It had been a couple of weeks since the last Delta venture and the itch was getting pretty bad. The weather forecast called for low to no wind for the 2 days before Christmas and the water temperatures had reportedly even come up into the low 50’s over the past week. I’d been anxious to fish the 2 dozen flies I’d tied up the previous week and was equally anxious to get acquainted with the new sonar I’d just installed.
I headed over late Friday morning and got a good half day in to find a handful of 4–8 pound fish in their expected cold water lies. The typical cold water flies on cold water retrieves were the ticket.
The wind was nearly non existent for a good portion of both days which made for very relaxing fishing, even in a t-shirt for a short period during the warmest part of the day.
The 2nd day started with a chunky 8 pounder right off the bat,
immediately followed by the breaking of a new Sage Fli I’d just won at Dan Blanton’s Striperfest, which was in turn followed with a broken trolling motor prop. I learned my lesson long ago to always include not just one but at least two backup rods for any trip. What I hadn’t learned previously was why all those Tackle Shops stock so many trolling motor props, hmmm…
Boat handling became a little more difficult with only one blade on the troller’s prop (more like impossible), but the windless conditions allowed me to still effectively fish some promising water and it also gave me the opportunity to do some over due exploring in the South Delta.
While idling through a No Wake Zone during my rush back to the Marina, late for a Christmas Eve commitment, I couldn’t help but take a few shots of the unbelievably glassy conditions
and some of the other “interesting” sites one finds out there.
