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Striped bass fishing is so good now that you can even catch large numbers of fish on the smaller tides, although fishing on the larger moving tides is best. The fish are biting throughout a wide area, ranging from the reefs of the central bay to the flats of San Pablo Bay around the Pumphouse. Because of its timing in late September and throughout the month of October, the late Cliff Anfinson called this the "World Series Bite." The fishing is in full swing now, as evidenced by a trip that I made with Captain Gordon Hough of the Morning Star on September 20. Hough had told me the day before that because of the slow tides, we would probably find the best striped bass action in San Pablo Bay in the afternoon, so we would concentrate on halibut in the central bay in the morning. However, Gordon changed his plans and decided to try fishing the area between Buoy #5 and the Sisters for stripers on the morning of the trip. "There's a little bit of incoming tide left, so we'll give it try and see if we can get some stripers," said Hough. In spite of the slow tide, the fish immediately began biting. Dana Gonzales of Hilmar was the first to hook up, followed by her husband, Bill, who landed a 10 pound striper. I hooked and lost a striper and then cast out again to hook up a shaker halibut, the first of the day. |
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"Don't expect limits - this bite will probably die soon because there's almost no tide," said Hough. "We'll probably come back here in the afternoon to finish up our limits." But Hough had underestimated the hungriness of the stripers. Over the next few drifts it was mayhem as everybody on the boat hooked up striped bass. The stripers ranged from 4 to 10 pounds, with the top fish a 16 pounder that I landed. Captain Hough hooked the largest fish, a striper estimated to be over 20 pounds, but a cagey sea lion grabbed the morsel. Although Hough struggled with the hungry pinniped, the sea lion won in the end, taking the entire fish. "We're done - we got full limits, 30 fish," announced Hough at 8:45 a.m. "There's so many bass in the bay now that you can even catch limits on a slow tide like this." Hough drove the boat down to Raccoon Straits, where we began fishing live bait for halibut, and then to Southampton Shoals, where we ended the day. We fished as deep as 30 feet, but drifted in 7 to 15 feet of water most of the day. The slow bite of the afternoon contrasted with the hot and furious action of the morning, but the anglers still managed to bag 4 keeper halibut, as well as release 20 shaker halibut. The large number of shaker halibut in San Francisco Bay portends well for coming years, since the shakers of this season will be keepers in 1 to 2 years. Gene Schaeffer of Pleasant Hill landed a keeper halibut, as did Bill Mallory of Sacramento. Other anglers who joined in the limit striped bass action on the Morning Star include Sam Caselli of Glen Ellen, Cory Williams of Hilmar, Mark Gangler of Sacramento and Fran Mallory of Sacramento. Other charter boats, including the Captain Hook, Bass Tub, Child's Play, Fish 'N' Fool IV, New Keesa, Fury and Touch of Grey, have also reported catching striper limits and a smattering of halibut over the past few weeks. The improved striper fishing success is the result of the fishery conservation efforts of United Anglers, the California Striped Bass Association and other conservation groups over the past two decades, combined with six years of high precipitation. The pen rearing striper project of the Fishery Foundation of California is another key factor in the restoration of the striped bass fishery. The striper fishing is expected to hold in the bay through October, when increasing numbers of stripers will move into the Delta and Suisun Bay. If you want to have a lot of fun battling stripers, now is the absolute best time of year to do it. |
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