‘Kiss my bass’ and other summer fun

The Stockton Downtown Sportsman’s Club, along with that city’s Boys and Girls Club, found a way recently to grab a good headline. They announced the inaugural “Kiss My Bass” charity fishing tournament set for Sept. 18 in the California Delta.

The Kiss My Bass tournament will benefit the Stockton Boys and Girls Club and is open to all teams, so you don’t have to be a pro bass angler to enter. It pays back 40% of all entry money to the top 10 teams who weigh the heaviest 5-fish limits. The other 60 percent goes to the charity. You can register at the WONnews.com website.

The event is being run out of Ladd’s Marina in Stockton, and the delta region is where contestants must fish. Entry is $400 per two-member team.

I spotted the story in the July 16 issue of “Western Outdoor News,” which is a great newspaper for those of us who love fishing, by the way. You can subscribe by calling 818-286-3108, or go to their website WONnews.com.

In that same issue, it was reported that the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta was number two on Bassmaster magazine’s top 100 Best Bass Lakes of 2021. Nearby Clear Lake was number five. In case you’re wondering, Lake Fork, Texas was number one.

If you’re a largemouth bass angler, can get or borrow a boat, and find a partner, maybe the Kiss My Bass tournament is worth consideration, if only so you can get cap, although prizes do run from $200 to to $1500, more if they get 100 teams to enter, at bit.ly/3BL3MVb.

* If you like fishing in hot weather, the Delta is producing very good largemouth bass action right now, but mostly early in the morning. Closer waters like Berryessa and Clear Lake, not so much. Knowledgeable trollers are catching limits of kokanee salmon at Berryessa, in spite of the fact that the water temperature is 80 degrees down to 10 feet.

* If you want to stay cooler and closer to home, then call Capt. Rick Powers at Bodega Bay Sportsfishing, 875-3344, and see if he’s got a spot for you on his boat, The New Sea Angler, for a day of salmon fishing just off the Sonoma coast. Salmon fishing is very good there right now, and it is so much cooler than here in Sonoma. Rick’s party boat trips also include time to catch rock and ling cod before heading in, which means you can come home with a big ice-chest full of fish.

* Don’t want to go out in a boat, but like the idea of staying cool? Then fish in San Francisco Bay from several public parks along the Marin shoreline, including China Camp and Paradise and McNear parks. Your best source for bait and all the information about fishing the Marin shoreline is Keith Fraser at Loch Lomond Bait Shop in San Rafael. Keith wrote a book on bay fishing and can tell you where the best fishing is at the moment.

* Fly-fishers can drive up to Redding and find very good trout action on the Lower Sacramento River between Redding and Anderson. The air is hot, but so is the action. Fair to good fishing is also found now on the Fall and Upper Sac, the Pit River, and the same for Hat Creek. Check with The Fly Shop in Redding if you need a guide.

If you want to try to Upper Sacramento River, drop in on Bob Grace at the Ted Fay Fly Shop in Dunsmuir. He will tell you the best places to fish and can even refer you to a guide for the area.