This is a good time to take your kids and grandkids fishing on San Francisco Bay. Halibut and striped bass are biting like crazy along the Marin County Shoreline according to Keith Fraser at Loch Lomond Bait Shop in San Rafael.
High winds out of the northwest have kept a lot of boats tied to the pier, but shore-based anglers have found places to catch fish, and that action should continue even as the winds die and the weather improves.
“Halibut fishing now is off the charts,” Keith said this week. He said that anglers are even catching keeper-sized halibut and stripers off the levee near his shop.
One of his regulars fished off the levee near him this week and landed five halibut and four stripers in less than a half-day fishing, and all but two of the fish were keepers. The minimum size limit for halibut is 22 inches; 18 inches for striped bass.
Keith says the fish are all over the bay, but one of the most accessible spots is the pier at McNears Beach Park east of San Rafael. He also has the only live bait on the bay and it is by far the best way to catch halibut. He can also direct you to the best spots to fish. Call Keith at 415-456-0321 for more information.
Before the wind kept most boats tied to the pier, fishing off the Sonoma Coast had been excellent. Now that the weather has improved, Capt. Rick Powers of Bodega Bay Sportsfishing says he expects outstanding rock and ling cod action as well as great salmon fishing. Rick has plenty of room on his party boat, “The New Sea Angler.” You can call him at 707-875-3344.
As far as trout fishing goes, I have some good news and some bad news.
The best trout fishing report I saw this week was from the Sacramento River near Redding, where resident rainbow trout are providing lots of action for anglers. The best way to fish that stretch of the Sac is with a guide. You have several choices for guides including The Fly Shop in Redding, theflyshop.com; Kirk Portocarrero, sacriverguide.com; and Anthony Carruesco of AC Flyfishing, acflyfishing.com.
The bad news is that trout fishing is probably as good as it is going to get. The snowpack in our mountains that would normally keep the streams running cold and clear is way down. I drove past Shasta Lake last weekend and it looks like a moonscape. I’ve never seen it so low. That means that the river flow below it will probably be cut back by summer.
The upper Sacramento River is actually at a normal spring level now, but that won’t last, because there is not enough snowpack to keep it at normal levels this summer.
Rivers in the Sierra will be way down. So will many lakes.
My suggestion is fish now, before it is too late.
When is too late?
That’s hard to say, but I think fishing from mid-June through September is going to be hit and miss at best, with the water in many California streams to be too low and too warm for trout to survive. I wouldn’t be surprised to see the California Department of Fish and Wildlife to restrict or halt fishing if conditions get that bad.
On the other hand, some parts of Oregon, including the area around Portland and Mount Hood, got lots of rain this winter and spring. You may want to look north for fishing later in the summer.
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