Carquinez Strait, located between the Crockett-Vallejo and Benicia-Martinez bridges, is a transition zone between the saltier waters of San Pablo Bay and the fresher, brackish water of Suisun Bay. It is the first area, other than California City in San Francisco Bay, where king salmon stage and hold before making their annual spawning journey up the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers, offering shore anglers a unique chance to catch salmon from the bank.

This area has played host for the past three years to a bank fishing only salmon and striped bass derby sponsored by Benicia Bait and Tackle. Anglers caught a lot of salmon and stripers during the Third Annual Bridge To Bridge Shore Fishing Derby from July 16 to October 25, with most of the fish taken during the last three weeks of the derby.

Jim Noda placed first in the big salmon division with a 23.5 pound chinook (cleaned and gutted), as well as catching the second largest total weight, 24 fish weighing 169.3 pounds.

"I fished almost everyday during the derby and started hooking salmon on Labor Day weekend," said Noda. "I caught my fish while fishing my homemade spinners off First Street in Benicia. I took my two fish limit on four days this year."

The angler brought home a Tica SL100 reel and Benicia Tackle custom rod and a gift certificate to the store for his efforts.

Gene Wall weighed in the second biggest salmon during the derby, a 21.4 pound chinook, winning a trip aboard the Reel McCoy sportfishing boat. Luis Aguilar placed third with a 20.2 pound chinook, winning a trip on the Morning Star.

Ryan Bottini easily captured the largest total weight division by bagging 23 salmon weighing 195.3 pounds. He took home an Okuma EB65 spinning reel matched with a custom Seeker 12 foot spinning rod.

Bottini's strategy was to fish the high tide at the end of First Street and the low tide at the State Park. He nailed 15 of the salmon off First Street and the other 8 off Benicia State Park (Dillon Point).

Gene Wall took third place with 16 chinooks weighing 134.5 pounds, winning a $25 gift certificate. Other derby participants who caught a lot of salmon include Barry Day, with 15 salmon to 117.5 pounds, and Jorge Navarro, with 11 kings totaling 92.5 pounds.

The anglers landed the fish while using a variety of spinners, including Blue Fox, Flying C, Ve-Ze, QMS and homemade spinners.

Striped bass anglers also nailed quality fish during the derby. Pat Rhodes caught the largest striped bass, a 17.9 pounder, during the first day of the event. He won a Tica reel and custom rod for his catch.

Arturo Mariano placed second with a 14.8 pound striper, while Maggie Meji took third place with a 13.8 pound bass. Bullheads produced the majority of bass taken during the derby, though shrimp baits also fooled some fish. Jerry Cordova of Benicia landed a 9.7 lb. striper while fishing off First Street on October 24.

Pam Royal and Curtis Hayes, owners of Benicia Bait and Tackle, started the derby three years ago after getting requests from local anglers to have one.

"We decided on a bank fishing only derby because the salmon fishing from shore is better from a boat in this area. In addition, there are already a lot of derbies for boaters," Royal explained. "The salmon fishing started this season later than in previous derbies. Last year anglers started catching salmon on opening day, while we didn't weigh in any salmon this year until Labor Day weekend."

On the other hand, the striped bass fishing has been good from July through now.

Why do the salmon congregate in this area? "First, I believe that the fish stage here as they sense the fresh water coming out of the Delta. Second, First Street there is a shelf that dead ends off First Street. The fish move along the shelf to where it ends and then go back into the main channel of Carquinez Strait," said Pam Royal.

At Dillon's Point, the catches are less frequent, but the fish are generally larger. "Dillon's Point gives anglers access to the deep water of the strait from shore," said Royal.

On October 24, the anglers were still catching salmon off First Street, although I didn't see any salmon hooked off Dillon's Point.

I saw five bright salmon on stringers when I arrived. Meanwhile, five other fish were hooked, but only one was landed. David Chuck of San Francisco landed a 10 pound chinook while fishing a custom spinner. Eugene Kwon landed the largest fish taken, a 14 pounder, while using a blue homemade lure.

Frank Reyes of Vallejo also nailed a 7 pound king on a custom spinner. "I have been catching a salmon on just about every trip," noted Reyes. "On my best day, I landed two salmon weighing 8 to 10 pounds and one 12 pound striper while casting spinners off First Street."

Although the fishing from boats is generally much tougher than it is from shore, Reyes, a Boston Whaler owner, noted that boaters experienced better action this year while tossing out spinners while anchored. A few salmon are also caught by boaters trolling for stripers, but for some reason trolling isn't anywhere near as effective for the chinooks as casting spinners. The salmon are no longer feeding when they enter the strait, so they are hitting the lures in an aggressive action just like they do on the Central Valley rivers.

Besides salmon and striped bass, fishing for starry flounder can be good off the Benicia shoreline. Use grass shrimp on light spinning gear for these tasty flounder.

Anglers fishing for other species off First Street and Dillon Point occasionally catch steelhead. The best area to target steelhead from the bank is off the Martinez Pier and the Martinez Marina. Fish spinners and spoons or nightcrawlers and shrimp baits under bobbers during the late fall and winter months.

Although sturgeon can be caught from shore, most locals fish from a boat for the diamondbacks in the strait and nearby San Pablo and Suisun bays. During the fall, winter and spring, party boat anglers and private boaters find excellent fishing for sturgeon in the Benicia and Martinez areas when the tides and water conditions are right. You can book party boats for trips out of both the Crockett and Martinez marinas.

Jim Smith, captain of the Happy Hooker, and James Smith, skipper of the California Dawn, book trips for sturgeon and bass out of the Martinez Marina. Chris Smith, captain of the Captain Hook, and Gordie Hough, skipper of Morning Star, run fishing trips out of the Crockett Marina.

Whether you like to shore fish or fish from a private or party boat, historic Carquinez Strait offers an abundance of excellent angling opportunities. For more information, call Benicia Bait and Tackle, 707-745-4921.