Fishstix024

Congrads on the PB! Thats a toad!

22lbs on the dot! Had a tiny window Friday morning before the storm moved in. I had located a small school of nice grade fish the night before. On the water at dark and rolled to the spot by 6am. First pass, first cast and it was on. Fish smashed my 9" B52 plug in RBT color. Fought hard for a minute, then ended up wrapping the line and came in broad side. Slid into the net easy, then it was Hi fives and photo time. She looked post spawn with many bruises and scrapes from the males rubbing on her. She was probably 25lbs+ a few days before the full moon. Best fish of the year for me. I can't recall a season where I've seen, risen, or hooked and lost so many fish over the 20lb mark. This one took a huge weight off my back. Still lot's of pre spawn fish out there, hoping the run hasn't quite peaked yet.... Fishstix024

The spring run is in full swing now. We've been out the last month targeting the Big females ( and males). We mainly target water 1-4ft deep with 250s, Savage Glides and TW plugs. I've had a few shots at fish over 20lbs the last week and failed. Missed blowups, half ass strikes and pulled hooks are killing me. My crew in the boat has been cleaning up my mistakes though. We've put in many fish in the 10-30lb class. The last fish is from Sunday night, the owner/builder of DeltaWoodBombers Carlo, caught a huge male that went 29lbs! Fish took a 6" sinister TW plug in 2ft of water. As usual we release anything over 10lbs to fight another day. Enjoy the pics. Kenji

Damn those are some huge slabs!!

Went out on the hunt for giant spring run stripers this weekend. Mainly throwing TW plugs and medium to larger glide baits. I had a big 20lb class fish on Friday literally tear the hook off a split ring on a Savage Glide. Drag must of been a lil too tight...Doh!! Swapped out for Owner hardware that night. Back out the next day and got my redemption. Nice 18lb hen on a RBT Savage glide.

Solid Jail bird!!

Sac Side. Water temp 54-56. 1-2ft vis. Fish were holding on levee breaks and rock points

First solid striper of the year. Mid teens fish. On a Waver200

TOADS!!!

Agree with all the above. Phenix makes some great rods and the M1 SB is my fav. I use the 80MH and mainly fish large TW plugs for stripers. I've landed a few over 25lbs with no problems. I've also recently tested it out with other applications. i've caught a couple salmon jigging spoons. Also some lingcod and rockfish in the salt. Very versital if you ask me!

Right on! What part of the Delta were you fishing? North South East or West? I'm heading out Friday, gonna try the South fork of the Moke.

Wow great trout! I've seen TV shows filmed there. Looks like an awesome fishery. Some giants lurking in those slips!

Nice butt!

Booyah!! That's a PIG!! How was the blowup??

Awesome report! My crew likes to say "One topwater fish equals three regular fish" . So in reality you caught like 130 fish that day. That plug has some serious wear on it, well worth the $6!

Thanks for the reply. I have seen the Hedgehog site. Very nice components. Lil on the pricey side. I'll check out the hawgtech site. Anyone else have an suggestions?

Anyone know where I can buy aftermarket handles for Revos or Diawa reels? I found a website from Japan that has some badass ones for $130 but that seems pretty pricey. Looking for a larger handle than the stock one on a revo SX. Preferably with EVA knobs.

very cool. Thanks for the report

The spring run here in the CA Delta continues to produce. We haven't had the numbers like last year, but, the quality of fish has been good. I've been putting in 2 a days, fishing the low light in the morning and evenings. We've had our shots a few fish over 20lbs but can't get em to take our TW plugs. Did manage a few good ones in the mid teens range. All fish taken on Delta Wood Bombers. All fish released after pics.

JTSwimbaitman- I will admit I'm partial to DWB. I have fished many other walking baits in the past including Punkers and had success. I believe all baits have a place in the market from $5 pencil poppers to pricey custom wood baits. After years of fishing them all I have found the DWB is my confidence bait and it has served me well. Hopefully others will chime in and voice there opinion. Here's another "review" from BASS Pro Bobby Barrack at the Sacramento ISE show

Punkers walk.....wood bombers glide! It's more of an exaggerated walk. On long casts you can get 12-24" per glide. This is what stripers really like.

Yeh they work pretty good Lol!

Here's a few pics of a home grown bait straight outa Northern California. My friend Carlo is the owner and builder for these baits. All baits are hand turned from yellow Alaskan cedar. He does all the prep and paint work by hand. His artwork is second to non! Every plug also gets 3-5 coats of clear, prolonging life of the paint and minimizing hook rash. Plugs are finished with Through wire design, wolverine triple split rings and owner or VMC 4x hooks. They are mainly for Striped bass here in the CA Delta but have also taken some nice LMB. Carlo also makes bottle neck poppers and pencil poppers for offshore applications. These baits come in a 5,6 and 9" Sinister series and are priced from $40-$120. Rainbow trout, Squawfish and Baby Bass Sinister 6" DWB Prostaffer Kris Huff sig model "Liar" in 5, 6 and 9" 9" B52 in Rainbow Trout, these have been killing in Socal Resivoirs and on the East Coast

We release over 90% of our fish. And, always release fish over 10#. Boat rules....

Fished mournings and evening this weekend on the Derty. We haven't got into the numbers that we would of liked, but, the quality of fish is definetely up. I'm sure if we switched over to subsurface baits we'd get bit more. But, the addiction of Topwater is hard to shake. I find myself throwing 9" plugs in clear sunny conditions, just hoping for that giant to strike. Here's a few fish we did boat: Fish 1: 13# HK Slay colored DWB Fish 2: 15# Barrack Shad DWB Fish 3: 24# Red Head DWB