Hogback to Rio Vista 9/10

I got out to the park around 6:45. Someone stole the self-pay box, so it was a free day. I unloaded and was in the water by 7. The launch area was active and fish we're jumping everywhere. I tossed a hula and had a few slaps, but no hooks. Once I got out to the main channel, the current was fast going out, so I switched to a frog colored tube and worked the east side down past the half sunken barge where I had a nice hit, but again no hook. I could have stayed around the park all day and worked the smallies, but I wanted to see if the stripes were active so I drifted an anchovie on a drop rig and trolled a soft swim bait just faster than the current paddling really slow. Lots of weeds but no bites. I got out to the deep water channel around 10:30. I dropped anchor on the flats at the south point by the marker and threw out another anchovie. While that soaked I worked the weeds with chartruse buzz bait and the tube. Didn't get any on the buzz, but tons of nibbles and my first fish of the day on the tube. Nice smallmouth, around 10" maybe a pound or so. My bait rod started twitching and soon I had a 13" striper in the boat after a nice little fight through the weeds. By then my boat started swinging in back towards steamboat, so I pulled up and started drifting back up  the slough. I worked the banks with the tube, popper, and a crank bait, but no action. I could see the fish 10 feet away, but they weren't biting. I was starting to think that my two fish we're all I'd get, when a big boil of juvenile stripers erupted about 100 yards behind me! Ok! It's on! I paddled up about 20 yards from where they were and threw out a white sparkly 5" soft swimmer. As soon as it hit the water, it was attacked. Caught another 13incher. Tossed him back and a few minutes later the mob boiled up again to my right this time. Tons of hits and landed another shaker. As I was removing the hook, the school boiled up all around my boat! So cool! One even thumped into the bow. I managed to stay with the pack all the way around the knuckle, almost to the big outlet pipe before the resort. All told I caught 5 shakers working the boils. Super fun! By then it was getting to be about 2:00 and felt like over 100°. I let the current float me by the docks at the resort and threw a crank bait at the docks, but no luck. It was about 3:30 when I pulled out back at the launch.
 Next time I'm there I'm going to work the banks a lot harder. Tons of snags and logs hiding fish.
All in all, even though the fish we're small, I had a great float.

P.S. For all the Salmon/Steelhead guys, I saw a large darkish green and red sided fish (steelhead?) working the weeds at the flats by the marker while I was anchored off the Sac channel. It definitely wasn't a carp, no humpback. Dang thing jumped clear out of the water about 20 feet from my boat in about 5 feet of water in the weedline.
Happy Fishing!

The salmon run the weed beds at the bottom of the tide. I Had days where I would see 10 salmon break water in the weed beds in 2fow! I wouldn't even try for salmon in rio vista right now. Water is still too warm.

Great report..Long day in the heat! Hopefully those stripers will be heading up river soon.

Dave

That is a long paddle/pedal!  Kudos on the trip and report.  Thank your stars there was only a mild Delta Breeze.

Drifting live minnows has produced bigass stripers as far as colusa the last 2 wks. There in the rivers, I seent it. 

Nice report!
You need to get some top water lures man! boils = topwater blow up fun!

I never would have made it halfway there if the wind was blowing like it usually does. The current did most of the work.
I tried a floating minnow plug, but they were just bumping it. I lost my buzz bait at the weed bed when I bird nested my reel and the line snapped, so I went with the 5 inch swimmer. They loved it! If I'd have put a 3 incher on I would have caught way more, but I was excited and grabbed what I had out.
I'm going to have to get a bait well so I can try some minnows. I've been thinking of making one out of a bulk food container, like you see online. I need to see if the shop in lodi has live bait. I could always catch a few blue gill if not. The stripers love those guys.

There should be plenty of love bait at the Masterbaiter in Isleton and Hap's in Rio Vista.  I just use one of those Flowtroll floating bait buckets.  Tow it while fishing, then bring it on board and stand it up when you want to move quickly.