Cranking California Delta Stripers – Part I
By Chuck Bailey
An increasingly popular question at bass clubs is “Have you ever fished the California Delta”? After some amazing professional bass tournament results were televised in recent years – anglers began drooling over the idea of hooking into some of those monster largemouths they saw at the weigh-ins.
But only a few bass fishermen have connected the Delta to some top-notch striper fishing. Which is unfortunate, because according to pro-fisherman and expert guide Bobby Barrack, the jump from largemouth to striper fishing is a relatively easy transition to make for bass anglers.
“The beautiful thing about stripers is that it is such an easy transition for bass anglers,” says Bobby, who ought to know. This Oakley, CA touring pro has won two FLW events and finished in the top-ten 16 times.
“A lot of our bass fisherman in California are finally waking up to the fact that stripers are a good time; they’re an amazing gamefish. And the great thing is that largemouth anglers don’t have to go broke buying a lot of new tackle to chase stripers.”
It is highly probable that the average bass fisherman already has the rods, reels, and crankbaits necessary to experience some tremendously exciting striper fishing. What they may not have is the basic information concerning striper behavior, seasonal locations, and the insights concerning the most productive techniques to catch them.
Striper Behavior: The Missing Ingredient
As a professional guide, Bobby Barrack makes his living trying to educate his clients about the hard-fighting, crankbait-clobbering characteristics of the Delta’s greatest secret: stripers.
“What makes stripers so unique is that they are a migratory fish,” explains Bobby. “Like steelhead, stripers are ‘anadromous’; they go from salt water to fresh water, returning to their original hatching ground to spawn. So usually during the summer months they will roam the beaches, and chase anchovies and sardines around.”
“And then as the water starts cooling off in the fall they start to make their trek inland to spend their winter months in the delta region. They will spend the winter there right through the spawn. And as soon as they are done spawning, 60-70 percent of them head back out to the ocean. So we have a resident population (roughly 30 percent) that never leaves.”
Nomads
“The stripers have a thousand miles of water to roam around in. I think the thing that makes stripers so intriguing to most anglers is that the fish is a nomad – I mean they roam, roam, roam, and roam.”
“I don’t know if you have much experience with spotted bass," asks Bobby, "but stripers are extremely similar in that you’ll kill them in one spot today, and then you will not get another bite in that same location for three more months.”
“So striper fishing is pretty intriguing and extremely challenging. When they bite they are relatively easy to catch, but enjoy that fifteen or thirty minutes. Because as soon as they are done eating, a lot of them drop back into the deeper water, and they either suspend, or they are on the move. And usually when they are on the move in those deeper water channels, they are not feeding.”
Shallow Is Where the Action Is
Bass anglers who attempt to use their electronics to find and catch stripers suspended in deep water will quickly become frustrated. “It took me a long time to figure that out,” admits Bobby. “I’d chase them around on my depth finders, pull up to likely points or main river bends, channels, and swings and I could see a hundred of them down there but I couldn’t get one to bite.”
Eventually, our determined bass fisherman managed to make a few of them bite. “As the water began to cool off you could tempt a lot of those deeper fish into biting with a spoon or something like a Little George dropped vertical over their heads. But even then, I discovered those were usually the smaller 12-24 inch fish; schooling fish.”
“The larger fish, (and I’ve got thousands of days to confirm this), prefer to feed shallow. Those fish that are up in the shallows are there to eat. A lot of their primary forage is squaw fish (pike-minnow), split-tails, golden shiners, panfish (especially bluegill), largemouth bass, small strippers, and the one forage that most people overlook are crawfish. They have a real appetite for crawfish.”
As an angler listens to our Delta guide teach, it don’t take long to realize that the real key to catching stripers centers on location; that is, a fisherman must routinely re-locate these striper nomads – meaning “Everyday is a new day.”
Feeding Stations and Tidal Timelines
Where does Bobby begin? “I refer to possible locations as ‘feeding stations’. So as a guide, it’s important to figure out as many feeding stations as I can. Shallow water next to deep water is always a good place to start.”
“And because we are on a tidal system, I then have to figure out when in the tide flow the stripers prefer to do their feeding. In the fall they prefer an outgoing tide, whereas in the springtime they will prefer an incoming tide. Now that is just a general rule; and there are exceptions and variations on every rule. Overall, however, that tidal feeding timetable works day in and day out.”
