The Fish Sniffer

(Benicia) After a dismal two weeks the sturgeon fishing in Suisun Bay has started improving as water temperatures inch up into the upper 40’s.

According to the staff at Benicia Bait, the two best areas in Suisun Bay for hooking sturgeon are the channel at Ozol and in the area  near the Green Buoy. Fish have also been caught at both the upper and lower ends of the fleet. 

While some anglers have landed keepers, the water is still hovering around 48 degrees. This means that the sturgeon remain sluggish and hooking them takes a fair amount of patience.

Grass shrimp and ghost shrimp have been the top baits recently, but you’ll want to have eel and if possible uncured salmon roe on hand too.

Reports of shore or boat anglers hooking stripers have been few and far between, but shore anglers have been hooking good numbers of flounders recently. The flounders are beginning to head up the bay on their annual spawning migration and provide tasty  fillets for anglers that invest some time in targeting them.

Grass shrimp are the best bait for flounders at this time, but the flat fish will hit pile worms, clams and anchovies too.