The California Delta can be a great place to fish during winter. An angler can go out for one species and run into tough fishing, but still salvage the day by targeting another species. This is evident by a striper-turned-largemouth adventure that Sheldon Bright and I made with Bobby Barrack of Back To Class Guide Service on Friday, December 10.

Sheldon and I had already canceled one trip two days prior due to a cold front passing through the valley. We decided that Friday would give the water a chance to clear after the rain and improve our chances at catching fish.

"We're going to target stripers all day and mix in a little largemouth fishing mid day when the top water bite slows down," explained Barrack prior to our trip. "Then, we'll go back to throwing top water baits for stripers again around mid-afternoon."

On Friday morning, Sheldon and I drove to meet Barrack at Russo's launch ramp just after six am. It was a cold morning, but not windy or rainy as it had been earlier in the week. Water temperatures ranged from 50 to 54 degrees throughout the day.

We made our first run of the morning to target stripers with top water plugs on a shallow water flat on the Central Delta at Middle River. The water depth averaged 3 to 7 feet deep and the river had a steady flow to it.

Bobby tied us up with chrome poppers to start the morning off. Barrack was the first to hook up with a striper, a 5 pounder that he put in the live well for pictures later in the day.

Meanwhile, Sheldon and I both had several strikes, but no takers. Most of the big fish throughout the day would roll over the bait, rather than eat it. To combat this problem, Bobby switched me over to a baby bass Super Spook and a Lucky Craft ghost minnow for back up.

"If the bass doesn't want to eat the top water lure, throw the rip bait a little further back to bring the fish in to bite," suggested Barrack. "Also, don't set hook with the Spook unless you feel pressure from the fish. They tend to roll over the bait before eating it, so give them some slack and force feed them."

In the early morning hours of the trip, we found it to be more efficient to pull a rip bait in this fashion right behind the top water to prod the most finicky of bass.

"I just got struck by a big bass. Sheldon, pick up the rip bait and throw it 10 yards behind mine," tipped Barrack. With his coaching, Bright nailed a striper going about 9 pounds.

We bounced around to several shallow water areas like this throughout the day, not spending too much time and putting too much pressure on one group of fish.

Around noon, just as Bobby had predicted, the top water bite shut off, so we ran over to Old River to try ripping a few largemouth. "When you reel in, give the bait a jerk and pause it before reeling in slack line," he said.

"Make sure to work the bait slowly because these fish are a bit lethargic in the cold water."

We found some slack water and began working the rip baits, while Bobby tied on a Berkley Pulse Worm to try for crappie and bluegill. We worked our baits in about 3 to 9 feet of water, hooking a fish here and there.

"You feel that?" asked Bright. "The sun's coming out and it's starting to warm up."

As we felt the warmth of the sun, the bass took to our baits more and more. "It looks like you guys picked up on the cadence of how to work the lures," remarked Barrack. "Before the sun came out, you were fishing slow, but you guys adjusted well once the fish got more active."

Sheldon and I continued working structure for black bass and quickly saw the size of the fish grow. "Throw right down the middle and work the bait to the boat," said Barrack. Following his instructions, I quickly hooked and landed a tough 3 pounder.

"Get the net, I got a good one on," said Bright. As I put the three pound bass in the box, Barrack netted Sheldon's prize of the day, a 6 pound largemouth. The three of us released over a dozen more bass before trying a few more casts at stripers at Middle River.

The last hours of the trip were a bit tougher than the morning, but we still managed to bring a few more stripers into the net. All-in-all, we boated 7 stripers to 9 pounds and over two dozen largemouth to 6 pounds, including two three pound largemouth and fish averaging 1-1/2 to 2-1/2 pounds.

To book a Delta trip with Bobby Barrack of Back To Class Guide Service, contact him on the web at www.bobbybarrack.com or call him at (925) 684-9904.