It’s that time of year again, duck hunting season is in full swing. It never seems to fail that someone decides that my favorite area makes a good location to construct a duck blind. Over the years I’ve learned to accept the fact that during this time of year the blinds will be up, and certain areas should be avoided. A lot of the flooded islands and lakes are favorite sites for duck hunters. Some are good about setting out all their decoys which helps warn me that there may be hunters in the blind. There’s no sure way to tell if the blind is being occupied. I can guarantee you one thing, if you get too close, someone will tell you! Once I was fishing an area where there was a duck blind set up at least two hundred yards away from where I was. Out of nowhere, a small boat came up with a hunter in it yelling at me that I was too close to his blind. I wasn’t about to argue with someone who had a gun, so I chose to fish another location instead. For fishermen it’s not until the hunting season is over that we truly have the delta to ourselves.
Delta Report:
The bite on the delta continues to be tough for a lot of anglers. A lot of anglers are reporting catching bass while fishing the outside weed edges. Crankbaits and jigs are working well for those fishing the six to eight-foot range. Striper fishing continues to improve, early morning and the evening hours seem to be the most productive times right now. Anglers are doing well while fishing around Big Break, Mildred Island, and Franks Tract with top water lures and large rattle baits. Duck hunting season is open so be on the look out for duck blinds.
New Melones Lake:
Trolling for trout has slowed down for a lot of anglers lately. There are large schools of shad being found throughout the lake making it hard to pick out the trout. Bass anglers are reporting schools of shad filling up the backs of coves. There are currently a lot of spotted bass feeding on those shad but getting them to bite a lure has been difficult. Anglers having the best luck are fishing schools that are being found in deeper water and vertically spooning for them.
Lake Pardee:
Lake Pardee is currently scheduled to close at the end of the month, so if you’re looking to get out one more time on Lake Pardee you have until the end of next week. Recently trout fishing has been slow for anglers trolling. Those that are catching fish are catching them while trolling down to 50 feet in the early morning hours.
Lake Don Pedro:
There’s a good trout bite right now on the lake. Anglers are doing well while trolling between 45 and 85 feet deep. The problem that anglers are having is finding the shad. There are a lot of schools of shad on the lake, but they’ve been harder to pinpoint than normal. Often anglers are having to change their depths throughout the day. Bass fishing is tough right now as many bass are suspended making it tough to locate them. Successful anglers are fishing around main lake points.
Lake Amador:
Anglers are waiting for the lake to be stocked with trout. Typically, lake management starts stocking the lake with trout towards the end of the month. The first scheduled stocking of trout often causes a frenzy amongst anglers who’ve been waiting all summer to catch one. As of right now anglers are having to settle for catfish and bluegill while fishing off the bank. Bass fishing is slow as a lot of the bass have either suspended or moved out off the bank.
Bass Pro Shops Seminar:
Professional Bass Angler Roy Bilby was a guest speaker at Bass Pro Shops in Manteca on Friday, October 25. Roy recently logged his 30,000th catch; he’s been keeping a meticulous log of his bass catches since the 1980’s. One of the subjects he covered at the seminar is how to fish a finesse jig. Over the years Roy has really perfected the finesse jig and has a lot of useful information to share everywhere he goes.
