Earlier you said, that none of your double digit Delta bass have come out of the Tract this year like they use to. Do you attribute that to spraying or just fishing pressure?
Well, weeds are important. They are the most important element. if you’ve got structure, got rocks, if you’ve got wood and you’ve got weeds that are green and healthy, bass will migrate to weeds every time over the other structure with the exception of the early, early spring, when they go to the wood and the rocks for the warmth.
Before they started to spray, you never had to leave Frank’s tract to catch 25-lbs. i used to win tournaments never leaving the tract ;not just me. The names are endless that used to win tournaments out of the tract, not now . Now, there is hardly a boat in there and if they are in there, they’re not winning with the fish they get in there.
i told you how as recent as five years ago our delta was rated in the top five in the U.S., not just the West but in the whole United States. That is
how good the population of
fish
were and an uncountable amount of 10-lb’rs were caught out here. it is just not that way, anymore.
It is the Delta though and we all love to fish it; so if there was a place you would
recommend that you could still catch some good fish, where would it be? A general location of course, not any your secret spots.
if you really want to try to catch fish, i would say concentrate on the north side of the San Joaquin river and only fish on the west side in springtime conditions. That is when you have got fish coming from a ways away that migrate up there to spawn.
The West delta did have a pretty good concentration of fish; but it has gotten beat up pretty good the last few seasons. Guys have the tendency to go where they” hear” fish are being caught at. a couple of months ago a tournament that went out of russo’s had 50-60 boats and i went out that day too. There wasn’t one boat in the tract, and this is the spring…that ought to tell you somethin’ about where not to fish.
Let’s talk goin’ pro. How would someone know it is time to go pro?
i know a lot of good fishermen and they go out and catch 25-lbs on their favorite lake, at their favorite spot, on a day that they picked and they
think they’re ready. Well, that ain’t
being ready.
There are 100 guys that have
won their pre-fish. You can go
over to the tackle shop right now
and find even more guys that are
on ‘em; but on tournament day,
where are they?
Issue 5 December 2011
11