Sherman Lake / Striper

Hey All,
Finally got a chance to get the kayak out on the Delta, and went to Sherman Lake, as suggested by a couple members here.  Had a good time!  4 stripers on a crippled shad Rattle Trap and 2 LMB on a spinner, no keepers, but still fun to catch fish.  Paddled/drifted/trolled around the two islands at the north side of the "lake" where it connects to the Sac River.  Saw stripers jumping!  I think I found a school of 12-14" fish there, all 4 I landed were in that range.  Then worked the spinner along the grass line on the way back to the boat ramp, hooked up with a couple small bass. 

This was my first real experience fishing from a kayak - I really enjoyed it!  It was a pretty mild day, so drifting pace was just right to drift along and work a stretch of shoreline cover.  Slow paddle pace seemed to be about right for trolling a Rattle Trap for near surface action.  There were hardly any boats out today, and the general quiet nature of being on a kayak made for a very enjoyable day.


Question for the group:
Sherman Lake was cool, but I want to find keeper stripers.  Where should I go next?  Was thinking about Big Break, Isleton, or maybe Disco Bay?  My wife wants fish tacos! 

What should I be using for bait/lures?  I've had mixed success from shore with frozen anchovies, live grass shrimp, pile worms, and chicken livers.  Chicken livers seem to be the most consistent - always get something with those.  Aside from the Rattle Trap today, I've never caught a striper on an artificial.  I've tried other plugs, jigs, plastics, and spinners with no luck.  Do stripers in different areas respond to different lures, or should I just roll with a handful of Rattle Traps and not put effort into the other stuff?   

I want to get comfortable controlling my boat and fishing from a kayak so that I can confidently target halibut/ling/rockfish in the bay - I figure striper in the delta is a good primer to get myself ready for that.

Thanks for any suggestions!
Kevin

White swim baits work everywhere. I have had good luck at Isleton,but that was in the spring. Keep trying a lot of the time you have to "weed" threw the little ones to find a school of keepers.

White swim baits work everywhere. I have had good luck at Isleton,but that was in the spring. Keep trying a lot of the time you have to "weed" threw the little ones to find a school of keepers.

Thanks for the tip! How are you rigging those up?  I think maybe a 4" or so swim bait on a 3/0 hook?  I like the idea of a drop shot to get some depth, but texas rigged would be nice for weed avoidance and simplicity.  Thanks again!

Throw these in weeds all day, no hangups.

If you give Sherman Lake another go, you could try live jumbo minnows drifted just off of the bottom. I’ve had success catching a nice grade of stripers in that area on the live stuff. Gotcha bait used to be my stop (Antioch side)

Right on, thanks for the advice!

At Sherman lake, river side of those islands stick to rattle traps and cast to the tulles let it hit the bottom, that's all I use with great success. In disco bay use small bluegills for the larger strippers. Thing should get better later in this month.

At Sherman lake, river side of those islands stick to rattle traps and cast to the tulles let it hit the bottom, that's all I use with great success. In disco bay use small bluegills for the larger strippers. Thing should get better later in this month.

That's right where I was throwing the rattle trap the other day, just on the north side/in between those islands.  Was pretty fun - better to catch shakers than catch nothing.  Never seen stripers jumping like that either, and then strike the rattle trap real quick after casting where I saw it jump.  I wasn't letting it sink though - will try that next time.  Was using the 3/4oz bleeding blue/chrome shad. 

Will try disco bay one of these days too - but probably gonna bring my son to Sherman lake again this weekend sometime. 

Ever get any hits on bait out there?  Before having a kayak, I would have the best luck from the pier with chicken livers, but soaked a line with chicken liver out there the other day and had nothing hit it at all, when rattle trap was hitting pretty good.