After many years of curiosity stemming from those family trips to my wife's dad's place, which just happens to be about 20 minutes up the road from Disco Bay, I finally got to sample some of the glassy H2O that so many call home. All I can say is WOW!!!! What a rightious place to ride! I am definitely gonna drag the SAN up there for a summer trip next year. I'm still having a hard time believing what I experienced. I'll just have to add all you Delta locals to the list of people I'm envious of. <BR> <BR>Scott Smith: Thank you so much for the pulls and for showing me around. Your Sanger is one sweet ride! In terms of people who are dedicated to the sport, you &amp; the crew are some of the best I have ever met! Keep on riding!, and if you ever find yourself in the SoCal area, make sure to let me know, I would love an opportunity to return the favor!

Frew- Glad you enjoyed what the Delta has to offer. I should be up there next summer (to live)so let me know. I can't wait to ride up there again, I miss it. Did you get your backroll back under your belt?

Jeff, <BR> <BR>you need to cruise with us on Labor Day weekend. We have a crew of 5 to 6 boats up there. It's a blast, and believe it or not we always find good water. Next summer we plan on heading up at least two other times. Let's cordinate a road trip, I know of a cool place to stay while there. <BR> <BR>Hey me and Nate should be out on Saturday, let's hook up. <BR> <BR>Cheers, <BR> <BR>Jonathan

Oh by the way our crew has been heading there every Labor Day for 15 years if you can believe it!! I can only claim 5 of the last 7 years though. LOL

Labor Day is almost a year away. Let's plan a spring (April 16-18) trip.

Im glad you had a good time it was a great time just wish the water would have been cooler 80 deg. water is just a little warm for this time of year. Oh thats right Im still dreaming. Anytime you need a ride and want to come to the delta just let let me know we are out almost every sat rain or shine and sat and sun during the summer we got some killer pics I will e-mail then to you soon. <BR> <BR>

People think I'm crazy for driving 300 miles in the summer for the weekend when I'm 5 minutes from Castaic. Little do they know. If you can handle sharks, poisonous snakes and high bacteria levels in the water, its the best riding there is. Not that Im trying to discourage anyone from going!!!!!! Here is a pic of one more hazard. <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/90729.jpg" alt="">

Chris: <BR> <BR>What the hell it that thing?

Oh yeah, those are all over the delta.... No worries though, if you stay still, they won't bite ya'!

Delta eel, you should see the teeth they look like a canines.

Looks like a Sturgeon no?

wtf? Photoshop?

It looks like a belt

it gives great incentive not to fall when one of those is chasing you while your riding...

Ever wonder where caviar comes from?

I remember seeing that picture in the Sacramento Bee Newspaper...didn't they find like a license plate, a shoe, and someone's arm when they cut it open? Oh wait...wrong movie! But in all seriousness...I do remember seing that picture or a picture like it...The thing weighed 390 lbs or something like that. The fisherman that caught it had three fishing poles in the water, and the thing ate all three baits and was actually towing his aluminum boat around for like 8 hours or something crazy. He finally was able to board a larger boat and bring it in. I don't know about you, but I wouldn't want to swim with that thing...I'm never going to the delta again! <BR> <BR>Way too dangerous...I actually heard that someone was brutally attacked and almost killed by a stray seal the other day! Guess it was payback time for the seals!

Its not photo shop, it's a sturgeon named Big Sally.

Definitely don't pull one of your hollywood moves if you come across one of those in the water. And hang on to the rope for goodness sakes... they will chomp you in the ars if you let go! <BR>

Jeff - congrats that you finally made it up to the Delta, when you return give a shout, it's always nice to connect with new riders. <BR> <BR>Butta - girl you have to get you booty up here! I was thinking the Friday of the Tahoe Trip, I'll take that off and maybe we can grab Sean (canaday) and persuade him to give us a tow! <BR> <BR>Sean - That would be a sturgeon, they are prehistoric fish dating back to the dinasour erra. They are frequent swimmers of the Delta and I can bet ya that there is at least one swiming around out there in that bay of ours! Sturgeon have no vertibrea it's made up of cartlidge and unless you look pretty tasty they are basically of no harm to your average wakeboarder; except during mating season where they jump out of the water like telephone poles. Mom said she had one jump up between her and the boat many moons ago while skiing! EWWW.. <BR> <BR>Dan - you are very correct on the photo. I've caught one of these bad boys that was over 16 feet in lenght, it was rather nasty and I couldn't even tell you the weight of it. Mom caught it one day and we had and 18 foot boat, dragged that damn thing around with the anchor for over 4 hours. Dad was getting pretty pissed and when it finally came up for a breather it was two feet shy of the lenght of the boat. Needless to say it made another run and 45 minutes later if surfaced again. The only way to get one of the suckers in the boat is to "snare" it (basically you noose it with a wire and choke it, club it to death (brutal, but true)or "gaph" it (stick a giant hook in it's mouth which is located on the bottom and beat it to death). We tried to gaph it (we had no snare, which is the best option) the damn thing rolled, ripped it's face off, broke the hook and returned to the depths of the Delta! Trust me I was glad it did that, I wasn't sure I wanted and 16 foot fish in the boat with us for the ride home! Hell No. <BR> <BR>Chris - Big Sally .... she's what we call the "Delta Monster" for those of us regulars to the Delta, I know you've all had her come grab you a time or two while out on a set! <BR> <BR>(Message edited by jetgofish on December 02, 2003)

