Sturgeon, Bass, Crab and Halibut
At both Berkeley/Emeryville and Pillar Point, salmon fishing is just about to start. Sign up now to start on the first Saturday in April.
Frank's Tract is a good place for bass fishing right now, especially for those using plastics near the bank. Catches of up to 15 fish aren't uncommon right now, with many of the bass weighing in at up to 9 pounds. At Tracy, black bass are starting to bite and striped bass are biting, though they're much smaller. Hot spots at Rio Vista include Isleton Bridge and Sandy Beach at the west bank. Anglers are doing great catching stripers in these areas. Trollers are doing better than shore anglers right now using minnows, with most of the bass weighing over 5 pounds, and some of them weighing in close to 10.
San Pablo Bay is full of crabs eating the bait before the fish can get to it, so keep your bait in the top few feet of water. A few halibut are biting, and the few that are biting are decent size with a 30-pounder being pulled out this week. Striped bass are biting well, but they're usually less than 5 pounds. They're responding to wiggly worm jigs at the surface, especially near Marin at the bank. Mud and ghost shrimp are working well right now for sturgeon, with the hotspot this week as usual near the Pumphouse area.
San Francisco Bay is offering up jack smelt for those fishing from shore and the piers. A few halibut were caught this week, each weighing 20 pounds or over. The hotspot for them appears to be Hunters Point, while striped bass seem to be hovering around the piers. Fish at night for the best bass catch.
Striped bass are easy to come by at Suisun Bay right now, especially around the buoys. Stay near 2-6 right now to get bass over 15 pounds. Fishermen using bullheads are having the best luck right now. For sturgeon, the Ozol remains a hot spot, but also try near the rows of ships, particularly the second row. At Pacifica, crabbing from the pier is going well, but bass aren't biting at all.
Trout
At Lake Amador, stick to the shore for the best luck as trollers aren't doing quite as well. If you do go in a boat, soak the bait and use worms, Power Bait and spinners. Points are the best place for catching bass with spinners. Morning fishing in boats is still better than fishing from them throughout the rest of the day. The hot spot seems to be Jackson Creek right now, or just about anywhere on the shore. Crappie are biting at Anderson, and bass are biting in the south end for fishermen using melon tubes.
Lake Camanche is a good spot for bass, trout and even crappie right now, though the crappie bite is a bit less than the others. Rapalas are best for trollers looking for trout. Stick near the South Shore Pond, which is a usually hot spot this time of year. For bass, try Senkos and worms, and stick to the top 10 to 25 feet of water. Lake Chabot produced a bass weighing 10 pounds last week near a dock. Use Rapalas for trout but don't expect much right now as the bite is slow. A 500-pound plant this week should improve that.
Contra Loma is showing increased catfish activity, especially around the boat ramp. The cats are still small, though, usually topping out at about 3 pounds. For trout, Channel Point is a hot spot. Use Power Bait and nightcrawlers for the best luck.
At Del Valle, the biggest fish this week was a striped bass of 19 pounds and 6 ounces caught with an X-Ray Rapala. Trout fishing is pretty good right now, especially at the Narrows where there are also stripers biting, and the south end where bass are also biting. For bass, other hot spots are the Marina and the west beach.
At the Lafayette Reservoir, some are pulling their limit in trout, but the fish are small. Bass are biting, but not much. It's not the optimum place for fishing right now despite the regular plants, but that should soon improve. A better place to go for bass fishing right now is Loch Lomond in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Not many are fishing there right now, but of those who are some are getting bass up to 8 pounds.
At New Melones, some small bass are biting well, but trout have slowed down. Los Vaqueros gets a trout plant of 1200 pounds this week which should help the biting. It's not been going well except for very experienced anglers. The ones with the best luck are using nightcrawlers near Cowboy Cove. Some catfish are biting too, with some up to 20 pounds. Striped bass fishing is spotty. Shore anglers are getting trout at Pardee, with trollers doing a bit better. Nightcrawlers and flashers are working well.
Right now at Shadow Cliffs, trollers are doing better than bank fishermen and managing a few trout each trip. A 2000-pound plant of trout went in here this week. At the San Pablo Reservoir, there's no consistency with trout not biting well at all. Lake Shasta's a good spot for bass now. There was a tournament last weekend where two bags of 5 fish each weighed over 20 pounds. Brown and green swimbaits are doing well with bass. Stick around the dam for trout and fish Kastmasters in the top few feet of water.
Trout are inconsistent at Quarry Lakes, but some big ones are coming out with Kastmasters and Power Bait, weighing up to 10 pounds. Hot spots right now are Horseshoe Lake and the Peninsula.
Steelhead and River Conditions
The North Coast Rivers are unpredictable, thanks to spring weather, with rivers like the Mad and the Eel turning muddy and suppressing the bite. Even weather patterns are needed to the get the rivers back into prime fishing condition. Always call for river flows before you head out.
Photo Credits: Peter Kaminski
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Categories:
Berkeley, black bass, catfish, Crab, crappie, Emeryville, Fishing, Fishing Report, Halibut, jack smelt, quarry lakes, River Fishing, Salmon, San Francisco Bay, San Pablo Bay, san pablo reservoir, Striped Bass, suisun bay, trollers, trout
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