Mike and Randy joined me for a o-dark thirty Sugar Barge Launch. We proceeded cautiously in the dark to spots in North Franks False River for topwater but nothing doing.

We continued out to the San Joaquin. We found birds working  in multiple spots and spent a few hours wading through dozens of schoolie size stripers. 2 oz white spoons anywhere from 20-30 feet beneath the birds were wfo. Other spoon colors not so much. We had MANY doubles and triples on jr size fish but could not entice the larger specimens.

We had steady action on swimbaits but Stickbaits and rattletraps were routinely ignored. JIgging deep with spoons does not have the narcotic effect of a topwater grab but I am warming up to the technique.  Overcast when striper fishing=MONEY.We buzzed around for MILES stopping on birds which never failed us. Bait was thick everywhere. Conservative guess would be 70 fish for the 3 of us between 6 AM and 5 PM. Long day for an old guy. Cloud show  on the water was first class.

On the drive home the cloudshow continued. Is it a crime to shoot a full size camera with telephoto lens while driving and towing a boat?

Have a crappy day.

I have been working on this with the owner for a couple of years. This of course required many hours of field research. My shop makes the guides. I have been fishing this rod hard on the delta  coupled with a Daiwa Lexa  and big wood. It will pitch a mile if you are so inclined. The guides are indestructible and I am a complete klutz with stomping on gear. Check it!
http://bigbait.com/product/bigbait-stick-swimbait-rod/

OTW at 6:00 AM.

Large slurping spooks.

I ran up to the lock and lost a decent salmon.

Curiously slow.

We braved the OTW madness that is Fleet week on SF bay. Jerry and Leann joined us and we shoved off from South Beach.
Conditions were excellent so we steamed out to  Bonita cove, over to Sausalito and then to the back side of Angel Island where we anchored up for lunch.We don’t need another Gyros
I saw guys in Adventure Islands navigating the NW corner of Alcatraz which features wind,  7 knot current, wash rocks and thousands of boat wakes. Balls of Steel I say. 2 cruise ships in port. Air show was amazing for the crew but I spent the day on bridge dodging all manner of watercraft in VERY close quarters. So the quality and quantity of pics was adversely affected. I worked from Crissy Field to Ft Mason and over to the Blossom Rock side down to Alcatraz for 4 hrs jockeying with Tug Boats, anchored craft, people drifting with the tide, Party Boats, Sailboats, Ferries,  and the Jeremiah Obrien but the crew kept the bridge supplied  with a  compensatory supply of  libations. This cat ran right up my ass twice and I had to take strong evasive maneuvers. Angels put on a shock and awe kind of show. Got within 15 feet of this guy twice. Good times albeit a bit busy for the Captain.

I had the pleasure of guiding one of the founders of Black Dog who is now working on some new fishing products on his own. We  launched in the dark from Lauritzens and found our way to Sherman.

We thrashed around Sherman and around 8 AM we started seeing the birds working right on schedule. Non stop action for a couple of hours on schoolies.

South east corner of Sherman lake, 5 feet of water, Jerk baits, spoons and swimbaits. Anything worked as long as it was white and wet. We brought an easy 50 fish to hand until the tide bottomed out and killed the bite. We looped around the lake several times. I checked my spooning hole in  North Sherman and we pulled another 15 fish out of there. Ran into Schatman. Great weather and my sticks are tired.

My normal MO has been late afternoon to dusk hours for my fall Delta season. Something has changed and I am now waking up at 4:30 AM and am usually on the water fishing before 6. Sunrises in the delta are magic.

Have been catching a few out west.

The big girls have largely been avoiding my considerable charms but it is only a matter of time….

Debra and I had a Friday night Giants game so we just stayed aboard all weekend. Keegan and Mike rolled into the Java Hut at 8 AM and we were off to City Yacht for fuel. Nice lady relieved me of some $600. Tanks both now a little over half full. Last $600 I put in in April lasted 6 trips. It has been a fun summer on the ocean.

Had some fog on the deck on the way out so I was grateful for radar.

We rounded Bonita and went up the line. Started seeing signs 2 miles off of Rocky Pt. in 65 feet of water.

Mike has the deck well covered with 2 lines on the riggers, one diver and a 2# ball on a dog whistle on the 4th rod.  All manner of tray bait, WM Apex, etc. We picked up a trout early that was quickly bled and boxed.

There was an over abundance of life. Whales, birds, dolphins, seadogs and bait for miles. Full haystacks blanking out the meter and beautiful scattered balls. They were brailling the surface everywhere we went. We worked from Dux to Muir, inside to outside for one fish.

On the water Gyros platters for four from Estia in North Beach did not hurt matters, thank you Deb!

Fog came in hard in the afternoon but the swell was down all day.  Good times.

Labor Day often coincides with the first incidence of dew on my windshield for the season. It also signals the return to the storage lots for the winter all manner of  rat bastard jetskis and boombox boats which leaves the water for me.

The water is starting to cool off in the delta and looks like some fish are filtering in from the beaches and bay. After the  party boat slaughter this summer on the reefs in the bay and the surprise return to beach caster scores of yore, I have some good mojo about this fall. Striped bass are opportunistic killers and this summer the killing was good with the abundant fin bait in the system.

My brother and I launched at 6:15 from Lauritzens wary of the omnipresent vapor trails.

We ran for the lake and found bait being chased most everywhere we looked for the first hour.

This spot was good

Shakers were easy and hitting  white swimbaits hard. Weedless jigheads are money. We had numerous doubles pitching into the weed lanes.

We worked the Steel, Broad, Sherman and Big Break but Sherman was the hotspot. NO fish over 5 lbs today. Off the water at 2. Research will continue.

Thelma and Randy joined Debra and I for a quick Mendo getaway.

Highlights:

Vacation time with family

Very nice 2 couple historic cottage in downtown Mendo (recently remodeled VRBO)

Noyo Harbor

Ft Bragg

Dinner at Wild Fish in Little River

McKerricher, Russian Gulch, Cape Mendocino and the endless beaches bluffs and coves

Husch Winery