BY DAVE HURLEY
RIO VISTA – Late July and early August is Frog Time on the California Delta, and the first of the two big frog tournaments, the Ultimate Frog Challenge 10, drew a combined total of 162 boats for the pro and amateur divisions. After weeks of triple-digit heat, last weekend was much cooler than anticipated, and normally cooler temperatures result in challenging frog fishing.
The key was remaining consistent, and the team of Hung Ho and Mon Luong posted consecutive three-fish limits at 17.74 and 14.03 pounds for a winning total of 31.77 with a big fish at 8.91. The top four teams on the pro side all had consecutive days of more than 10 pounds. Both tournament formats are similar as the teams fish the afternoon tide on Saturday and the morning tide on Sunday. Vince Borges of Vince Borges Outdoors and his partner, Chad Frie, came in 9th place with a total of 19.45 pounds, dropping from 4th place after Saturday’s limit at 14.95 pounds. Borges said, “We were throwing the new GSM Boom Boom Frog, and after having a very solid day one, we struggled on day two. It was cold and even foggy on Sunday morning, and the water temperature dropped up to 6 degrees. We flipped a coin to go either north or south, and north won. We fished north both days, and the winning weights came in the south Delta on Sunday. We ended up with 5 or 6 fish on Sunday, but the size just wasn’t there. There were only a few teams that improved their placement on Sunday as the overall weights dropped.”
The original frog tournament, the Snag Proof Open, is the following weekend out of Russo’s on August 3 and 4, and in addition to Snag Proof or American Bait Works topwater frogs, the new Zoo Dog, Zoo Pup, and Zoo Pop are also allowed. Randy Pringle, the Fishing Instructor, is the long-time tournament director for the Snag Proof Open, and he said, “There are plenty of bass there, but you must slow down for an opportunity for a larger grade in the 3- to 5-pound range. I have been scoring with the ima Helly P prop bait on a stop and go technique along with a crawdad-patterned ima Squarebill crankbait. I have been targeting areas with current with weeds on top, and the weeds need to be swaying in the current. The main river arteries have the greatest water movement so I have been working these locations. Soon, I will be heading west toward Honker Bay or Spoonbill Slough to target striped bass which should be returning from the bay within the month.”
Striped bass are showing up in the north Delta near Liberty Island, and large glide baits or topwater lures are picking up the linesides in the shallow water. Alan Fong of Alan Fong Outdoors took advantage of the minus tides to head into previously inaccessible waters in the north Delta to work the shallows with chatterbaits, topwater lures, or punching the weeds for 50 to 70 bass to 7 pounds for three consecutive days. He said, “It is difficult to get out if wait too long, and I almost didn’t make it out one day. I would have had to wait five hours for the tide to rise before we made it out, so these spots are not for the light of heart.”
Sturgeon fishing is closed, but there are several agenda items regarding white sturgeon on the August 15 agenda of the Fish and Game Commission including an item on the ability to catch and release sturgeon during the interim period of closure for research for California Environmental Protection Agency threatened status.