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FISHING: Traffic on launching sites resembling lines at grocery stores
Fishing Report
Manteca resident Dudley Kinlaw with a 45-pound striped bass caught with live bait this week on the Delta. - photo by Contributed

I’ve been good about staying home for the past 30 days.
This week I attempted to go out and visit a store. I was warned ahead of time that the store would only allow 40 shoppers at a time. Not thinking too much about it when I arrived at the store, there was a line of people wrapped around the building. There was no way that I was going to stand in a line that long, so I kept on driving.
Since I was close to one of my regular launching sites, I decided to see if it was still open. Not only was it open, but I counted 60 trucks with boat trailers in the parking lot and a line of trucks waiting to launch.
I don’t think I’ve ever seen so many people launching at this site. The most I had previously seen was about 40 boats during a holiday weekend.
While looking out on the water, I saw a lot of boats with only one person on them. If you’ve ever launched a boat before, it takes a little longer when launching by yourself. I’d sure hate to have to wait in a long line after a day of fishing, just to get my boat off the water.
Like the store I visited earlier in the day, everyone is being funneled to those few open locations. As much as I want to side with the anglers who are fighting against closing the lakes, after what I witnessed there needs to be an all-or-nothing decision made soon.     

Delta Report 
Bass fishing is really good on the Delta. With the winds finally starting to die down and the temperatures increasing, there should be a lot of fish up shallow.
In the morning I’d go with a top-water lure like a popper or snag proof frog. Once the sun gets up it’s hard beating a Senko pitched into visible clear spots along weed flats. Pretty much anything should catch them but for the big ones finding those spawning flats is the key.
Striped bass fishing is on fire out of Rio Vista. Anglers trolling Rebels, Yo Zuri’s and Umbrella Rigs are catching limits while trolling the west bank.    
Open launch sites on the Delta: Whiskey Slough, Paradise Point, B&W, Tracy Oasis and Orwood Marina.
 
Lake Amador
Trout fishing is steady on the lake, as weekly trout plants have continued. On Tuesday, another 1,000 pounds of trout were released into the lake.
Typically, once the weather warms, the trout seek deeper waters making this month a good month to get out fishing before it becomes too hot. Anglers catching trout are trolling their favorite trout lures or fishing off the bank with Power Bait.
Lake Amador is being pressured hard by the numbers of anglers looking to go fishing.
Bass fishermen are finding a lot of fish up shallow defending their spawning grounds. The lake is still up pretty high, and the water is clear for this time of year. 

To contact Jarod Ballardo email jgbbass@yahoo.com.