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Hot-Bites Fishing Report By the Fish Sniffer Staff	April 30, 2008 Updated Regularly

SAN PABLO BAY/S.F. BAY LEOPARD SHARKS... Superb early season halibut fishing is on tap in both the central and southern sections of San Francisco Bay. Both trolling and live bait drifting are producing fish, but over the past week drifting with live bait has proven to be the most effective approach. In addition to the halibut, stripers are beginning to show too.

“This is the best halibut fishing I’ve seen in the past 6 or 7 years,” disclosed Captain James Smith of California Dawn Sportfishing. “We’ve been on fire ever since live bait became available. On Wednesday April 23 we took out 11 anglers and ended up with 8 halibut and 5 stripers. The next day things really got going and we boated 23 halibut to 30 pounds 1 striper, a 15 pound white seabass and a quality leopard shark for our 11 anglers.”

On April 25, his 18 anglers nailed 42 halibut to 34 pounds. Saturday’s trip yielded 33 halibut and 4 stripers for 32 anglers and on Sunday our 23 anglers got 34 halibut to 31 pounds.”

Captain Joe Gallia of the New Easy Rider has also been enjoying very good halibut fishing at a variety of locations including the Berkeley Flats and Paradise Cay as well as in the South Bay.

On Thursday April 24, Galia’s 11 anglers scored 17 halibut and 4 stripers. His 20 anglers landed 20 halibut and 5 stripers on Saturday, while the 8 anglers landed 16 halibut and 4 stripers on Sunday.

Frank Salazar at the Emeryville Sportfishing Center described the halibut fishing as “very good,” with a few schoolie size stripers showing up, too.

On Saturday April 27, 4 charter boats departed from the Emeryville Marina in search of halibut. The C-Gull II boated 23 halibut to 19 pounds for 12 anglers. The New Huck Finn ended up with 35 halibut to 20 pounds for their 19 anglers. The New Seeker had 32 halibut to 17 pounds for their 13 anglers and the New Salmon Queen’s 16 anglers boated 31 halibut to 18 pounds.

Captain Jim Smith of the Happy Hooker has departed from Martinez for the sturgeon season and is now back at Berkeley Marina going on live bait halibut and bass trips.

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Area Fishing Maps Anderson Reservoir Coyote Lake Lake Del Valle Lexington Reservoir San Pablo Bay Shadow Cliffs Pt. Reyes

Hi, my name is Robert Perez. I'm from San Jose ca. My wife, Denise, and I went sturgeon fishing with the Sturgeon General of eastside San Jose. We launched out of Redwood City headed for some hot spots. We were near the Dumbarton bridge railroad trestles. I talked the sturgeon general into taking us out to his number 1 favorite spot for catching monster sturgeon. To my surprise it was only 35 min. from our home. I was beginning to have my doubts about this professional sturgeon guide, when all the sudden my wife thought she had a major snag. The so-called snag pulled her from the front of the boat to the rear were I was sitting. I grabbed her & told her to hold on for the fight of her life. Lucky for us we had 3 helping hands to land the giant sturgeon, because we could have never done it by ourselves. When we finally dragged it aboard, it was the biggest sturgeon we had ever seen. The Sturgeon General said that people fish their whole life trying to catch that 72in 100lb + sturgeon & only a hand full ever end up doing it. Well my wife Denise on her third time out sturgeon fishing landed the ultimate keeper sturgeon, 72in. 100+lbs. Now I have to call her the sturgeon queen for the rest of my life because I can never take 1st place away from her. I can only tie her and that could take a few lifetimes to happen, if ever. That's my story and thank you very much. A Special thanks to our guide, the Sturgeon General. We were able to experience the ultimate experience of sturgeon fishing.

The San Francisco bay offers a wide variety of fishing opportunities. All the anadromous species pass through the Golden Gate during their migrations. In the bay you will find California halibut, leopard shark, sturgeon, and striped bass. The sportfishing fleet frequents the Cordell Banks and the Farallon Islands. Both are excellent rock fisheries and during the season you will also find salmon. The local reservoirs provide warm water fresh fishing with the most notable being San Pablo Reservoir. Every once and a while you hear of a bass pushing 10 lbs. If you're in the Bay Area and you just have to fish, this might be the spot. Pier fishing is available at Pacifica and Berkeley.