August was a fun one on the delta. Smoke is finally starting to clear on the river. When the smoke rolled through the punch bite died for me. Fish left the mats and scattered. To catch better fish we had to throw a variety of top waters. You have to commit to it. Yes you can catch a big one in the morning on topwater but my bigger bites have been coming later in the day.
Some days they want a walking bait and others they are liking a buzz bait or whopper plopper. I weighed a decent bag last Sunday in a tournament. We made a long in the morning which didn’t plan out at all so we came back to Central Delta around 9:00 and started throwing topwater. Within 10 minutes my partner Chris stuck a 6 lbr on a whopper plopper and as well as a 3.5 lbr. We kept throwing topwater for 2 more hours without another bite. I punched a mat real quick that was right outside the current and stuck a 6+. That was the only bite I got punching all day but it was big one!
We continued to punch and throw topwater and ended up culling twice in the last minutes on top water. We ended the day with a third place finish weighing in 20 lbs against 50+ boats and some of the best Delta fisherman around. I’ve been able to catch numbers of fish as well as quality on the Delta lately. If you want to get out, hit me up for a trip!
Christian Ostrander Guide Service- (209)648-3778
