Fished Bullard's for 4 hours, for just 2 fish. Seemed slow for the 2 or 3 other boats that were out.

Fished Bullard's Bar for kokanee yesterday.  Caught half-a-dozen, and then my day took a turn.
I was trolling with a downrigger, when it apparently snagged on something.  The boat took a hard right, and then flipped hard and threw me in the water.  What I had assumed would be a good safe day with perfect weather was suddenly the opposite.  Several things conspired to make it worse.  Some gear had become tangled in the seat and I had just unsnapped it to work the gear loose.  When I went over the seat fell out of the boat, and sank.  This was critical for me, as I have a self-rescue inflation bladder.  Problem is it attaches to the seat when being used.  I had just lost my ability to get back in the boat.  Water temp. was 53 degrees, with ambient temperatures to match.

Long and the short of it.  I was wearing wool clothing which kept me warm for a while, but became too heave to make any progress swimming.  I was in the water at least 40 minutes and could not get to shore.  Things were getting critical when 3 generous guys showed up.  Not sure how much longer I had in me.  I lost over a thousand in gear, and scared and embarrassed myself.  I was headed into hypothermia and was shivering violently.  I share this in the hope someone makes themselves safer out there.  We forget how dangerous this sport can be.

Please be careful.  I think I am safer than most, cause I am old and not what I used to be.  Yet, I got in trouble in perfect conditions in a fairly small lake.

Thank you to my rescuers.  Sorry I wrecked your afternoon's fishing. 

Anybody have opinions of outriggers?  I may need some training wheels.

Finding no stripers around, I decided to try Bullard's Bar for some kokanee yesterday.  Thanks to a quick tutorial from RacinRob, I did pretty well.  Caught a number of fish throughout the day, and had a bunch more short strikes.  It was so much fun that when I came in, at what I thought was lunchtime, I learned it was after 4:00pm.

Next Clear Lake for crappie and Berryessa for whatever I can find.

So, I have spent about 6 weeks trying to figure out the Port of Sacramento.  I have been trolling but after multiple trips have only two shaker stripers to my name.  No other bites.  I have been trying to figure out why, and wonder the following:

Do they wait for the water temperature to drop?  It is 72-73 degrees in the deep water channel, and I wonder if they wait til it cools to come that far up the system?

Do they only come that far in the spring to spawn?  I read the majority stay further west in the fall and winter, hanging out in places like Montezuma slough? True?

Are they in the deep parts of the channel avoiding the heat, and thus available only to those jig or bait fishing?  I have been trolling in 8-20 feet of water, and wonder if that is a tactic best reserved for a different season?

Anyone with knowledge who is willing to chime in, is appreciated.

Thanks,
Dane

Hi,

My name is Dane, and I am a recent convert to kayaks.  I bought a Hobie Outback a few months ago, and have been thoroughly enjoying it.  Most of my trips so far have been in the delta, but I will be on the ocean as soon as I feel I won't be a liability to those around me.  Anyway, I look forward to running into some of you on the water.  This is a great sport.
d