“To kiss or not to kiss.” Recently I’ve seen an increase of anglers kissing their catches. I’ve personally never kissed any of the fish that I’ve caught. I’ve honestly never really thought about it. The first time I ever saw an angler kiss a fish was in the 1980’s. Professional Angler Jimmy Houston, “as far as I know,” was one of the first to kiss a fish on camera. My initial thought was that he must be crazy! I now realize that it was a brilliant move on his part, it made myself and his viewers want to watch his show even more. He must have got the message, because after a while, he was kissing every fish he caught. After some research, I found out that anglers have been kissing fish longer than I thought. Anglers kissed fish as a way to say thanks, and a way to say goodbye to them if they were being released. I received a picture recently from one of my long time friends. It’s a picture of him kissing a fish. I still get a good laugh at the sight of an angler kissing a fish. As funny as it is, though, I still don’t plan on kissing any of my future catches.

Delta Report:

Fishing on the delta is good right now around the Stockton area for bass. There are a lot of nice mats growing in the area making good overhead cover for the bass. Anglers doing well are throwing top water lures or fishing shallow running crank baits. The bluegills have been spawning all over the delta lately. Anglers searching for biting fish are fishing around the boat docks with small worms and crappie jigs. Catfishing is fair for anglers fishing with chicken livers or anchovies in Whiskey Slough.

New Melones Lake:

Kokanee fishing is improving for those fishing early in the day while trolling apex lures 30 to 45 feet deep in green, red, or pink. Bass fishing remains good for numbers of smaller fish with the bigger ones being few and far between. Anglers are doing well while dragging Carolina Rigs along the bottom. There is a good top water bite right now early and late in the day. Catfishing has been really good for those fishing at night with traditional catfish baits. Bluegill and crappie continue to bite for those fishing with either a minnow or worm under a bobber in the backs of coves.

Don Pedro:

Kokanee fishing has been really slow. Those that are having any success are trolling sling blades with pink or purple hootchies tipped with shoe peg corn between 30 and 90 feet deep. Bass fishing is good during the morning hours. Once the sun gets up the fishing gets a little tougher. Anglers that are having success during the day are fishing soft plastics around main lake points.

Lake Amador:

Fishing during the day has been really slow for those going for bluegill in the shallows. The bass fishing has really slowed during the day. Fishing during the night is great right now with lots of quality fish being caught. Berkeley Power Worms in any of the darker colors are working well. As the sun comes up look for the schools of bass to also come up for the first couple hours of the day.

Lake Tulloch:

The bite on the lake has been really good while fishing the morning and evening hours with top water baits. During the day go deeper for bass with small plastics and deep diving crank baits. Boat traffic has been really heavy lately so getting there early or fishing the evening is highly recommended. Night fishing has also been good to those fishing spinner baits in Copper Cove.

Lake Camanche:

The bite is really good right now for those fishing for bluegill and bass. Bass are being caught right now just about anywhere on the lake, with rocky points being the best spots. Lures that are being used are spinner baits and crank baits, while the bigger fish are being caught by those dragging plastics along the bottom. Bluegills are being caught shallow by those fishing with red worms in the backs of bays.

Pro Teen Tournament:

On July 15, the annual Conroy Oakley and Andy Cuccia Pro Teen Classic tournament will be held out of Russo’s Marina on Bethel Island. The purpose of the event is to introduce teens 13 to 19 years old to fishing through a professional style tournament where they will be paired up with a boater for six hours. Registration for anglers and boaters for the event is now open. Boaters fish for free, for more information visit www.westernbass.com or contact Linzy Cuccia at (925) 752-4453 or Linzy.TNTBella.@gmail.com.