Napa Slough/Devils Slough/Huderman Slough Intel?

Hey Yak People!

Are you going stir crazy at home with the bad air?  I am.

A friend invited me to join him to fish for stripers in and around the Napa Slough.

Anyone have experience/luck in this area? 


Kayak Accessible Launch?

Bait?

Rigging?

Lures?

Thanks for any recommendations and tips.

Tom

I’ve launched at the Napa Valley Marina on Milton Road before. It’s free to park and it’s an easy entry at the boat ramp on the far end of the marina. Lots of cool old boats to look at too.

But, it’s a bit of a paddle all the way out to Napa Slough. At least a couple miles. Maybe launch at the top of the tide, and paddle with the outgoing tide and then return on the incoming tide?

I’ve been told that people catch striper and sturgeon all along that stretch. I only tried once for an hour or so and was skunked. But that means maybe you don’t need to go all the way out to the Slough.

If you go, I expect a full report because I plan on hitting it again in a few weeks.

Edit: also, check your weather app because it can get windy AF.

Hey Yak People!

Are you going stir crazy at home with the bad air?  I am.

A friend invited me to join him to fish for stripers in and around the Napa Slough.

Anyone have experience/luck in this area? 


Kayak Accessible Launch?

Bait?

Rigging?

Lures?

Thanks for any recommendations and tips.

Tom

-fishing keeps me from going crazy
-when are you going?
-yes and yes.
-yes you can launch from cuttings wharf or AmCan
-I don’t use bait anymore. When I was a kid in Napa I would use bag anchovies on a sliding sinker rig and catch the heck out of them
-MH bass rod 7 or 7.5 ft spooled with braid and a short topshot of mono. 50lb braid-17lb mono
-swimbaits on a 1/2 oz or so head. I use big hammer 4 inch in colors like midnight phantom or white phantom. I like a chartreuse head, white or black body, chartreuse tail.  If you’re trolling use either a yo-zuri or p-line predator.

I’ve never caught a “big” striper from the Napa River, the ones I find usually top out in the mid twenties. Hit up Sweeney’s in Napa  and they will Get you set up with what you need.

As was already stated watch the tides. The current can rip!

Post a report, I’d love to hear how you do.

John nailed it above. I would add a few large chrome RatLTraps to the tackle box as well.

Just be very aware of the forecast. The confluence of Napa and Devils sloughs is almost a 5 mile paddle from Cuttings Wharf and 3.5 miles from AmCan. The wind out there in the sloughs can whip up fiercely in a hurry and the right combination of tidal current and wind can make the paddle back to the launch really difficult.

I hope to be out in that area next weekend so please post a report of you make it out.

Good luck !

I will be going on Sep 26 (weather permitting), launching from Cutting Wharf. My buddy says he catches with grass shrimp and white swimbaits.

Thanks for the intel, I will post after the trip. Hopefully with some lunker striper photos!

What time are you guys planning on launching? The tides look pretty brutal to paddle out to the sloughs. The tide starts coming in at 5 am... might want to launch out of American canyon, that way the tide will work for you rather than against.

I can second Sweeney's if you can wait around for a minute to ask a few questions they'll give you the time to answer them.  They're great.  When I started fishing again, they were pretty awesome, taught me a few knots, and techniques.  They're great people.

Well, well, well...it was a failure (but a good adventure).

Perfect weather.

Met up with Justin and Anthony.

Anthony launched his pontoon boat with a trolling motor mounted on the rig.    Met up with Justin on his kayak (with pedal drive, electric motor and back up paddle).

Paddled/Pedaled down the Napa River to Devil's Slough and then Anthony's trolling motor died.  I had to tow him back to the Napa River.  Thank goodness for my Old Town PDL drive.  As I was rigging up the tow rope, I got some braid tangled in my PDL prop!  I hailed a boat and they had a crescent wrench to remove the prop and the line twisted around the shaft.

No way I could tow Anthony back 3 plus miles to Cuttings Wharf.  So, I hailed another boat to tow Anthony, a very nice young couple (were they on a date?!?) graciously town him back.

Thank you boaters!

We fished with swim baits, live grass shrimp, tray anchovies and crankbaits.  No fish!  Again, NO FISH!

When I got back to the launch, exhausted and tired, my Explorer battery was dead.  (It hinted it was on its last leg earlier in the week.) We had to jump start my car (so better not hang around and drink beer), and head home without stopping.

Lessons learned and reminders:

1. know your route and how far you have to paddle/pedal
2. know your battery life and have a backup plan for when your batteries die
3. bring a friend, ask for help when needed
4. have a tow rope (paracord will work for a kayak, I had 100 feet)
5. plan your trip to not return against the tide
6. bring extra water and food
7. carry some tools including a crescent wrench and other useful tools that fit your kayak parts
8. keep your vehicle in great condition.  Buy a new car battery before it is dead (usually around 3 years).

Better luck next time...

Tom




My Explorer battery died, I had to get a jump to get home.  Bought a new battery today.

That sounds like a major adventure. I'm sure you'll have better luck with the fishing next time.

Nice adventure sometimes it is good to have just about everything go wrong so in the future you will know what to prepare for!

Glad to hear that you made it back safely. Thanks for posting your lessons learned. I hit the same area about a week before you and managed a couple shakers on a RatLTrap but it was pretty slow. Fished upriver after that and about same thing ... one keeper and one dink. Sounded pretty slow from everyone I spoke with. Might just be a little early.

it certainly was a rough paddle back, and the fishing was slow. hopefully the fish will move up soon but most people have been struggling to catch decent sized fish. i did talk to some old timers that ive seen the last few weeks at the boat ramp. they always have two nice 25" fish. so the fish are out there, just have to find them. also they might have given me a new spot to check out... but my lips are sealed.

Also a much closer place to launch from is at the end of green island road, it puts you in just south of Brazos bridge.

Be super aware of boat traffic out that way, especially during duck hunting season. Lots of blind corners and many narrow passages in and out of the former salt ponds. On three of the four trips I've made out there this fall, I've had at least one boater ask how the hell we got all the way out there on a kayak. They're obviously not expecting kayakers out there so they may not be driving as if they're sharing the waterway.

Make sure you know your limitations. Even launching from Green Island, with travel, fishing, and back tracking mileage, none of the trips out that way were less than 9 miles round trip. Some trips were closer to 12.

Know the tides and wind forecast because the conditions out there can humble you quickly. On days with a smaller tidal coefficient, its a long but really pleasurable paddle out past the confluence of Napa and Devils sloughs. However, I made the mistake of heading out there this past weekend during the king tides. I'm a big guy and a pretty strong paddler but even the incoming this weekend was too much. Back beyond the confluence where the slough narrows, the current picks up significantly. At one point, I looked down at my fishfinder and my speed over ground was 3.25 mph simply drifting on the tide. I finally had to pull into one of the impoundments that lead into the salt ponds to wait out the top of the tide. There was no way that I was going to make much headway in that current. Lesson learned for sure.