Damn, being out during mating season for those blood suckers does not seem like something I would want to do, I would rather it just bit my arm off!!!! <BR> <BR>Spring trip up there is definetely something that could happen. <BR> <BR>Cheers

and people think jersey is bad...sheesh!

Ok being that I dont know anything about the delta, can someone set the records straight? <BR> <BR>Is it freshwater or saltwater? <BR>Does it really contain a high amount of bacteria? <BR>And last of all do they have big ars sturgeons like that?

Pierce - The Delta is Freshwater, it does NOT contain high amounts of bacteria and YES they have big sturgeons like that!

Teri, I think the level of bacteria question is debatable. Do you have any idea how many cruisers out there are dumping "grey" water overboard? Most of them think that's acceptable, but I think it's illegal. Not to mention the likelihood that there are MANY people dumping black water straight out. That combined with the "acceptable" limits of pollution corporations can dump and pesticide runoff from farmland equals lots of nasty stuff in the water.

Mark - I will agree with you on all of the above, there are certain levels of bacteria in the Delta, but none nearly bad enough to give you some funky rash (oh wait...I had a rash last year, still isn't completly gone) and certainly not enough to be considered "unsafe to swim". But then again they say that you shouldn't eat any more than two fish out of the Delta a month due to levels of certain pesticides and lead! Wowwa, okay so ya there are certain levels of bacteria yes, but not high amounts as indicated by Chris!!

Teri, thanks. That place must be surreal to deal with the bacteria/pesticides! Hate to see if you swallowed some water by accident! <BR><img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/messages/65919/90761.gif" alt="">

Pierce - I've grown up on the Delta for 28 years now, taken my fair share of swallowed water and look at me I'm still doing fine! I think, but then agian. No seriously though, Delta water isn't something you would want to drink on a regular basis or in large quantities, but then again some one please tell me a wakeboarding body of water that you can. I really don't think the Delta is as bad as every one makes it out to be. It's just a level of respect and we Delta Rats or a tendency to scare the non-locals away from our so perfect butta!<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/proud.gif" border=0> You should come up and try it...you might never leave, not because you think it's great, but because Big Sally ate you!

you get immune to it!

lol! <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/rofl.gif" border=0>

I just had to pipe in on this conversation. For the record, Teri is not ok, the delta funk has gone straight to her brain, and yes she's had that rash for as long as I've known her <BR> <BR>

Your right she is not OK, Then ask yourself is the rash from the delta or someother activities? hmmmmm

Hey Scott, <BR>It's good to see you're still around. I've been tied up for a while with some things, but I may be down for a delta trip this winter, are you still riding?

I'm not going to comment on that one ALEE, I know what's best for me. ;)

Scott - Does Byron Chew ride with you? If so I think I was supposed to hook up with you guys Saturday, Byron never returned my call so I thought every one backed out! <BR> <BR>Mark - Thank you for your kind words, I love you too! <BR> <BR>Aaron - I'd like to make a clear statement here about what you are implying! The rash in not from the Delta and I don't know what "other activities" are that you are refering to...I've made several trips to the doctor and they too can not clarify the cause of the rash! Oh yah and by the way the rash is on my CALF!!! Must be from all the weight lifting I do!

hahaha she is a closet case tuber... but dont tell anyone

Damn...Aaron...there are secrets that you don't tell my fellow boarders and that was one of them!!!

teri thats why i wrote "dont tell anyone"

Mark - When is it that you will make it back down to the Delta!? We'd love to have you! I'm ordering the dry suit should be here with in a week.

gettofish/jet fish....whatever you call yourself these days.. Yeah we'll definitley have to persuade Sean to give us a tow before we hit the snow. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/proud.gif" border=0> <BR> <BR>Isn't that fish/monster the chupacabra? Now I can see why it took you a while to actually get aquainted with the water there after your fishing day from hell.....haha. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/rofl.gif" border=0>

It would be Ghettofish - thank you. My bad, my roomie is not canaday (dur), but yah butta we could plan something...but not sure you want to bring both boards via plane! <BR> <BR>And yes it did take a while to get aquainted, I'm a Delta vetran, but I know what's in that water! <BR> <BR>Jeff - Did Scott take you to Victoria's? <BR> <BR>(Message edited by jetgofish on December 02, 2003)

The delta is a great place. I was a regular at Dells until I made home at Shasta. Anytime, anyday you can get good water at the delta. The only thing thats sucks at the delta is jetboats and carp. Yes, there are also Sturgeon that big at Shasta too, but they are 200-400 feet deep!

