Sacramento River - Garcia Bend
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Sacramento River - Garcia Bend Fishing Reports
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Species
Largemouth BassSeason
Fall
Technique
Topwater Walking
Structure
Flooded Brush
Water Temperature
62°
Species
Largemouth BassSeason
Fall
Technique
Wacky Rigs
Structure
Matted Grass
Water Temperature
68°
I wanted to get on the water at dawn to hit the top water action...but things happened and my time on the water got started at noon...Ugh. However, regardless of what time you're out on the Sacramento River, if you want to catch some fish, you can always count on a wacky rig. The most action came at about 10 ft of water, with some slow twitching a Yamamoto Senko. I've always found that watermelon with black and/or red flake does the trick. Largest one was 2 pounds, but they're all fun to catch.
Species
Spotted BassSeason
Fall
Technique
Wacky Rigs
Structure
Ledges
Well, I went out with the ambition of fishing jerk baits cuz I've been reading the fall transition is a good time for that tactic....but I guess the Sacramento River doesn't know that yet...So after an hour or so of nothing happening with a couple different jerk baits, I switched over to the tried and true wacky rig and had some fun. Still a little slower than my last couple of trips out here, but managed to grab 10 for the day. I stayed about 25 feet off shore and was casting back about 10 feet off shore. You just need to be patient and get that bait down to the bottom and that's where they were biting. On this day, it was the Yamamoto 5" Senko in Watermelon and White that had them biting. Full disclosure on this picture...It looks like a monster, but pushing that fish out towards the camera will do that...:) This was my best one of the day though at about 1.5 lbs.
Species
Striped BassSeason
Fall
Technique
Topwater Walking
Structure
Open Water/Basin
Forage
Shad
Water Temperature
70°
Cotton Cordell pencil popper on a Lews Speed Stick 7’6 heavy rod
Species
Spotted BassSeason
Fall
Technique
Topwater Popping
Structure
Ledges
Had a great day on Saturday, Sept 10. Got on the water at about 7:30 am. The temps were finally cooled down after a week of extremely hot weather in Sacramento. I don't think it got over 90 degrees, which beats the heck out of the 115 we've been experiencing. I headed straight for the bank, tied on a Rapala X-Rap Popper and on my third cast, caught the first of about 20 bass over the next 2 1/2 hours. Largest I caught was only 1.5 lbs, but it was a blast watching those fish blow up that top water lure. At about 10 am or so, the bite just seemed to turn off. So after trying a shad swim bait, as well as a Texas rig with various color worms and having little luck, I tied up a trusty Wacky Rig with a green pumpkin/black flake worm and things fired right back up again. I got off the water at about 4pm having caught 35-40 bass. Such a blast having that kind of success out there. I'm still trying to learn how to find and catch the larger bass that I know are out there. But in the meantime, I'll take a day like that any time it happens.
Species
Spotted BassSeason
Summer
Technique
Ned Rigs
Structure
Ledges
Spent about 6 hours yesterday (Aug 28) hitting the ledges off the banks just down river from Garcia Bend. Last time out, I caught 20+ casting right on the shoreline, but they were all pretty small. So yesterday, I moved off shore about 6-10 feet just drifted with the current and fished a little deeper just off the rock ledges. The results were fantastic! I caught another 20 or so, but two of them were 2 pounds plus and the others were definitely larger than the babies I was catching last time out. For some reason the pumpkin colors weren't working, but things really picked up when I switched to the Plum Apple. Those Spotties tore up almost my entire package of that color. I'm going to have to reload. Next time out....I'll be in search of the 3-4 pounders....
Species
Smallmouth BassSeason
Summer
Technique
Wacky Rigs
Structure
Rip Rap
Water Temperature
69°
What a crazy day...started with a light drizzle in the morning, then full sunshine at 11, then at about 1pm, it was raining so hard, I thought my boat would flood, then at 3pm....beautiful blue skies. Seemed a wacky rigged Senko was what they were after today. (Thank you Gary Yamamoto!) There was something about the blue flakes in the Green Pumpkin Blue that would get them to fire off. Out of curiosity, I tried several different patterns, but those blue flakes just had something going today.
Species
Largemouth BassSeason
Summer
Technique
Ned Rigs
Structure
Reeds
Had a great day August 7. Lost count on how many I caught... Over 25 for sure. Just fishing the banks, flipping back to the shore with a slow bouncing retrieve. Only thing was they were all kind of small 8-10". After catching so many in that size range, I probably need to switch up my tactics if I want to get something larger. Would love any ideas on what that tactic might be. Did catch one diaper striper....
