Fishing Report
Napa River
We fished Napa River this week and did pretty well. Trolling rattle traps and lucky craft LV-500s in the cuts and sloughs for the first couple of hours produced no results. We marked a lot of fish, but couldn’t get them to bite. Next, we anchored up on the big school and through Storm swim baits of various colors. The bite opened up and we had our first 17-inch juvenile in the boat.
Safely released we continued trolling and I decided to give the Deep Diving P-Line Predator Minnow a try. I used the red and green custom-made variant we make here at Sweeney's. We call it the Wild Thing.
I’ve fished this lure for months with no results, so that was the last thing I tried on our way back to the dock. Boy, did the Wild Thing produce action! Within a few minutes of backsetting it at around 60 feet, the rod went crazy and we boated this beautiful 22 incher.
The next bite was so violent, I thought we hooked the bottom for sure until I felt the head shakes. After fighting this giant for a few minutes it ripped us off and took the lure with it. Unfortunately, it was my only Wild Thing lure in the tackle box. It was getting towards the afternoon, so we headed back to the dock and called it a day, wishing we didn’t have to.
Overall, the river is clearing up and we marked healthy schools of stripers and a good number of giant sturgeon throughout the system. Getting them to bite is a bit tricky, but once you find what works, the action is stellar. Keep experimenting. That’s the ticket. They are choosy and finicky right now.
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Lake Berryessa
Targeting trout, bass, and catfish is your best bet right now. The kokanees and kings are spread out, but will still occasionally find your speedy shiners. Get a picnic going in any cove and set up a couple of rods on bottom rigs using hot dogs, nightcrawlers, anchovies, expired chicken breast, etc. You should see good action from Berry Cats. Night fishing seems to produce the largest fish.
SF Bay Report
Halibut is still on the bite! Live anchovies work best. Drifting around Treasure Island in 30 ft of water, Alcatraz and Angel Islands still produce good Halibut action, with an occasional shark or flounder mixed in. Berkeley flats are fishing slowly right now. The wind is pushing stained water and seaweed by early afternoons.
Putah Creek Fishing Report
7-27-23 Flows 660 CFS
The creek is fishing Fair to Slow.
Fish early to beat the heat. Add weight to get a good presentation down in deep slots where fish have no time but to react....hook up the report using a worm pattern. Report that changing midge nymph patterns/colors equaled hookups. Evening caddis hatch on some riffles producing hookups...Birds Nest #16.
BWO—Hogan’s S&Ms, FB Pheasant tails, Quilldigon, May it be, micro may, juju baetis....#18-20 Midges—--WD-40, zebra midge, jujube midge....#20-22 in different colors. Bird Nest #16-18.
San Juan and Squirmy worms.
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