Lately, I’ve been considering selling my bass boat and buying a multi-species boat.

It’s really a tough decision.

I grew up wanting a bass boat since the first time I saw one on Lake Amador back in the early 80s. While I was away in the military, my motivation for making it through some of those tougher days was to someday have that bass boat of my dreams. When I was in college ready to give up, I just couldn’t qui, knowing that if I failed to graduate I probably wouldn’t be able to get the boat I’ve wanted so much as a child.

I remember telling my wife when we were considering marriage that I’d buy the house if she bought the boat. I ended up doing both.

Why a multi-species boat? I no longer fish tournaments, and I’ve really started to enjoy fishing for other species. Most importantly, I enjoy fishing with my family. A multi-species boat would enable me to bring my family with me and allow me to fish for a variety of different species.

To the outsider looking in it’s a no-brainer — sell my current boat and get a multi-species boat. To me, when I look at my current bass boat I don’t see it as a boat, but a symbol of all my sacrifices and accomplishments. It’s definitely a tough decision to make and the decision is only made tougher when I pull my boat out from under its cover and head out for a day of fishing.

Delta Report

Fishing continues to tough on the Delta, striped bass catches are increasing as the cooler temperatures are bringing more fish through the system. For striped bass try sticking to the main channels or right outside the flooded islands.

The largemouth bass bite has been off and on as I believe the unstable weather conditions have halted a lot of fall type activity. Most anglers are targeting outside weed lines with jigs and crankbaits.

New Melones Lake

Melanie Lewis of Glory Hole Sporting Goods in Angels Camp reports:

“Trolling anglers had very little luck this week fishing the main lake. The trout seem to be in transition from deep to shallow water. We have had reports of fish being caught from 5-65 feet of water. With the water temperature dropping we should start seeing more fish being caught toward the surface.

“Try using shad patterned trolling spoons such as, Needlefish, Excels, Slimfins, and Speedy Shiners. The fish are feeding heavily on 3- to 5-inch shad. Large plug baits like Countdown Rapalas, Rattle traps, and Speed traps might coax a few fish into biting.”

Bass fishing is starting to pick up as anglers are fishing deep 20-40 feet deep while dragging small worms through the schools of actively feeding fish.  

New Hogan Lake

Recently, the bite has been really good for large numbers of bass. Spider grubs in watermelon red is working well if thrown up to the bank and worked down to at least 20 feet.

Reaction baits such as Lucky Craft Staysees are also working but not as well as the jig. Six-inch shaky head worms such as Robo Worms margarita mutilator II is another go to bait. For the deep water angler the larger fish are coming from anglers fishing the schools of bass down to 60 feet while using a drop shot or a jig.

Lake Don Pedro

Fishing for trout is tough on the lake. There are some anglers catching them, but they are stumbling into schools of actively feeding trout on the surface. Both the trout and the bass are said to have the bait schooled up and are following them throughout the lake.

When they are schooling it’s sometimes a waiting game as there is a small window as to when they can be fooled into biting.

Lake Camanche

Trout plans have began on the lake and anglers are reporting catching trout while fishing near the dam. Bass fishing continues to be good on the lake, as anglers are scoring good limits while fishing reaction baits and plastics in 10-15 feet of water.

Tip of the Week

Batteries are an important part of a boat. Most anglers come home from a day of fishing hook up the chargers and forget about the batteries until the next fishing trip.

There are some chargers that will allow for this but most chargers will continue to heat the batteries shortening the life of the battery. The best way to insure your batteries last long is to charge them right away, and remove the charger immediately once the batteries are fully charged.

To contact Jarod Ballardo, email jgbbass@yahoo.com.