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Blue skies dont always translate into good fishing
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Many anglers are home waiting for the weather to get a little better before venturing out.

I’ve learned through the years that the best fishing will come and go if you wait until it’s comfortable for you. This week I was able to sneak out and was pleasantly surprised at the results.

Not really expecting to catch much, I was immediately struck while using a reaction bait. Continuing down the bank, I decided to go back through the area that I had caught my first fish with a slower-moving bait and was rewarded with three more fish.

I then decided that was going to be the plan for the day — locate them with a reaction bait and then go back through with a drop shot.

I ended up having a pretty good day catching two fish pushing five pounds apiece and several that were at or above three pounds each.

All the fish that I caught with the drop shot seemed to be bunched up, as several were caught with back-to-back casts.

If you’re one of those anglers waiting for the weather to break, you may want to reconsider, as the fishing right now on the Delta is really starting to pick up.

When you do catch one, cover the area thoroughly with at least one other bait, because they seem to be bunched up right now.

Delta Report
The bass fishing is really starting to show signs of picking up.

This week, I was able to catch two fish close to five pounds a piece using a drop-shotted Roboworm.

The outgoing tide was the best time for me. Once the tide bottomed out, the fishing slowed way down and the bigger fish became harder to find.

What I did notice about the bigger fish was that they were nice and fat, signifying a belly full of eggs. In recent tournaments, the overall average has risen, and plenty of fish over five pounds have been brought to the scales.

The water clarity is almost gin clear in a lot of places, temperatures have risen and our next full moon should create an awesome bite.

The striper bite has slowed down for a lot of anglers and no shad was seen working the surface on my last trip.   

New Melones Lake
Fishing continues to be good for planter-sized trout. Anglers are catching them while fishing with power bait off the bank or tossing traditional trout lures.

Kastmasters seems to be the favorite lure right now for anglers trying to catch trout. Bass fishing has started to pick up as anglers are starting to catch large swimbait fish.

Amongst the bass fishing community, there seems to be some really nice swimbait fish being caught on the lake.

Lake Don Pedro
The swimbait bite has started to turn on turned on several trophy-sized fish have been caught this past week while tossing an 8-inch Huddleston Swimbait.

Jigs fished between 10 and 20 feet deep have been the most consistent of baits along with drop shotting and darter heading a small plastic worm.

Trout fishing from the banks has slowed, as the lake hasn’t been planted for a few weeks, but patient anglers can locate limits by either tossing lures or Power Bait from the banks or trolling near the shorelines.

For more information, call: Monte Smith (209) 581-4734, Danny Layne-Fishn’ Dan (209) 586-2383, Bait Barn (209) 874-301.

Lake Pardee
One of my favorite all time lakes recently opened itself up for the year. Typically, it’s a slow time for bass on the lake.

Anglers fishing for bass struggled but it could be any day that a new lake record is caught.

There is and abundance of trout in the lake. Many trout fisherman are staying around the launch area as that is where a large majority of the plants have been taking place. Power Bait has been the bait of choice for anglers targeting trout.

Featured Angler
In this year’s columns, I’d like to feature an angler from time to time.

Featured anglers can be anyone who would like to submit their fishing history, favorite baits, favorite bodies of water, biggest catch, etc.

Along with your information, please submit a picture of yourself to my email at  jgbbass@yahoo.com. If you’re sponsored please include your sponsor’s names.

Fishing Question of the Week:
Along with the featured angler of the week, I’d like to try and answer your weekly fishing questions.

Please keep all questions fishing related and make sure to include your name along with your fishing question to my email at  www.jgbbass@yahoo.com.