Steve - the jetboats have put away for the winter, it's just us wakeboarders and bassfishermen now!

Jetboats are gone here too. Bass fisherman are zipping around at about 60-70 and get pissed when we wakesurf. Hows the water hyacin(sp) doing in the delta? I went down 2 yrs ago and it was pretty bad around Victoria. Socal still trying to steal your water?

"Still tryin" they've been for years and years now! I can't understand why they don't desalinize (sp) their own freakin water! (touchy subject with me). The Hyacins (sp) aren't that bad yet. Typically they mulitply in the winter and they've done a lot of spraying. It cuts back on them but it doesn't kill them all! You know where that stuff came from don't you? <BR> <BR>Hows the water temp at Shasta now?

I thought I remember someone said it came from Florida, but I could be wrong. It seems to be worse the further south you go. It always has been a touchy subject. <BR> <BR>Last week Shasta was 67/68. Whiskeytown was already 64 2 weeks ago, and we there hasn't been snow there yet. When it snows this year I'll get a pic of someone boarding w/ snow on the shore. Brrrr <BR>

For the record, I once swallowed some of the delta water on accident, and was sick for two weeks.

Steve - Snow on the banks while riding makes for a pretty back drop, but yes BRRR. Last week when we rode the Delta was alrady at 57. BRRRR. Winter run off causes the tides to be higher, that pushes all the hyacinths out into the channels! Makes for a good olly course. Actually I think the Hyacinth came from China, some lady brought it back via mail (shipped it to herself) because she liked the pretty purple flowers, she placed it in her Koi pond and it took over, so she dumped it in the Delta (this just could be an old tale) and that's how it over took the Delta! We've battled if for years, it's is getting better though! I doubt it will ever be 100% gone!

Yes Jeff got the 29 cent tour we took him to victoria's down by rivers end and rail road slou at least it was clear for the most part but cold

Jeff, you cheap bastard, when you come back get the 80 cent tour. <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/rofl.gif" border=0>

We have had the water around golden Isle (island at the other end of victoria from Union Pt) randomly tested by a professional testing company for the last 4 months. I hate to burst everyone's bubble but according to these tests (and the testing guy) Delta water is cleaner than most lakes as far as bacteria goes. Evidently the only real danger is mercury which is layered deep in the silt. This doesn't affect anyone unless it gets dredged up. Now a days they dump the spoils from dredging in local fields which the state rents from various farmers (at about 3 times what they could make farming it). They test constantly to make sure they're not uprooting this stuff (which evidently was deposited throughtout the area from gold mining in the foothills.) I was told this by one of our members who is involved with the proposed dredging near Disco Bay for the new DB2 housing project. The magnitude of what DB has to do to keep the State and EPA happy while doing this project is amazing (and amazingly expensive)

Thanks, Rich! Good information, and a bit surprising. I wonder if time of year makes any difference, as in differing degrees of run-off from different places. Please update us if you plan to keep testing and/or get any additional information as time goes on. <BR> <BR>Also curious what happens to the mercury-laden silt after they dump it on farmland. Did I understand that right? Are crops then grown there? Might some of it run back into the water after a hard rain?

We are going to keep testing as it's helping with the island's dealings with the county. They can't dump mercury laden silt anywhere. I think they do bore tests first to make sure they're not going to hit any but the State also tests the spoils as they go along as a precaution. Modern day rotary dredgers use a lot of water and that has to perculate back into the ground. When done the ground cannot be farmed for 3 years. I believe Victoria Farms was paid 3 million by the DB project for the use of their land.

Rich - I've heard rumors that the DB2 Project is canceled. This is the one where they are to dredge and make more bays as well as a marina am I not correct. If so I've heard that it was called off due to the enviromental impacts...

I haven't seen my friend since Sept. so that may very well be true. The environemntal obstacles to a project like that are nearly insurmountable! It's those same concerns that I've also heard are stopping the state from completely removing the berm down the middle of Victoria, deepening it and removing most if not all of our island so they can increase the water flow to the pump stations at Grant Line and Old River.

Rich - you can bet I will be the first to lay down on my board in front of the dredging machines should they do that! I'm sorry all you So*Cal people, I'm sure you are all great people and no offense but GO GET YOUR OWN FREAKIN WATER. Here all the damn enviromentalist are bitchin and moaning about the Discovery Bay projects and they even stopped the progress on the SF airport because of a freakin FROG. They have no idea what the affects of those pumps are on the CA Delta. <BR> <BR>There's a big blue ocean of water out there go de-salinize it. I have so much to say on the impact of the Delta water going south and so do many others. I did a huge study on the impacts and how congress every passed it and how all the enviromentalist let it pass is beyond me...really it is!

