I’m always surprised at how the seasons change. To someone who spends their days outside, I’m sure they’ve noticed a change in our weather indicating that fall was not too far away. To most of us, we rely on our calendars for this information and think of September as being the beginning of fall. Not me; daylight hours are usually my indicator of seasonal change. The less daylight hours, the cooler the nights become, resulting in cooler water temperatures which alarms the fish to start preparing for the winter months. As far as our local fishing, the water becomes alive with feeding fish. It can be both a fun and frustrating time to fish. It can be a challenge to convince a fish that your bait is just as good as the school of bait that’s swimming by. Stripers for example are very good at avoiding baits that they normally would bite when they’re feeding amongst schools of fish. It takes practice and patience to draw a strike from a school of schooling stripers as your instinct is to make repeated casts through the school of fish while hoping for a bite. The most effective way that I use is to wait for the fish to bring the baitfish to the surface and only when I see them breaking the surface do I toss my lure into the school. Often, I end up hooking up with a fish this way. It’s one of my favorite ways to fish in the fall and what I look forward to every year when the nights start to become longer.
The Delta:
Bass fishing continues to be good right now on the Delta. The early morning top water bait hasn’t been disappointing anglers as they have been having luck while fishing with Whopper Ploppers and Snagproof Frogs. Once the sun is high there are a lot of smaller fish feeding throughout the Delta that are willing to bite on a variety of lures. Catfishing and fishing for bluegills continues to be good just about everywhere on the Delta right now.
New Melones Lake:
Catfishing is great right now. There are a lot of nice catfish being caught by anglers fishing off the bank with traditional catfish baits. Most anglers are opting to fish for catfish during the night but they are also being caught by anglers fishing during the day. Bass fishing remains good for those that are fishing the lake. There are a lot of small fish feeding on shad making them easy targets. The kokanee bite continues to be very slow. Anglers fishing for large trout are having luck while trolling as deep as 70 feet deep near the highway 49 bridge with pink or purple Hootchies behind a dodger.
Lake Don Pedro:
The kokanee bite has all but shut down as anglers are choosing to target trout and king salmon lately on the lake. Both fish can be found right now while trolling Sockeye Slammers and Needlefish between 30 and 60 feet deep. Bass fishing is fair for anglers looking to catch a lot of small fish while the bigger fish have been harder to find. Anglers fishing for bass are concentrating on fishing the main lake points with small worms or jigs.
Lake Amador:
The night bite continues to be good for anglers that are willing to fish through the night. Anglers fishing for bass are having luck while fishing top water baits until the sun goes completely down and then changing to large plastic worms for the rest of the night. There is also a good catfish bite right now at night for anglers fishing around the dam and launch ramp area with cut bait.
Lake Pardee:
The lake is currently full. Fishing is good to great for a variety of species right now. For kokanee anglers are trolling as deep as 90 feet during the day. For catfish, anglers are fishing the coves with chicken livers or night crawlers. For bass, anglers are fishing with jigs down to 30 feet deep during the day while using top water lures during the morning and evening hours.
Product Review:
This summer I purchased several Yeti cups and one 64 oz. jug. I can’t say enough about how great they have worked keeping my drinks cool. On several occasions, I left my 64-oz. jug in my truck overnight and there was ice still in it 24 hours later. The cost of the cups is somewhat high but it’s been money well spent, if you were to ask me. I use the cups and 64-oz jug daily and would buy another one in a heartbeat, if it was ever to come up missing.
