Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3911 May 2020 | Page 14

14
May 2020
VOL.39 • ISS. 11
Gone Fishing
n terms of Delta striper fishing, there is
a long-standing debate whether trolling,
casting or soaking bait produces more
stripers over the course of the year. In
terms of total numbers, I believe that bait
fishing has the edge, but when the water
is clear and the temperature is in the 60’s
it is tough for bait anglers to keep up with
trollers and pluggers.
With the spring running hitting its stride
right now, this is a great time to learn or
at least review the basics of trolling and
plugging for delta linesides. Now if I had
to choose between trolling and plugging
and excitement was the criteria, I’d
choose plugging every time, yet if overall
productivity and consistency was the
measure trolling would get the nod. This
being the case let’s get started by consid-
ering trolling.
In days gone by, the typical delta troller
used a short stiff “meat stick” rod teamed
with heavy 25 to 30-pound monofilament.
continued from page 1
This rig was tipped with a
spreader rig. A large minnow
plug was rigged on the top of
the spreader and a leadhead jig
worked off the bottom of the
spreader.
Now while this tackle
arrangement was certainly
effective, it greatly muffled
the fight of all but the largest
bass. Today light rods, braided
lines and single lures are in
vogue. Not only are these rigs
effective, but they make the
fishing fun even if the bass are
not huge.
Stripers might hit a variety of
different trolled lures, yet you Firm white striped bass fillets are a Norcal staple during the spring months. Here we see an array of
can limit your lure selection to delicious fish tacos in their natural habitat!
two different models without
Photo courtesy of DELTA PRO FISHING, Elk Grove.
hurting your success rate. For
shallow work in water that is
6 to 9 feet deep, Bomber Long A’s are the
of color you’ll want plugs in red head/
actively patrol shoreline structure in
way to go. At times
white body, rainbow trout and chartreuse
search of prey. When you begin a day
when it is necessary
initially. You can add more colors as you
of trolling you want to start out working
to work deeper
gain more experience, but in reality, these
shallow water tight to weed beds, tules,
water, say from 12
tried and true colors will catch fish 90% of rip rap, snags and irrigations pipes. Ideally
to 16 feet deep a
the time.
you want to seek out water that is about 8
deep diving Yo-Zuri
*Trolling
A unique aspect of delta trolling is the
feet deep.
Crystal minnow is
Motors
addition of a 6-inch plastic worm to the
For this shallow water work your
the choice of most
*Fishfinders
back of your minnow plugs. The worm
trolling speed and the distance you put
anglers. Deep diving
*GPS
most often used is a white Trick Worm,
the plug behind the boat is critical. You
Rebels will also
*VHF
but other brands and colors of worms will
want to be moving between 3.5 and 5
work, but the knock
work. The worm adds vibration, action
Radios
miles per hour and you want the lure 140
on Rebels is that
and size to your plug.
feet behind the boat. This combination of
*Radar
they often don’t run
So how do you use these lures and
speed and backdrop will put a Bomber
*Batteries
true out of the box
tackle to troll up a mess of stripers? Well
Long A just above the bottom in 8 feet of
and
and it is up to you
let’s begin by looking at a couple common water.
Chargers
to upgrade the poor
mistakes anglers make. First of all, most
If you fail to hook up in shallow water
quality hooks.
anglers that are new to trolling delta
or are marking fish in deeper water, it
Yo-Zuris run true
Largest Service
waters tend to work water that is too deep
is time to switch over to a deep running
and come with
Center
and
they
usually
troll
too
slowly.
Yo-Zuri. For this work you’ll want to
in the West!
strong high quality
Stripers are aggressive hunters that
shorten your line to about 100 feet and
hooks. In terms
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