It's Striper Time In The Discovery Bay Area   By: Dan Bacher November 16, 2008 More Articles by Dan

The Discovery Bay Area of the South Delta, including the bay itself, Orwood Tract, the Old River, Middle River, Indian Slough and Kellogg Creek, is a magic magnet for striped bass and other species.

When big schools of threadfin shad move into this area during the fall and winter, schools of hungry stripers follow the fish to gorge on them. Meanwhile, the popular South Delta area hosts resident largemouth bass, channel catfish, white catfish, crappie and bluegill year round for avid anglers.

A decade ago threadfin shad began moving into the area around the beginning of October and the good fishing continued through March, according to Ray Tomlinson, a former guide and a good friend of retired State Senator Dan McCorqodale. Unfortunately, the shad and stripers largely departed from the area by the middle of December over the past two years.

However, the shad and stripers began showing in good numbers by September 1 this year – and hopefully the fish will stay through March. Tomlinson believes that decreases in Delta exports, the result of two federal court decisions and a superior court decision to protect delta smelt, winter run chinook salmon and spring run chinook, could also helping the threadfin shad population in the Delta.

Trent Orr, Earthjustice lawyer agreed, saying that reductions in exports designed to help protected salmon and smelt could also be helping the shad. “Judge Oliver Wanger’s court order in NRDC Vs. Kempthorne requires minimum reverse flows in Old and Middle Rivers to stop the losses of fish in the Delta pumps,” he said. “This is done by releasing more water into the rivers or reducing pumping.”

As some anglers may remember, the massive federal pumps that export water from the California Delta to agribusiness on the west side of the San Joaquin Valley entrained over 370,000 threadfin shad in one week in October 2007. On one day, October 16, Bureau of Reclamation biologists observed 250,000 shad in collection buckets in the pumping facilities.

Regardless of why the shad and striped bass migration began in force into the South Delta one month earlier this year, one thing is for sure - the fishing is now in full swing. On a short evening trip I made out of Tomlinson’s house in Discovery Bay, four of us caught a total of four stripers in the 19 to 25 inch range.

We started out trolling with Rebels in a variety of colors, including the red white and silver (patriot) tipped with chartreuse worms in the bay, working our way over to Kellogg Creek. Fishing with us in Tomlinson's patio boat were John Pfund of Pittsburg, a former Fish Sniffer route driver that I trained years ago, and Terry Lambert of Denair.

“This is the earliest I’ve started,” he said, when we got in the boat a little after 3 p.m. “It’s been an afternoon bite. When the bite turns on, it will turn on all at once. There is no doubt when you get a hit – the fish have been hitting really hard.”

We were trolling in Kellogg Creek at about 4:30 p.m. when my rod doubled over and line began ripping off my reel. I pulled the rod out of the holder, set the hook and fought the fish for several minutes. Unfortunately, the fish came off.

Right after I lost my fish, Lambert had a fish on briefly. “That’s two fish lost in five minutes,” said Tomlinson.

Fortunately, Pfund finally hooked a striper that stayed on, a fish over 5 pounds. Lambert then followed up with another fish weighing 5 pounds, 2 ounces. John and Terry quickly caught their limits on a couple of other passes.

Meanwhile, Tomlinson and I were wondering why weren’t hooking fish. Ray had a couple of tentative hits, while I had several strikes, but we ended up getting the old “goose egg.”

We trolled throughout the creek and bay, winding by the luxurious houses and large boats of this unique community as the October sun went over the horizon. It was 7:30 p.m. and we agreed to call it a day.

“The fish are averaging around 4 to 5 pounds, with our biggest 12 pounds and several in the 6-1/2 to 7-1/2 pound class this year,” noted Tomlinson. “The unusual thing this year is that many fish are running right to the boat and are breaking the surface of the water.”

On his previous trip, Ray and his fishing partners caught five stripers up to 6 pounds, while he and his fishing buddies landed 6 fish, keeping five to 12 pounds, the previous evening.

