When the sun is out like it has been, and there’s not much else you can do but watch television or read, you might consider going fishing. This is especially true if you have a child in the house driving you crazy. Take them with you. It’s a great way to spend the day. Right now you don’t have to go very far to find fish.
Whenever I talk to Keith Fraser at Loch Lomond Bait Shop in San Rafael, the only time the fishing isn’t great is when the wind blows so hard, nobody can get a line in. So, when the weather permits, like it does now, fishing is always great. The catching, however, sometimes leaves something to be desired, which is why you should go now. The catching is also great.
Keith, who is known far and wide as the guru of fishing in San Francisco Bay, also happens to be the only tackle and bait shop proprietor within an hour’s drive of the bay who has live anchovies and live smelt, which are the two hottest baits. And with those live anchovies and smelt, his customers are catching fish all over the bay and even from the dock at the Loch Lomond Marina.
Keith is especially excited about the number and size of halibut being caught right now. By this late in the fall normally halibut would have left the bay to follow the schools of baitfish that also would have left. Apparently they decided to hang around, because anglers are using the live baitfish to bring in halibut weighing 20 to 30 pounds on a regular basis. That’s very unusual for this time of year.
Keith says that striped bass fishing is also excellent right now, and local kids are catching them right off the dock near his shop. To get the latest fishing conditions and directions to the best spot to fish, go see Keith at the Loch Lomond Marina, or call him at (415) 456-0321.
Dungeness crab limits, plus limits of rock and ling cod, can be yours if you reserve a spot on Capt. Rick Powers’ party boat “The New Sea Angler” out of Bodega Bay. Rick’s combo trips, which cost $220 for a day’s fishing, will allow you to catch your own limit of crab plus rock fish and bring them all home in an ice chest ready for holiday season dining. Call Rick at 875-3344 to book a trip.
If you’re a fly-fisher, there are two reliably consistent choices to fish for trout even if the weather gets wet. The lower Yuba River near the Highway 49 Bridge just east of Marysville, is loaded with feisty native rainbow trout that get fat on eggs of the salmon that spawn there. A drift down that part of the river, where the flow is controlled by a dam upstream, can be really productive this time of year.
The best guide for that water is Capt. Hogan Brown, who still has some open dates available for late December, January and February. For more information go to his website: hgbflyfishing.com.
Hogan also guides on the Sacramento River. The stretch between Redding and Anderson is especially good for winter rainbow trout fishing, because there too, Shasta Dam upstream regulates the flow. There are several other guides who can take you on a day’s drift there, including Anthony Carreuesco, aclflyfishing.com.
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