Free Floating Spawn
One of the major differences between largemouths and stripers is that stripers don’t build a nest to spawn. “Stripers spawn in March, April, and May and do so in pretty hard moving water. Their roe just free floats.”
Unfortunately, the demand for water by the Central Valley farmers is extremely high at that time of year, and some of the roe, fry, and juvenile fish get sucked into the California Aqueduct and the Delta Mendota Canal by powerful pumps. If they survived the pumps they get trapped in the cement canals and never get to go in and out from the delta to the ocean. Those stripers that are spawned in safer locations will turn around and start heading out towards the brackish salt water as the summer progresses.
How Big is Big?
What size of stripers can be found on the Delta? “The largest striper that I’ve heard of coming out of the Delta," recalls Bobby, "was 66 pounds, but that was back in the 60’s. That was out of Grant Line Canal.”
“Realistically, when you get a 20 pound fish; that’s a very good fish. We do see fish between 30-40 pounds, not every day of course, but they are still around. And then every once in a while you will hear of a 50 pound fish being caught. But in terms of the 60 pound class; we don’t hear of those anymore.”
Size or Numbers?
What can anglers expect to catch if they hire Bobby to put them on fish? “That depends on my clients. I have a particular set of clientele that, (if the right conditions prevail), prefer to throw topwater and catch the biggest fish in the system. And we’ll definitely try to do that. The biggest fish that any of my clients caught was 48 and a half pounds. That was Mike Austen, and he caught that off a Zara Spook.”
But should an angler or a family want to catch numbers, “Then we are going to throw rip baits, shallow running crankbaits, and maybe 5 inch soft-bodied swimbaits - and we’ll catch stripers from 3 to 8 pounds, with maybe one or two fish over 10 pounds in the course of the day. And the numbers are usually between 15 and 25, or even 30 fish.”
The Delta
The California Delta is huge expanse of water that is located between Sacramento and Stockton. The greatest contributors to the 1,000 miles of waterways are the Sacramento River and the San Joaquin River, but other rivers like the American River, the Mokelumne River, the Cosumnes River and the Calaveras River also feed the Delta. Before emptying into the Pacific Ocean through the San Francisco Bay, anglers have access to a labyrinth of rivers, channels, sloughs.
“We do have some ‘bays’ as we refer to them,” explains Barrack, “These flooded shallow flats make great habitat for stripers, because stripers don’t always want to be in the main channels or main sloughs fighting in that current.”
“The bays are a great way for stripers to get out into calmer water and hunt for whatever food source is available. The rivers and channels are their version of ‘Highway 5’, but they’ll pull into McDonalds (the bays) and grab something to eat and then get back on the highway and go.”
Water Visibility
Our guide prefers to fish in water with 2-3 feet visibility. But the water clarity in the Delta is going to depend on three things: rain, wind, and vegetation growth. “If you have a tremendous amount of rain coming down, (which we don’t get very often, but it happens occasionally), then I stay away from the main rivers because that’s where the water is running the dirtiest. I will seek out the bays. The bays for the most part don’t have any rivers draining into them, so they will tend to stay a little clearer.”
“Because our bays have got a lot of vegetation, they act as a natural filter. As the tide moves in and the water goes to the back of the bays through the vegetation, the water gets cleared up. As the tide goes out, the water moves back through that grass again, and it gets cleansed a second time. So on most days, your bays are where you are going to find your clearest water.”
“But if you have 20-40 mile an hour winds, (especially during a low tide phase, where the water is pretty much sucked out of the bays and the weeds are almost laying on the surface), those 3-5 foot waves will start to crash through those weeds, disturbing all the silt that those weeds have captured and the water is turned incredibly muddy. So in big winds, or even right after big winds, I will seek out the rivers where the wind does not affect the clarity of the water.”
“For the most part, stripers like to get shallow. They like to get into that 3 to 8 foot zone, to do most of their feeding. But if the water has got 8 foot visibility, (where it’s like looking into a swimming pool), the striper becomes is extremely spooky and cautious. It’s not going to be there for very long, if at all. So the chances of an angler being successful in the deeper crystal clear water are slim to none.”
“But if you are in a similar bay or part of the river that has 2 to 3 foot visibility, those fish tend to move a little bit shallower to do their feeding. Ideally, what you want is a 10-15 mile an hour wind, with 2-3 foot visibility. Those are great conditions and will lead to having a great day.”
