Lunch break report. It sure was hot out there today. I thought I would see a lot of shallow fish but I only saw a few. I think they have been fished out pretty bad because there really should have been a lot of shallow fish. Threw a blade for a while but it didn't feel quite right and I got no bites. Switched to a little football head jig with a 5" Assalt grub trailer. I saw a crab in a few feet of water so I tried to snag it to see what on earth it was. Kind of white and black color. Maybe a mitten crab? It was about 4 inches across. As I'm pestering it, a pretty nice largemouth comes up out of no where and has a look. It spooked when I moved my jig though. Walked further down and saw what looked like a fish in deeper water. I pitched out my jig and as it swam towards the fish, the fish ran out and grabbed it. Decent fish about 3 and 1/4 or so. After that I looked for more fish but only saw a few skittish smallies and a couple cruising largemouth that wouldn't look at anything.

Pic:

http://www.calfishing.com/images/daily_reports/3_29_02_rob_quarry_3-2.jpg

Regarding the crab thing...yep it's those damn Mitten Crabs. I fish for trout at Quarry and they mess with your bait all the time.

Sometimes, a fisherman will pull one in that got tangled in the line. The crab is usually killed. They are a foreign pest introduced into the lake, and now they are multiplying like crazy....

It's going to be hard to fish for catfish this summer.....

BTW, have you ever seen a crawdad at Quarry? I've never seen any there, but I'm sure that there are some lurking about.

Fish 4 Life

hey...where is the quarry ponds?

Go to http://www.ebparks.org/parks/quarry.htm

Full Guide to this new hole!!!
Ive pulled out quite a few trout and about a dozen 3lb+ LMBass.

Goodluck....

Hey Spot,

You put the Bass back right!?!?! I hope so.



Tight Lines,

Clay

Here fishy, fishy, fishy......

Clay

The Mitten Crab is not only a pest but a predator, it will eat crawdads. And it multiplys twice as fast. There in the Delta as well. I copied and pasted some info. from the DGF website.


Larger crabs (wider than 1.5 to 2 inches across the back) have patches of hair on their claws, which look like "mittens." Smaller crabs do not have these patches of hair, but any crab caught in freshwater is probably a mitten crab. Note: There is mitten crab identification information on the DFG’s web page at www.delta.dfg.ca.gov


The mitten crab burrows we have found are no more than 10 to 12 inches deep, which is not very deep when compared to ground squirrel, gopher, and muskrat burrows. However, a large number of mitten crab burrows could accelerate bank and levee erosion rates (although this has yet to be proven). To date, mitten crab burrows have been confirmed only in tidal areas, and have not been found upstream of the delta.


The ecological impact of a large mitten crab population is the least understood of all the potential impacts. Although juveniles primarily consume vegetation, they do prey upon animals, especially invertebrates, as they grow. A large population of mitten crabs could reduce populations of invertebrates, including clams, worms, and other smaller crustaceans through predation, altering the structure of the estuary’s fresh and brackish water benthic invertebrate communities. The mitten crab may also have profound effects on other species through competition. In South San Francisco Bay creeks, the mitten crab and the introduced red swamp crayfish co-occur, overlapping in dietary and habitat preferences. In the delta, the mitten crab may reduce abundance and growth rates of the introduced signal crayfish, which supports a commercial fishery.

Attachment #1, (.txt file)

That's interesting what they say about the burrows only being observed in tidal areas. I saw one crab come up on the bank and scoot into a hole. Looking around that area there were a half dozen other similar holes that were probably made by the crabs. I guess we can only hope the bass get big enough to eat the buggers. I was working a smallie a few weeks ago that was guarding a bed. As I was working it, this crab came by. Well the smallie that didn't want to hit my bait, ran right over and picked up the crab and moved him a few feet and spit him out. That was pretty funny :-) Made me wish I had a crab lure!

Here ya go hehe.
http://www.basspro-shops.com/servlet/catalog.TextId?hvarTextId=22284&hvarTarget=search

Dude, color 08 is just about dead on. That's too funny. I think I have my new secret delta bait :-)

Hey, they even got the sight fishing crab. hahaha. Might be time to start messin around with crazy $hit at the quarry ponds har har.
-Brian