Teri, your spirit is admirable, but there also are potential problems with desalinization. <BR> <BR>Rich, thanks again for the info. We certainly all wish the best for Golden Isle and our beloved Victoria!

Last I read (In the local Discovery Bay paper) was that the attempt to build the new marina was blocked by the town council. There were several members who felt that it would be very hazardous to introduce that much more traffic into the 5mph zone coming from Orwood. this was particularly stressed in lieu of the many accidents that occured at that spot this year. I think I remember there being a concern about boat related theft in there too. <BR> Whether the decision will stand is TBD but I have a feeling that it will eventually be built. The right hands just need to be greased. I have noticed that they blocked the water that runs out to Bixler road from the Orwood/discovery Bay 5mph zone to where the new houses are going in. This is no doubt the beginning of deepening that waterway for boat access. I imagine there will be some items required by the government if it happens. The new builders are already building some wildlife areas next to Kellog creek coinciding with all the new houses. I would expect some other type of environmental offering and area improvement would be a part of any agreement.

Mike - Actually they blocked the water off down that slough so they could drop in some piping that has to run across the slough. It's scheduled to be un-damned in January. <BR> <BR>The last town meeting that was held in Disco was last month, because of all the accidents and racing off-shores a proposal has been made to put a speed limit on all of Indian Slough. So basically form the 5 mph that connect Orwood Slough and Indian out to Old River will have a speed limit. They have not yet deteremined the proper speed (something like 35 mph), but they have indicated that it will NOT be a 5 all the way through. <BR> <BR>Doctor Octagon - The Central Valley Project was first researched in the 1930's the state completed a comprehenisive investigation of the Delta's salinity levels, thw plan was then approved to send water from the Delta into the Central Valley for farming purposes. The canal was complete in the 40's and water began to flow. In 1944 Shasta Damn and the Shasta watershed project was completed, this was and is used to control the salinity levels in the Delta. <BR> <BR>It wasn't until 1973 that water started flowing to So*Cal, at this time all the contraversy erupted in the amount of water and the impact it would have on the Delta. In 1993 the Delta Smelt and the Winter Run Salmon were added to the California Delta Endangered Species list. Supposedly we've had various studies and legislation since then along with many other native fish that have been added to the Endangered Species list. <BR> <BR>I'm sure there are many problems that are faces with the desalinization of the So*Cal water, but it's now being looked at since the impact on the Delta is so great!

omg! thats insane. Luckly arkansas doesnt have ne weird creatures like that. We have some pretty massive catfish though! I would still go to the delta though thats gotta be a awesome place to ride.

Lynsey - I rode with Luke the other day, and butt checked out of 1, I think my problem is that I'm a kinda lazy rider. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to improve my work ethics. <BR> <BR>Jonathan - I think a road trip next year would indeed be in order. Saturday may be out for me, Cindy says I hafta put up the Christmas lights (Clark Griswald would be proud<img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/crazy.gif" border=0>)!! If I get things done, maybe Sunday morning? <BR> <BR>Rene - Spring sounds real tempting! and yes, I am such a cheap bastard that I hand out ketchup and taco sauce at Halloween <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/proud.gif" border=0>! <BR> <BR> <BR>ALL - The water didn't seem bad at all, but then I've been in Lake Elsinore <img src="http://www.wakeworld.com/MB/Discus/clipart/rofl.gif" border=0>. <BR> <BR> <BR>(Message edited by socalwakepunk on December 03, 2003)

Teri, I first started to ski at the delta in 1972. (Dating myself there) Ever since I can remember the so cal's have been tryn to steal the water. Peripheral canal et al. Now with the big water fight w/ the colorado river and the feds, you can bet they are gonna try anything to get the water. <BR>Used to be talk of taking land was fighting words, now it's water. They are looking to raise Shasta Dam by 5 feet in the next couple of years. 5 feet x 365 miles of shoreline. Lots of water. All because the the demand for water has far exceeded the storage capacity. It will cost millions to raise this dam and lots more to keep the delta the way it is.

Steve - Funny you mention that, I was doing a little poking around last night and I read that. It never ends, lets face it the grim reality is that people keep moving to California and the more people that move here the more farmland we lose, more smog, more traffic, more polution; it's a losing battle. When you look at the big picture, it's rather depressing! <BR>

Don't forget to factor in global warming.

Here is a link to where you can find and some have, all the info on the delta. <BR> <BR><a href="http://www.usbr.gov/dataweb/html/cvpdelta.html#Delta" target="_blank">http://www.usbr.gov/dataweb/html/cvpdelta.html#Delta</a> <BR> <BR>