Gordie Hough, Captain of the Morning Star out of Crockett has also seen a big improvement in San Pablo Bay sturgeon action. "The water looks perfect since the rains started and we've seen a lot of activity on our last couple trips," explained Hough. "We were out yesterday and landed 7 striped bass and a 68 inch sturgeon for 11 anglers. We also had to release 7 or 8 undersized sturgeon. We were fishing way back by Sonoma Creek in about 6 feet of water."

Hough agreed the most productive tide has been the outgoing. "The absolute ideal situation would be the bottom third of a big minus tide," he said. "When we get those really big tide changes, anything north of the Pumphouse to the mouth of Sonoma Creek is a great bet. As far as bait goes, our last two keepers were caught on a grass shrimp/ herring combination. The funny thing is we've had way more action on ghost shrimp, but all those fish have been shakers so far."

Another popular sturgeon boat is the Baywatch, run by Captain James Smith out of Martinez Marina. "Conditions look perfect from Suisun Bay to San Pablo Bay," said Smith. "We've had a huge amount of runoff and the water is flowing dark and muddy. I've been fishing near the Mothball Fleet most of the week and I'll probably venture up into San Pablo Bay some time next week."

Smith said the bite has been decent in Suisun Bay, but not as good as he would have hoped considering the ideal conditions. "We've landed three 71 inch sturgeon and several striped bass on our last 4 trips," he said. "I think with a little break in the storms, the bite just might break wide open."

Boaters aren't the only one's getting in on the sturgeon action. In San Francisco Bay, bank anglers are bagging sturgeon at a variety of locations including Bay Farm Island, Ballena Bay, the Alameda Rockwall and the Emeryville shoreline. "We had a lot of sturgeon reported this week in the south bay," said Mike Phanh at Central Bait in Alameda. "Bay Farm Island has been the top spot. An average of 6 fish a day are being caught by bank anglers at Bay Farm."

Phanh suggested that anglers fish any of the popular shrimp baits including mud, ghost and grass shrimp. "Both tides are producing fish," he added.

In San Pablo Bay, bank fishing opportunities are much more limited. One of the top spots in recent years has been the Sonoma Creek shoreline near Highway 39. "I had a bank fisherman bring in a 59 incher on Thursday and we had reports of several keepers caught on Friday," said Terry White at Leonard's Bait and Tackle in Petaluma.

White said grass shrimp has been a very effective bait when you can get it and ghost shrimp is running a close second. "The prime time for bank fishing in Sonoma Creek is high tide and the first couple hours of the outgoing tide," he explained. "Boaters are also taking fish when the weather allows. The hot spot has been about 3/4 miles east of Marker #12 at the Petaluma River channel."