To my surprise, we found an outstanding bite flipping Speed Worms and Senkos in Connection Slough and Mildred Island. In a little over 3 hours, Paul and I landed a total of 14 fish, many in the 2 pound class and the largest just shy of 4 pounds. Considering the way the largemouth were biting, I wondered if the striper bite was also kicking into gear.

A subsequent conversation with Delta legend Bobby Barrack confirmed things are already getting started and it won't be long before the peak of the season arrives. "I had several good striper trips last week and even had a red hot topwater bite one of those days," he explained. "It's mainly schoolie-sized fish right now, but I'm seeing a fair amount of fish in the 5 to 8 pound class and the largest last week weighed 11 pounds."

While it's still a few weeks away from what would be considered prime time for Delta stripers, there's plenty of fish already in the system and the improving largemouth bite only adds to your chances of putting together a respectable day. "Basically, starting October 15 the striper bite is on," said Barrack. "The black bass population is also feeding heavily and they tend to hold in a lot of the same areas."

The key to targeting early fall stripers and black bass on the Delta is to concentrate on feeding lanes found throughout the many sloughs and flooded islands of the west and central Delta. "There's a lot of levee breaks and small openings into sloughs that create ideal feeding situations for stripers and largemouth," said Barrack. "When the water is moving through, the stripers and largemouth will sit on the edge of the current breaks and pick off the bait flowing in and out of the openings. I like to fish the Broad Slough and Browns Island area this time of year because this is a big intersection before fish decide wether to head up the Sacramento or the San Joaquin."

When it comes to lures for targeting striped bass, Barrack keeps it pretty simple. "I like to throw a Super Spook with a chartreuse back when the topwater bite is going," he explained. "If they won't hit the topwater, then I fish a 1/2 or a 3/4 ounce clown colored Rat-L-Trap. One thing to keep in mind is that I target very shallow water, typically 4 to 5 feet."

While largemouth can also be taken on Zara Spooks and Rat-L-Traps, Barrack changes things up when strictly targeting black bass.

"You can either fish for numbers this time of year and catch 15 to 20 fish a day or go for quality and hope for a few of those big bites," he said. "When it comes to fun fishing for numbers of bass, I like to throw a 6A or 7A Bomber to those same types of openings at the bottom of the tide. I also catch a lot of fish split-shotting plastics or dead sticking a Zoom Fluke on 10 or 12 pound test. Oh yea, don't forget to throw a white spinnerbait on the outside edge of the weedlines. For those big tournament fish, I will head into the South Delta and flip Brush Hogs to sparse pieces of wood."

For more information on a fall Delta trip for stripers and black bass, call Bobby Barrack of Back To Class Guide Service at (925) 684-9904.