Ray moved into Discovery Bay in 1998 after living in San Jose for years, having no idea about the great fishing available in the South Delta. Every year since then, he and his fishing partners have caught hundreds of stripers, with the biggest a 36 pound beauty boated three years ago. He expects the larger fish to move in as the water temperature cools down.

“I prefer to troll at 2-1/2 to 3 mph, depending upon whether I'm going with or against the tide,” he noted. “The ideal tidal movement is 3 to 4 feet of movement from high to low. I don’t care if it's incoming or outgoing, as along is the tide is moving."

Besides trolling, anglers can also entice the stripers while fishing live bluegill or jumbo minnows. Tossing out top water lures, swim baits and other lures can also be productive when the fish are gorging on shad and other bait.

Anglers can launch boats at the Discovery Bay Yacht Harbor launch ramp or at Orwood Resort on Orwood Tract.

Discovery Bay is located in Contra Costa County, California about 60 miles from San Francisco. The community is based on a waterfront community of 3,500+ homes with private docks with access to the Delta and San Francisco Bays. The town’s population was about 16,500 in 2006. The first home was built in the community in 1972.

Although anglers can fish in the bay and adjacent sloughs from a boat, the docks are all private docks and you may not fish from them. Since the water is the backyard for thousands of residents, use common sense, courtesy and respect when fishing this area.

For channel and white catfish, Ray suggested soaking mackerel, sardines and other baits in Old River by the Highway 4 Bridge, where there is ample parking. Although you can also fish Middle River, the parking there is very limited. Another area where you can fish is the levee area near the Discovery Bay Marina.

The South Delta, including Discovery Bay, is increasingly becoming well known as a top-notch black bass fishery. “This is one of the best bass fishing areas in the country,” Tomlinson said. “There will be a ton of bass boats fishing throughout this area when a tournament out of Orwood Resort is held this weekend.”

Discovery Bay Area Facilities

Boat launching and an array of other amenities are available at the Discovery Bay Marina and Orwood Resort:

Discovery Bay Yacht Harbor: a full service marina providing fuel, marine parts, marine service and storage facilities. Overnight guest facilities with showers and electrical are available. You can dine at Discovery Joes and visit the boardwalk shops.

Boat launching: features a double-wide launch ramp open from 8:00 am to 9:00 pm. Winter hours are 8:00 am to 7:00 pm. The fee is $10 per boat.

Marina facilities include 266 covered berths up to 50 feet in length featuring concrete docks, storage boxes and 30 amp electrical. Their 630 unique dry stack storage species provide a private cubicle, convenient boat trailer storage and locked gate security with night patrol.

Fishing bait and tackle The Discovery Bay Chandlery 925-634-6178.

Contact information: Discovery Bay Yacht Harbor, 5901 Marina Road, Suite #1, Byron, CA 94514, Tel: 925.634.5928.

Orwood Resort: is a full service resort offering RV and tent camping, group camping, a general store, wet Berths, full service bar and grill, and a fuel dock. Orwood also offers secure, paved parking areas, new courtesy docks, gas, a general store, a bar and grill and a friendly staff.

Boat Launching: A triple wide launch ramps assure you a fast launch and less waiting to trailer the boat after a day on the water. $10 weekends, weekday rates lower.

Camping: Camp sites include both RV hookups and tent sites designed for those who prefer to pitch a tent and barbeque their meals outside.

Reservations are required for R.V. Sites Call 925 - 634 – 6812, R.V. Camping Rates (2 persons/minimum charge):, R.V. site $30.00, extra person $5.00, each child (4 and under), is free. Includes water and electricity. Dump station available for a small fee.

Tent Camping Rates (2 persons/minimum charge): camp site $25.00, extra person $5.00 each, child (4 and under) free. Maximum 8 person per site. Reservations accepted for holiday weekends only. A valid credit card is required upon registration. Call (925) 634-6812.

Address and contact information: Orwood Resort, Inc., 4451 Orwood Road, Brentwood, CA 94513. Phone: (925) 634 – 7181.

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