The Wind Is Your Friend
Bobby is quick to point out, “The wind is so important to having a successful day. Everyone wants to go out and either anchor their boat or just move along the bank and not have to fight the wind. But those calm sunny days can be the toughest days.”
“Now calm sunny days can be rewarding in the spring time when the water is starting to warm, or in the fall when that water is starting to cool off. But my perfect conditions to go fishing encompass 10-15 mile an hour winds, with 2-3 foot visibility – and then I am happy.”
Best Time to Visit the Delta
If an angler is planning a trip to the California Delta, Bobby says that late January through May 1st, is the best time for size. “That doesn’t mean you can’t catch numbers during that time, but the thing anglers need to understand is some of the largest fish that are going to be available during the course of the year are going to be available right now – however... their number one priority, is the spawn.”
“So feeding is not their primary focus. But when they do feed during that period of time – it’s outstanding!” With the larger stripers having mixed agendas, fishing could range from amazing trophy experiences to having days when the angler wonders, “Wow, what happened to them.”
For ‘numbers’, Bobby says the best time to visit the Delta would be from September 15th through Christmas.
The Proper Rod
Upon arriving, anglers are welcome to use their own equipment, but our guide is always ready to equip the novice with the proper equipment – beginning with the rod. Preferring Falcon rods, Bobby hands his clients a 7 foot, 5 power, CC517MH graphite medium-heavy baitcaster.
“I love to rip with that rod. That’s the only rod I use day in and day out for ripping. Now if the fish are short striking and missing, then I will use a Falcon 7 foot fiberglass cranking rod. But for 80% of my ripping and cranking – the CC517MH is the rod I will use.”
The medium-heavy rod is preferred because with such a fast moving fish the standard cranking rods don’t generate enough power to keep pressure on the hook points. Barrack wants the medium-heavy because it is a little stronger, and helps keep the treble firmly inside the fish’s mouth. Most bass fisherman already have rods similar to these.
A Fast Reel
Regular baitcasting reels used for bass will work, although Bobby suggests, “You want to stay with your 6.2:1 gear ratio reels, because those stripers in shallow water are extremely fast fish.” If the striper runs towards the boat, the high-speed reel will help the angler to recover faster and keep the line taunt.
The Correct Line
“There are two lines I use for ripping and cranking out here,” says Bobby, “I use 15 pound Big Game, and 15 pound Fluorocarbon.”
However, there are special times when Barrack reaches for braid. “If it is a higher tide, the water is over the top of the grass, and the fish are roaming the flats, that’s when I am throwing my Lucky Craft LV500 lipless crankbait and I’m ripping it through the grass. In that situation I will use 50 pound Spiderwire.”
“When I get hung up in the grass, the non-stretch Spiderwire allows me to rip it loose. And it doesn’t kill your shoulders. Monofilament is like a rubber band; it gets hung up and you have too much stretch, and it’s hard to break the crankbait free.”
Using braid for large stripers comes with a warning, “When you use Spiderwire, you have to back your drag off a little bit.”
Tide and Grasses
It is important to remember that the Delta is a tidal environment. “Typically our tide fluctuates about three feet. The grasses, however, always have some kind of water on it. At low tide a flat may only have six inches of water and the grass is sitting flat on the surface. Later, when the tide comes in you may have three to four feet of water over the top of the grass.”
Like most fish, stripers are sensitive to weather changes, but our guide tells us “Stripers rebound a lot faster than your standard largemouth or smallmouth bass.” Typically they feed-up before a front moves in, and then shut down once it arrives. But rather than having to wait 2 days for the weather to stabilize, “The striper will show up before anyone else does.”
<To Be Continued>
In Part II our guide, Bobby Barrack, gives us the lowdown on crankbaits, both topwater and diving. He shows us how to locate and present the proper baits when fishing either the shallow bays or the submerged ridges near deeper water. We'll explore the proper hookset, the correct fighting technique, how wind and weather affect stripers, and get some great tips for our first trip to the California Delta.
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Bobby Barrack is a highly well known and successful bass angler, with several FLW tournament wins, and 16 top-ten finishes. But when he isn't out on the tournament trail he is guiding through his "Back To Class" Guiding Service. The name indicates his passion for teaching anglers of all skill levels how to fish for stripers or largemouth bass on the California Delta. For more information contact...
BACK TO SCHOOL GUIDE SERVICE.
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