San Joaquin County Fishing Reports

The topwater bite in the Delta is the main game right now. Bass are crushing poppers and smaller topwater baits early, especially in slack water near fast-moving current. Protected coves, behind islands, and along weed edges with current breaks are the key zones. The topwater bite usually fades after 9-10 a.m., where chatterbaits, crankbaits, and worms start picking up fish. Senkos are working too, but smaller fish are the norm. Big females are guarding thick groups of fry, often swiping at baits, but hooking them has been tough with a lot of short strikes.

Striper fishing is very slow in the central Delta… mostly small schoolies. Bigger stripers are holding from Liberty Island to Pittsburgh in the Sacramento side.

Water temps range from 68 to 75 degrees depending on location.

The early summer bite is shaping up differently across the Delta depending on which side you’re fishing. On the Sacramento side, striper schools are thinning as they drop toward cooler Bay water, but there’s still action if you cover ground. Anchored boats are picking off fish with cut sardines between Clarksburg and Sacramento, while deep trollers are scoring along the West Bank from Rio Vista to Collinsville with Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows.

Liberty Island is one of the better zones for both largemouth and stripers right now. Shallow water... two feet or less... is holding fish tight to cover, and chatterbaits are doing the work. Sturgeon are still hanging in Suisun Bay, but most folks have moved on. It’s catch-and-release only.

On the San Joaquin side, the largemouth bite’s consistent for 2 to 3 pounders. Topwater baits are working along rocks and weeds, working best with long pauses between movements. When it’s windy, crankbaits, chatterbaits, and spinnerbaits in craw or bluegill patterns are producing. Soft plastics in natural tones are still working in calm tighter pockets.

Stripers are more scattered. The western Delta’s mostly quiet, but Three Mile Slough is still giving up smaller fish on shad-pattern spoons. For keepers, Mossdale is the best shot... daytime gets you shakers on frozen bait, but the 8 to 10 pm window is the key for 23 to 30 inch fish on jumbo minnows.