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Franks Tract, the largest lake in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta, and the
surrounding waters offer anglers some of the finest year-round black bass
fishing to be found in the West. However, fall is the most exciting time to
target bass in this region of the Delta's sprawling 1000-plus miles of
waterways, according to Sheldon Bright, Fish Sniffer Advertising Executive.
"Fall is the time I like best to fish the Franks Tract area," said Bright.
"Not only can you hook good numbers of largemouth bass, but you can nail
striped bass, crappie, bluegill and even an occasional salmon and steelhead
on one trip."
Franks Tract was the setting for the filming of a segment of Tom Stienstra's
Great Outdoors TV Show on Wednesday, September 23. Quincy Washington,
Sheldon's tournament partner, Bright, Stienstra and I met at the B&W Resort
on the Mokelumne River. While we waited for the TV production crew, I helped
Stienstra launch his boat.
After the production crew arrived and took some footage, Sheldon said we
were to move to a "hot spot" in Franks Tract. We raced up the San Joaquin to
the edge of the Tract along False River and Stienstra and Bright began
hooking up fish.
During the morning, the pair hooked 10 bass and landed more than 6 bass.
They fished with white spinnerbaits, Rat-L-Traps and Senkos, but the Senkos
(dark green and maroon sparkle) worked best.
Washington began casting, hooked one small fish, and I couldn't resist. The
only bummer was that Washington had all left-handed rods. I picked out a
spinning rod that Washington had rigged up for finesse fishing at Folsom.
I tossed out a Senko without no weight on the edge of the weed bed and
immediately hooked up a 13 inch bass, followed by another one about 14
inches weighing 1.2 pounds. During the morning, we hooked over 10 fish,
landing at least 8.
However, Stienstra and Bright needed our help transporting the camera crew
around. "You need to be absolutely still while filming," said producer
Schlosser.
"I bet you this kills you not to be fishing," said Stienstra.
I nodded in agreement.
In the afternoon, after the filming was done, Bright caught around 15 fish
from 1 to 4 pounds, with the two biggest in the 3 to 4 pound class.
Fishing black bass on the Delta is very productive, but it isn't easy. "You
can look 360 degrees around you and all of the spots look good, with tules,
weed beds and rocks and other cover and structure, but only certain areas
hold concentrations of bass," he said. "It takes a lot of time and effort to
consistently catch fish on the Delta and locate the spots."
"The fish in the fall, before the water gets real cold, are relatively
shallow, 1 to 6 feet deep," said Bright. "As the weather gets colder at
night, you might not want to start off as shallow. When the night is warm,
you might want to try topwater lures, such as frogs and Zara Spooks first
thing."
"You can throw frogs year round, but you will get less bites," he continued.
"There's less algae (cheese) since the vegetation is dying off, so you catch
most of your frog fish over open water. The advantage of fishing with frogs
is that if you do get bit, 7 out of 10 fish that you get will be
good-sized."
Tides are important, though you can catch fish in certain areas on any tide,
whether high, low, or slack or incoming or outgoing.
"Some anglers say that that they prefer a high or low tide, but you can
catch bass on either tide," he tipped. "On a slack tide, you should go to
areas where wind or boat wakes create current. Just like the fish are
tide-oriented, putting themselves in positions where the bait comes to them,
the bass will congregate over spots where the wind and currents from heavy
boat traffic drive the bait to them.
Figuring the bass out takes a lot of time on the water - and this is what
makes bass fishing on the Delta so interesting."
After the bass finish their fall feeding frenzy, their metabolism slows down
with the cold water temperatures. The fish in the late fall and winter tend
to stage in deeper water, in dead end sloughs and in eddies adjacent to
deeper water. However, just like you can catch bass on just about any tide,
you can catch fish shallow or deep year round.
"Just like some people in California like to wear shorts year round,
regardless of the weather, some bass prefer to stay shallow year round," he
said. "Others prefer deep water and others move back and fourth, adjusting
to changes in the environment. Don't tell the fish how you're going to catch
them - let them tell you!"
The classic example was several years ago when guide Bobby Barrack of Back
Bright and Jayson Lira fished in what most would considerable "unfishable"
conditions. The wind was blowing 40 mph while thunder roared, lightning lit
up the dark skies and 4 to 5 foot waves rocked the boat. At one point, the
trio encountered near white out conditions because of heavy hail.
Then Barrack began hooking one quality black bass after another - in open
water on jigs and spinnerbaits! Amazingly enough, Barrack caught a limit
weighing around 24 pounds, Bright nailed five fish weighing 22 pounds and
Lira bagged three fish totaling 8 pounds.
Franks Tract and surrounding waters also attract good populations of crappie
around docks and other cover during autumn. Bright likes to use Little
Fishee and Mini-Jigs, since they produce a lot more bites and are more fun
to use than minnows.
Of course, striped bass also return from the Delta in the fall, drawing
anglers from throughout the state to fish for them. Many anglers like to
bait fish for them with threadfin shad, sardines and mud suckers, while
other boaters prefer to troll Bombers, Rebels and jigs. Bright likes to cast
for the stripers with Pencil Poppers, Hair Raisers and Rat-L-Traps.
Sometimes while fishing spinnerbaits, buzzbaits and Rat-L-Traps for bass and
stripers you will also hook steelhead and king salmon, particularly as the
water gets cooler.
The TV show "Great Outdoors With Tom Stienstra," airs Sundays at 6:30 pm on
Channel 44 (Bay Area Cable 12). Stienstra wrote an excellent story about
Sheldon and his Delta trip in his Sept. 25 column in the S.F. Chronicle;
read it on www.sfgate.com.
Franks Tract Area Fishing Facts
Location: The Franks Tract area includes a myriad of sloughs, cuts, islands
and river channels. This area has become most famous for the huge
largemouths that it yields to anglers tossing frogs, Senkos, jigs and other
lures.
Camping and Lodging: Motels and r.v. camping facilities are widely
available in Lodi, Rio Vista, Bethel Island, Antioch and Oakley. For more
information, call California Delta Chambers, (916) 777-5007.
Franks Tract State Recreation Area: is only accessible by water and is
located southeast of Brannan Island between False River and Bethel Island.
Franks Tract flooded in 1936 and again in 1938. Call 916-777-6671.
Boat ramps: B&W Resort, Isleton, (916) 777-6161; Russo's Marina, Bethel
Island, (925) 684-2024; Big Break Marina, Oakley, (925) 679-0900.
Fishing information: Hook Line and Sinker, Oakley, (925) 625-2441; Extreme
Angler, Oakley, (925) 679-3115; Rio Vista Bait & Tackle, (707) 374-5522.
Bass guides:
Striped Bass and Sturgeon Charters: |
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Bright and Stienstra sped over to the first "practice" spot on the Mokelumne
on Franks Tract as the TV Show crew, including producer Jim Schlosser at
Barbary Productions and lead videographer Celso Bulgatti, set up their gear
Washington and I followed them on the Washington's Ranger. We were there to
get some photos, as well as provide a back up boat.
During the fall, Bright likes to use spinnerbaits, particularly in white and
chartreuse, as a "'search tool," when he wants to cover a lot of water to
find if there's any active fish. The Senkos in dark colors proved to be best
on our trip, though Stienstra hooked one bass on a spinnerbait.
On a trip last fall, Bright, Paul Kneeland, Fish Sniffer Advertising
Director, Jayson Lira and I had a ball catching crappie in Sheldon's Ranger.
We nailed 25 to 30 crappie each, along with some fat bluegill, while
fishing weed beds around Franks Tract.