• VALLEY
• DELTA/STOCKTON — C. King of Modesto scored a limit at 4 and 9.9-pounds while trolling P-Line Predators on the San Joaquin River just below the Antioch Bridge. For largemouth bass, Randy Pringle, the Fishing Instructor, said, "The big ones are playing hide and seek, but we are catching and releasing 50 to 60 fish in the 1.5- to 2-pound range on a variety of lures … It is junk fishing at its finest." Pringle has been using the ima Flit ripbait in bluegill pattern using a stop-and-go retrieve, and the ima Squarebill crankbait in bluegill is also effective. With the cooling air temperatures, the best action has been in the afternoons, and Pringle touted the Persuader Double Buzzbait in the afternoons. In the Freeport area, Captain Mike Gravert of Intimidator Sport Fishing said: "There were seven salmon at a striper jigged up at the Minnow Hole by 7:30 on Saturday morning. … This has been the best fishing we have seen to this point, and it is full speed ahead in the coming weeks." Call: Randy Pringle (209) 543-6260; Stan Koenigsberger/Quetzal Adventures (925) 570-5303; Mark Wilson Sport Fishing (916) 682-1630; Intimidator Sport Fishing (916) 806-3030; Jolly Jay's Guide Service (209) 478-6645; Mark Delnero (Fin Addict Sport Fishing) (209) 367-4665.
• DELTA MENDOTA CANAL — The local water conveyance systems are on the upswing, and Merritt Gilbert of Valley Rod and Gun in Clovis said sales of Lucky Craft 110s or 115s in American shad or Ghost Minnow have increased with the striper action improving in the California Aqueduct near Firebaugh. Sardines, mackerel, or anchovies are also effective baits for stripers ranging to sublegal at 15 inches to legal fish at 21 inches.
• LAKE DON PEDRO — Manny Basi of the Bait Barn in Waterford reported two particular patterns of plastics worming on the drop shot – Reaction Innovations Flirt in Bad Shad Green or Pro Worms Purple Shad pattern 124 – as working at depths to 30 feet. The top water bite remains good in the early mornings or evenings with Heddon's Super Spooks in 'Okie Shad' and also with white frogs. Twin-tailed Hula Grubs on a ½–ounce jig head in patterns 208 and 221 are also effective on the bottom. For trout, Monte Smith of Gold County Sport Fishing noticed the shad were starting to school up on his last trip to the lake. Rainbow trout and king salmon will be hanging close to the shad school. Call: Monte Smith (209) 581-4734; Danny Layne (Fishn' Dan) (209) 586-2383; Gary Vella (209) 652-7550; The Bait Barn (209) 874-3011.
• McCLURE RESERVOIR — Similar to nearby Don Pedro, there is a top water bite for bass with Heddon's Super Spooks in 'Okie Shad' or the PayCheck Repo Man 'Winning' in the early morning hours or late afternoons into evening. Once the sun rises, the fish drop to the bottom at depths to 30 feet, and the Reaction Innovations Flirt in Bad Shad Green or Pro Worms Purple Shad pattern 124 are the top plastics. Manny Basi of the Bait Barn added twin-tailed Hula Grubs on a ½-ounce jig head in patterns 301 and 330 to the arsenal this week. Catfishing remains outstanding at depths from 15 to 25 feet along muddy, sloping banks with anchovies, chicken livers, or live crawdads. Although the kokanee action usually heats up at this time of the season at McClure, there have been few reports in the past weeks. Trout and the occasional kokanee are taken in the deepest portions of the lake near the Dam with spinners tipped with a piece of night crawler behind a dodger. King salmon action is also slow. The lake dropped 5 feet to 774.86 feet in elevation and 50 percent of capacity. Call: A-1 Bait (209) 563-6505; Bub Tosh (209) 404-0053.
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