Swimbaits and the Delta.
Can You believe it, Black Bass fishing in the Delta now draws the attention of anglers across the country as weights soar here so do the techniques used to catch them. It seems that just a few years a go 5 pound delta bass were big news. Now the Delta this time of year has become like many of the lakes that have made the Western Swimbait fishing so spectacular. Excitement of two major events coming here this month combined with the knowledge of Swimbait fishing could again shatter records that National organizations held tight for years.
Then the Bassmasters Elite Series will return to Stockton March 22-25 for the Dual on the Delta. Local angler Mark Tyler now top Pro said “"It's great to see the Elite Series schedule go out West and become more of a national thing. It's hard to predict what it might take to win on the Delta, but I think it'll be about 100 pounds or so. It's a tremendous fishery and seems to be getting stronger and stronger every year. One thing's for sure, we're hitting it at a prime time, and the sky's the limit. In the pre-spawn, there's a strong jig, spinnerbait and Rat-L-Trap bite on the Delta. I caught the 14-9 on a jig, and you can bet that will be my primary weapon when we go there."
It seems like just yesterday that Byron Velvick and Aaron Martens brought Swimbait fishing to the National Spotlight at Clear Lake. Then over the years more and more lake fisherman had to have that “Swimbait” kicker to get a check in the early spring. Now with more and more anglers relying on the swimbaits to get that big bite on the Delta weights could be huge.
While I am old school and rely on the jig quite often with teachers over the years like Dave Glibe and Dee Thomas I to have had to try the Swimbait thing due to the success of many anglers. While I am still learning there are still some top choices of Delta swim baits I have to share.
The Mission Fish, finally a swim bait that we can fish on the Delta. It’s weedless design has made it a number one pick for anglers fishing weed lines in the Popular areas of Big Break, Franks Tract and Mildred Island. The Mission Fish is the bait that started it all. The first truly weedless swimbait, it was released in 2000 after 2 years of research and development. The Mission Fish was designed to allow anglers to put big baits in places where big baits had never gone before. With it's weedless design, you can fire the Mission Fish back in the tullies, work it over and through tree branches, or shake the bait through heavy grass beds. The three factors of; big bait, slow presentation, and heavy cover make the Mission Fish a big bass catching machine. Notice when fishing mission Fish I kick the hook barb to the side with pliers for More Consistant hook ups.
- Weighted swim baits as simple as fish traps, storm wildeyes and Reaction strike . There open hook weighted design are favorites of striper anglers but now Black Bass anglers are finding the effectiveness of these baits superb when wanting to stay in contact with structure like rock piles and deep wood.
- Wake baits, Reaction Strike California series in Baby Bass and Black Bass are gaining recognition. One of the Local favorites designed by Black Dog Bait company “the Shell Cracker” Is getting tons of praise by anglers here. Explosive strikes and heart stopping monsters love this bait.
These are just a few of the baits that will play into this months exciting return of these huge events that promise to bring the Delta more recognition as the top bass fishery in the country. Enjoy!
Dan
Mathisen
FishDelta.com
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