Well, we may have just turned the corner on the Delta LmBass bite. Over the past couple of weeks we've seen obvious signs that many of the fish were on the spawn. Shredded fins and an overall look like they've been doing their "thing". It was clear that the fish were not eating too well. Other things on their mind?...most likely.
Clients, Martin and Larry showed up to the dock with no experience fishing for LmBass with a flyrod. Larry had an arsenal of spin casting rods that he was going to use. Martin had plenty of flyfishing experience but not for LmBass. Larry spent most of the day throwing rubber worms on his spinning gear while Martin worked topwater with the flyrod. As it turned out, Martin won out in the numbers category with the flyrod. Martin in addition to catching his first LmBass on fly, caught another personal first, a small striper on top while banging the banks for LmBass.
By the end of the day Larry had seen enough and wanted to try the flyrod. I spent about 20 minutes with him working on casting technique and shortly thereafter he was getting a few decent casts into the zone. One of those casts proved to be on target. As his popper came up to a weed edge it was immediately engulfed in an explosive flush. Now, Larry who had never caught a fish on a flyrod before was connected to a nice Largemouth Bass! This wasn't the typical 8-10in. trout most flyfishers claim as their "first". This fish was pulling hard with the flyrod almost bent to the cork. The coaching i had given him prior, and, he must have been listening!, was paying off. He kept pulling on that fish until it finally cleared the weeds and after a short tussle around the boat we had the fish to hand.
Larry had just experienced what topwater Delta LmBass fishing with a flyrod is all about. His first ever flyrod fish weighed in at 4.5lbs!. A nice Largemouth Bass to be proud of. I'm not sure he will look at his spinning gear and rubber worms the same again! Larry's fish looked as though it was ripe and ready to drop her payload. She had obviously been working a bed based on the condition of her fins and she must have decided on one last meal before getting down to business. Larry was there to serve it up and take advantage of that opportunity. That was over a week ago now.
Over the next few days the bite slowed dramatically. Earlier this week, many of the pro FLW tournament anglers pre-fishing for this weeks tournament that i talked to were having a tough go at it. "I can't pattern these fish!" some said. Yep! same thing here, i replied. Their comments were consistent with what i had been experiencing in weeks before. The city of Stockton is host to the FLW tourney this year. It is one of the major national circuit tournaments held on the Delta with full media coverage.
My take on what is happening?..many of the fish were focused on spawning during the past week in much of the central Delta. It seems everything is about a month late. As the current week progressed we saw the bite improve almost daily. Wednesday seemed to be the turning point for me. Despite the never ending wind and cooler temps, we caught better numbers of fish with the smaller males showing up with more regularity. A sure sign they are guarding the nest. Much of the spawning has most likely taken place and it can happen that fast. Some gals may drop eggs more than once and in a different location. Along with that, some of the big girls are getting hungry...we dropped and missed some real monsters this week. One of those fish i would confidently say was in the double digit size class...all on topwater. Postspawn most likely.
The Delta has finally turned the corner.
Game On!.....Now, if the wind would just quit...:-)
