assorted rockfish, 1 cabezon, 7 treefish, 7 ocean whitefish, and 4 ling cod to 7 pounds. Both ports are running a variety of trips from ½- day to long range ventures far from the harbor. Rockfish season ends Dec. 31.

Call: Virg’s Landing (800) 762-5263; Patriot Sport Fishing (805) 595-4100; Morro Bay Landing

Others

Delta/Stockton

Bass 3 Striper 3 Sturgeon 3 Catfish 2 Bluegill 2 Salmon 2

A little rain made it into the Sacramento-Delta early in the week, but the majority of precipitation soaked into the dry landscape with a minimum of fresh water making its way into the river. However, the effect of colder temperatures along with high winds enticed a few salmon to keep migrating through the Delta. Striped bass are moving in response to the colder conditions, and there has been some great action in the north Delta for those willing to brave the winds.

The effect of saltwater intrusion further east into the Delta due to the lack of fresh water was emphasized by the catch of a 32-inch halibut in lower Suisun Bay by legendary retired Captain Jim Smith of Mr. Bass and Happy Hooker fame. Smith was soaking live mudsuckers in lower Suisun on his private boat out of Martinez, and within a couple of days, he landed an 18-pound striped bass along with the large halibut.

Sturgeon action has centered around the Pittsburg area and in the Big Cut, but it is clear that the sturgeon are starting to transition further upriver. Kyle Wise of Head Hunter Guide Service said, “There was a good bite on the first of the incoming bite above Pittsburg near Buoy 33, but I turned left when I should have turned right, and we ended up with two shakers and a monster oversized sturgeon further downriver on salmon roe.”

After a slower day on Saturday, Captain Steve Mitchell of Hook’d Up Sport Fishing predicted that the sturgeon would bite on Sunday, and he was correct with a two-day charter scoring slot-limit sturgeon at 59.75, 59.75, 59, 55, and 48 inches along with releasing a 62-inch oversized and a number of undersized sturgeon. He said, “The best tide has been at night, and we moved from the Big Cut towards Chain Island to follow the fish, making a stop in the shallow water in between. The sturgeon bit on either roe or eel. There are so many fish in the Pittsburg area, and when you look at the meter, you are ready to jump up and down because you think that you will get them. There are sturgeon stacked from Garnet Point to above Chain Island.”

It certainly seems that more and more striped bass are moving into both the Sacramento and San Joaquin Delta, and they are spread out from Suisun Bay into Liberty Island on the Sacramento and on the San Joaquin from the Antioch Bridge towards the Stockton Turning Basin.

Dave Houston of Livermore was out in the Big Cut targeting sturgeon on Thursday morning, and he said, “I spent the morning sturgeon fishing in Big Cut for nothing. Luckily, I also brought my striper gear. Trolling hasn’t been very good, but I know it’s only a matter of time before we can start getting them again. The water clarity was excellent, and there wasn’t much grass with a surface temperature just over 58 degrees. We started searching from Collinsville all the way up to Frank’s Tract, and there are schools of fish. When they’re stacked like this, trolling is difficult because once you hook one, you just drag and scatter the school. We still got double limits in a few hours, and white colored lures work best today as we released all of the fish.”

Vince Borges of Vince Borges Outdoors has been finding both striped and largemouth bass in the north Delta. He said, “The wind has been blowing making it difficult to work the topwater lures, and we are seeing stripers swirling and boiling 2 or 3 feet behind the lures as the wind creates enough chop to keep them from finding the lure. I was out with Kyle Goldberg of Donkey Sticks this week, and he landed a 17-pound striper that was released at the side of the boat via his Boga Grip before a picture was taken. We are getting some opportunities for bigger fish, particularly in the mornings when the conditions are calmer. The glide bait bite hasn’t been as productive for me, but we are picking up several stripers per day on either the 6-inch Donkey Sticks, the Reaction Innovation’s Vixens, or 5-inch Delta Wood Bombers. The largemouth bass bite has been phenomenal with between 50 and 75 bass with easily a pair of limits in the 17- to 20-pound range. The swim jigs are still working for both striped and largemouth bass along with the Optimum’s AA Bad Bubba Shad.”

