Up to a point, the more it rains this time of year, the better the sturgeon fishing is in the bay just south of us. Unless this changes dramatically that isn’t going to happen this year, but if we get a few more storms this month, it could still be okay.
On that subject, Keith Fraser, the guru of fishing in the Bay Area, sent out a newsletter this week, suggesting that the early February rains and good tides should improve action in his favorite area of San Pablo Bay.
Here’s a little bit of Keith’s report from the newsletter.
“Sturgie fishing was fair in December and dismal in January… because our resident sturgeon did was they always do in January – head south to dine on herring roe. But now, everything has changed. The herring spawns are probably gone and the sturgeon have come home.”
He added that there are also some keeper striped bass biting in the bay.
Keith usually sites what he calls the “Surgeon Triangle” as the best place to find sturgeon at this time of year. China Camp, Buoy 5, and the Pump House mark that area, located off the Marin shoreline east of Hamilton Field.
Hamilton Field was an U.S. Air Force base next to the bay south of Highway 37. The pump house is off shore several miles and was used as a gas pumping station for the field.
China Camp, located further south on the Marin Shoreline, was a fishing village in which hundreds of Chinese immigrants lived in the late 19th Century. They made their living fishing for shrimp in the mud flats of San Pablo Bay. The village prospered until around 1911 when anti-Chinese sentiment, restrictive rules and the banning of their method of shrimping eventually led to a declining population and abandonment.
The old village was used as a set in the 1955 move “Blood Alley,” starring John Wayne and Lauren Bacall. It is now part of China Camp State Park.
• For the latest bay fishing conditions and live bait, call Keith at the Loch Lomond Bait Shop (415) 456-0321. His book, “Keith Fraser’s Guide to Sturgeon Fishing,” is out of print, and I saw copies offered on Amazon for $50 recently.
Local anglers looking for a guided fly-fishing day on the Napa River should check out the Sonoma Valley Boys and Girls Clubs’ “Sonoma Is Our Sweetheart” auction site, sonomaisoursweetheart.com. Guide and Sonoma resident Patrick MacKenzie has donated a fishing adventure to the auction. It is a good way to support the club and get a fishing trip too.
The California Department of Fish and Wildlife planted rainbow trout in Marin’s Bon Tempe Lake this week, will plant more in Santa Rosa’s Lake Ralphine next week and again in Bon Tempe. These are good places to bring your kids and grandkids fishing for a day.
You can also fish for striped bass in the Napa River from several spots along the bank off Cuttings Wharf Road. The best place to get information about fishing the Napa River is at Sweeney’s Sports at the River Park Shopping Center in Napa.
There are still anglers finding fish in Lake Berryessa and Clear Lake. By March the bass action on both those lakes should improve. I’ve heard the crappie fishing at Clear Lake is excellent right now.
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