Hopefully, your week is going great. We've been pretty busy here at the shop receiving and merchandising new inventory. See below for updates on some of our new stock. A lot more is in the works. We are also brewing something new and exciting that's never been done before. More on this October. Here is a hint. It rhymes with "Forecast".
Fishing has been excellent over the last couple of weeks and should continue into November and December. Sturgeon will start making their way into the Napa River soon, if not already. We've been marking a lot of them in the system, just haven't fished for them yet. Perhaps in the next couple of weeks, we'll make a dedicated Sturgeon run. The trouble is that Striper fishing is so good it's hard to patiently bait fish for Sturgeon when trolling rat-l-traps and throwing swimbaits produces a lot of Striper action. More on that below.
September Best Catch Contest - Last week of September to participate!
Tag us in your best catch for a chance to win Sweeney's gift card, @sweeneys_sports.
New Classes on the Menu
It's super exciting to finally roll out Bass Fishing classes here at Sweeney's. We had to take our time to find the right instructor. And we did. Many of you know Luke Lipanovich as a tournament Ace, but did you know he is an excellent teacher? We are starting off with 2 classes. A Free class for beginners and a $50 class covering more advanced bass fishing topics. Both are taught on Tuesday afternoons. Save your spot and learn from the best.
Fishing Reports
Lake Berryessa
Today, Big Nate Guide Service and Catch Happy are providing you with the most thorough action video report on how to catch limits of trout on Lake Berryessa. All of the lures covered in the report are now available at Sweeney's.
The one key ingredient to your success on Lake Berryessa is to be on the water at first light. The bite is really good until around 8am, and then it slows down considerably. You can still find the trout, but you'll have to cover a lot water.
In terms of where to fish, look for the bait balls in the deepest parts of the lake and start fishing. These bait balls are full of plankton and threadfin shad. They will show up on your sonar as a line with a fairly dense composition about 35-40 ft deep and around 3-5ft thick.
Watch the video for detailed instructions. The trout swims in and out of these bait balls to feed. Troll fairly fast through them using speedy shiners and watch your rods bend.
The guys also discussed the land-locked King Salmon trolling strategy, though they didn't hook any today. As a bonus, in the last third of the video, Nate and Alex discuss catfishing strategies on Lake Berryessa. Sure enough, on the trip next week, Alex caught a 14-pound and a 20-pound catfish using Nate's advice.
"Here is the video of this cat breaking my favorite TFO travel rod. This was 100% my fault as my brother distracted me and I didn't adjust the drag in time. We managed to land a 60 lb Sturgeon on this rod earlier this year, so I am sad to see it go. Maybe I'll try to fix it. We'll see."
One thing is for sure, the tug is the drug and these cats absolutely got it. We'll produce and publish the full catfishing video soon.
Napa River
We are getting a lot of reports of keep Stripers being caught in great numbers. The fish are everywhere in the river and it's just a matter of offering them what they are hungry for.
Multi-color Rat-L-Traps and P-Line Predators (custom-made at Sweeney's Sports into a Wild Thing lures) work the best. Trolling speeds around 3.5-3.8 GPS MPH worked the best.
Keep changing lures until you get bit. Turn around and troll the same spot again. Seemingly, the fish are dialed in on something different every day. The weather, tides, water color, bait fish behavior, wind, pressure, lunar cycle, and a dozen other factors shift constantly. That's why we never get tired of fishing the river. It's an ever-evolving puzzle with an abundance of options and action.
Go get them.
Shop News
Below is a short list of new and restocked products available today.
A full line of Sabre personal protection pepper sprays and stun guns.
Outdoor Edge hunting and fishing knives, tools, and sharpeners.
Expanded selection of slings.
A large selection of gun cases.
A selection of Surelock safes and lock boxes.
New line of Salty Crew Apparel
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And as always,
We truly appreciate every time you walk through our doors. Thank you for choosing to spend your hard-earned dollars with us. It's a privilege to be of service.
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