Alan Fong, manager of the Fishermen’s Warehouse in Sacramento, was in the north Delta near Liberty Island earlier in the week for tough fishing for both largemouth and striped bass after the rainstorm, but he said, “They are slaughtering the stripers on Saturday morning in Liberty as the weeds have moved out. The weeds and grass have been terrible up there for weeks, but the cold weather has caused the weeds to die and sink. Our assistant manager, Michael Kidwell, was out there on Saturday morning, and he was doing well with swimjigs as the topwater bite wasn’t happening. There are also crappie in the northern sloughs, and they are getting larger and larger.”

Tony Lopez of Benicia Bay reported very few salmon have been landed off of the Benicia shorelines this week, and one of the salmon was ‘nearly dead’ at an advanced stage of spawning. He said, “Sturgeon fishing has been pretty good as Ron Reisinger of Chico released two slot-limit diamondbacks at 55 and 50 inches this week on lamprey eel strips in the shallows. There have been a number of striped bass, but many of the linesides are undersized. Tom Sanders was out bait fishing on Saturday morning, and they had a pair of limits to 7 pounds. Blood worms have been flying out of the shop as interest in fishing remains very high, particularly on the weekends.”

Dave Sharp of Marina Bait and Tackle in Suisun City confirmed the tremendous interest in fishing on the weekends, saying, “Bait has been hard to get as we had people lined up early in the morning before the shop opened. We went through 4 buckets of ghost shrimp in 1.5 hours, and ghost shrimp has been hard to obtain with 8 inches of rain along the Oregon coast. We got another bucket in, and it was gone in 20 minutes. Striped bass action has really picked up, and the stripers are hungry. One angler landed a limit at 26 and 28 inches on nightcrawlers while trying for splittail. He was trying to catch splittail to catch stripers, and he ended up catching stripers on the nightcrawlers. Most of the action has been in the sloughs this week along with Chain Island, and there were forty boats anchored around Chain on a weekday. The good tides have been bringing out the striped bass as this is ‘the time’ for bait fishing for stripers in the Delta.”

Jesus Reyes Silva of Hollister was out with Ivan Ramos of Fresno and Perry DiBenedetto from Santa Cruz for three days of striper action on the Sacramento-Delta, and they found what they were looking for on Reyes Silva’s custom JKings reaction baits. Silva said, “The incoming cold weather with the afternoon high tides were the perfect scenario to trigger the striped bass to actively fee. The pre-dawn and night fishing on specific tides created aggressive conditions for the stripers, and they were smashing the JKingslure Glide baits in various color patterns. At times, the stripers became suspended, and they wouldn’t bite, and this was probably due to heavy boat pressure and the fast-moving current.”

The San Joaquin Delta is always the stepsister of the larger Sacramento side, but quite often when the conditions are rough on the Sacramento side, the waters of the San Joaquin are both calmer and clearer. With the excellent striped bass action in the northern portion of the Sacramento-Delta and in Suisun Bay, most of the activity has been on the senior side of the Delta. However, don’t sleep on the San Joaquin as the best striped bass action of the year occurs during the end of November into December until the water temperatures fall below 50 degrees.

Johnny Wang, manager of Turner’s Outdoors in Stockton, said, “As long as the temperature stays above 50 degrees, striped bass action on the San Joaquin will hold up. Right now, there are stripers around Empire Cut, Connection Slough, Potato Slough, and in False River. Drifting live minnows or sitting on anchor with frozen shad is the way to go, and Ron Halverson, former owner of Thornton Road Bait in Stockton, put together a couple of limits on Saturday morning on the San Joaquin. There are bass and crappie holding around the Stockton Marina near the docks, and my nephew released a dozen crappie on jigs on Saturday morning.”

Dan Mathisen of Dan Mathisen Outdoors was out for a few hours in this week throwing Optimum’s Bad Bubba Shad swimbait during one tide, and he and his partner put in limits to 26 inches working the main channel of the San Joaquin from the mouth of the Mokelumne towards Prisoner’s Point along the tules.

In the Mokelumne River, pulse flows from Lodi Lake with water from the upstream lakes of Camanche and Pardee continue to draw salmon into the river. Most anglers are focusing above Wimpy’s Marina towards the Interstate 5 Bridge.

