lost my cherry in Antioch beofre the storm

It was supposed to be a day on the Delta spending time with brother (Flyaker)..it had been a while since we fished together and  I wanted to show him my new ride. We were to meet near Tiki Lagoon and get in some fishing before the big storm.

but while enroute I get a call from him that he had to abort due to car issues..I was passing Pittsburg on Hwy 4 and decided to explore somewhere new instead.
I pulled over in Oakley and consulted the Franko map on the Dleta.
I decided to give Big Break Marina a try. ($10 launch fee)

Since I was going solo now...I took my time setting up.
I worked the water 1 mile east of the Antioch bridge..trolling 1/2 oz Rat L Trap and a Broken Back Rapala..
After the first hour of endless weed entanglements... I started to think about  the scene where Forrest keeps missing the shrimp.."No shrimp Lt Dang...." I wondered whether I needed to get into church and join the choir. (Since we are starting to quote movies I thought I'd throw mine in )

It has been so long stiking out that I didn't remember what a strike looked like. Now granted I realize that this is my first season fishing from the yak...I figured that I spent a fair amount of time on the water already..

well, when the hit came...I thought briefly that I had ran into another weedbed.. but the distinctive pumping of the rod left no question..

A juevenile striper had  hit my Rat L Trap and  i landed my first striper.. It was small but still a thrill.
CPR'd him then another 4 stripers on the incoming tide. No keepers but what a thrill..biggest one was 18" which took the broken rapala.

Water was flat and no wind all day.. overcast skies but pleasant temps in the 60's. It was tough to get off the water since the conditions were so ideal.  what a pleasure not to have to deal with wind / current or chop. stayed until 5pm... glad to have discovered more of the Delta.

baby steps in gaining  water experience .

alright dave!  looks like your getting into the swing of things.  can't beat the adventure for trolling.  BTW, the pictures are really clear, what kind of camera you using? 

WTG Dave, congrats on the stripers.

Nice job exploring new fishing ground!  Thanks for the report and pictures Dave.

Congrats on the stripers Dave. The big fish should be pushing in soon. Then comes the little slay
ride.

Jedmo

  Great report and pics, that is FAC!  Way to make lemonade out of lemons. 

WTG, Dave!!!   Glad you finally got into them.    Many more to come.

Dave glad to see that you went anyway when Lawrence had car problems!! I am glad you didn't have to paddle that tandem again. What kind of kayak did you end up getting? Congrats on catching those stripers on your solo trip, I did the same thing last year. My first solo trip my goal was to use my GPS and to catch a striper which I did successfully. Congrats on a great day!!!!!

Badog

yakusa,
just a Casio Exilim 7.2.mg....I actually had to reduce quality of shot so I can upload with the post...

Badog.. good to hear from you.. it has been a while since we last fished.
funny you mentioned paddling the tandem....
after fishing with you on Easter...I went out and bought a pair of Malibu II for the family. I used one for solo fishing..which I actually didn't mind.
but  I got left in the dust while fishing in derbies by guys like Yakusa..I mean it was so extreme...guys I fished with almost disappeared over line of sight.

so I got a Hobie Adventure.. I am still learning my way around the boat and still need to rig rod holder mount, FF, anchor line.
I loved cruising along the tullies in stealth mode with hands free to work rod up along bass nest.

see you on the delta this winter.

dave

Your report brings back my last memories of fishing Norcal, 1 year ago, almost to the date.  Almost identical conditions, lure, and quantity/size of fish. 

http://www.norcalkayakanglers.com/index.php/topic,15131.msg143541.html#msg143541

I fished Big Break several times while living in Antioch.  It wasn't always friendly to me, but I kept going back. 

Congrats on the successful first time there. 

Congrats on the new yak n the stipers. Those conditions alone should have been enough to keep you otu there all day . i do agree that finnese fishing the tules for bass, and on glass is an amazing experience. Heavenly if your hookin up. (BTW)Those smaller stripers are alotta fun with a light rod set up.

Wish I was there. Would have shared in the fun if I could have. Congrats Dave. dave...

Sweet!!! Bummer about Lawrence's car tho.