In the south Delta, Whiskey Slough, Eight Mile Road, and Bacon Island Road remain the top bank locations with frozen shad for striped bass along with red worms, meal worms, or minicrawlers for bluegill or red ear perch. Fresh shad remains unavailable, and the cold water may be pushing the shad out of reach of the commercial shadders.

Call: Randy Pringle (209) 543-6260; Captain Steve Mitchell – Hook’d Up Sport Fishing – (707) 655-6736; J.D. Richey – Richey’s Sport Fishing – (916) 952-1554; Vince Borges – Vince Borges Outdoors (209) 918-0828

Lake Nacimiento/San Antonio/Santa Margarita/Lopez

Bass 2 White bass 2 Striper 0 Catfish 2 Crappie 2 Bluegill 2

The reaction bite has slowed considerably in the coastal lakes, and the majority of action for bass is on the bottom. At Nacimiento, there is a bit of a reaction bite when the sun is out and the water warms up a bit, but working plastics on the drop-shot or jigs at 25 feet remains the best bet. There are some bass coming on vertically-jigged spoons over the shad schools, but the majority are small fish. White bass are scarce, and the best option is to troll a small white spoon for the whites. The lake dropped slightly to 24%. A webcam of the lake is available at lakenacimientolive.com.

At Lopez, the largemouth bite remains a grind with the reaction bite clearly off of the mark. Plastics on a drop-shot or Texas-rig along with jigs are producing best. Panfish action is decent with mealworms, red worms, or minicrawlers around structure. A webcam of the lake is available at 805webcams.com/lopez-lake-webcam.

At Santa Margarita, there have been some limits in the 20-pound range, but similar to the other coastal reservoirs, the best action is on the bottom with plastics on the drop-shot or Texas-rig along with larger profile jigs. Catfish are taken on cut baits fished weightless, and there have been some large whiskerfish taken recently. Crappie are found around structure in the shallows with minijigs or small swimbaits.

At San Antonio, the Harris Creek ramp has new launching hours on Fridays from noon to 5 p.m. and from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturdays and Sundays. There have been a few quality catfish to 5 pounds landed on cut bait soaked in garlic, but the bass bite remains slow at best. Bluegill and red ear perch are also on the slow side with red worms, meal worms, or minicrawlers. The lake held at 16%.

Events

The International Sportsmen’s Exposition scheduled for January 2021 at Cal Expo in Sacramento has been canceled due to the global pandemic, but it will return in 2022.

Tournament results

Success – Xtreme (Formerly Porterville) Bass Club–– November 15th: 1st- Chris Hamilton/ D.J. Dicks – 18.82; 2nd – Danny Moreno/Damian Thao– 15.09; 3rd – Gary Wasson/Joe Baeza – 12.17.

McClure – Kerman Bass Club–– November 21st: 1st- Tony and Danny Lopez – 6.92; 2nd – Mitch Melikian/Darren Graef– 6.49; 3rd – Michael Beltran/Alex Carrillo – 6.13. Big Fish – Tony Lopez/Michael Beltran tie at 2.00 pounds.

Pine Flat – Bass 101 Valley Children’s Hospital Fundraiser –– November 21st: 1st- Dusty Mart/Jason Horn – 10.48 (Big Fish – 3.32).

Upcoming tournaments (subject to change)

Dec. 5

New Melones – Sonora Bass Anglers

Don Pedro – American Bass Association

McClure – Angler’s Press/Manteca Bassin’ Buddies

Pine Flat – Kerman Bass Club

Dec. 6

McClure – Fresno Bass Club

Success – Porterville Bass Club

Dec. 8

Pine Flat – Kings VIII Bass Club

Dec. 12

Don Pedro – Santa Clara Bass Busters/Contra Contra Bass Club

Pine Flat – Sierra Bass Club

Dec. 13

Delta/ Russo’s Marina – Hook, Line, and Sinker

McClure – Modesto Ambassadors

Pine Flat – Sierra Bass Club

Nacimiento – Good Ole Boys

Dec. 19

Nacimiento – American Bass Association