Bacher: Striped bass are hitting on Delta, San Francisco Bay

RIO VISTA − The spring striped bass run is in full swing now on the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers in the Delta as the fish move upriver to spawn.

“Striper fishing is good to excellent,” said Jeff Soo Hoo of Soo Hoo Sportfishing on Tuesday, March 26. “Some boats that went out this morning already caught early limits of fish — there are plenty of fish out there now.”

“On my last trip on March 24, the eight anglers (including crew) caught 16 keepers ranging from 4 to 10 pounds,” said So Hoo. “We also released 10 undersized fish.”

“On the previous day, we caught 19 keepers, keeping our limits and releasing the other keepers and 6 shakers. On both days we fished the San Joaquin River from 3 Mile Slough to San Andreas Shoals,” he noted.

“We trolled Yo-Zuri lures this week for our fish, but we did well while drifting minnows the previous week when the fish were deeper. Most of the fish we have been catching so far are males,” he added. “The depths we trolled were 4 to 8 feet and 12 to 14 feet.”

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Mark Wilson, expert troller, said the striper fishing has been up and down on his latest trips.

“The Sacramento River striper bite turned on and then they disappeared,” said Wilson on March 26. “The fishing was slow on the Sacramento below Rio Vista off Decker Island this morning. The three of us in my boat caught two keeper stripers and one shaker while trolling chartreuse Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows on the Sacramento.”

“So we went over to the San Joaquin between 3 Mile Slough and the Antioch Bridge and trolled both shallow and deep,” noted Wilson. “The fishing was better there. We caught nine total keepers, releasing three of them, including an 18 pounder caught and released by Charlotte, Ron Retzlaff’s granddaughter.”

Most fish were in the 4 to 5 pound range. Their trolling speed was between 4 and 5-1/2 miles per hour. “The water was clearer on the San Joaquin than on the Sacramento and the surface water temperature was 58 degrees,” added Wilson.

The striped bass fishing is also going strong on San Francisco Bay, while the halibut bite is improving.

“Today we ran a half-day trip and fishing was fantastic,” reported Mike Rescino, Captain of the Lovely Martha, at Fisherman’s Wharf in San Francisco on March 23.“We finished up with over two fish per rod, catching 25 bass and 12 halibut for 16 anglers on Saturday, March 23.”

The stripers ranged from 19 to 24 inches long, while the halibut went up to 12 pounds.

On the next day, Rescino reported “another fun half-day on the bay, with tons of action.“

“We finished up with 17 bass and two halibut for nine anglers, along with many missed opportunities,” said Rescino. “We also had a lot of bites on shaker halibut and bass.”

They were trolling herring and anchovies in the south and central bay at 10 to 12 feet deep on the flats during the incoming tide.

Striper fishing was “pretty much lights out “on San Francisco Bay” on a trip on March 24, said Captain James Smith of California Dawn Sportfishing in Berkeley.

“We had them following the boat in big numbers while we trolled. Halibut was much improved today as well,” he observed.

Their final count for the day was 48 striped bass (20 limits plus crew) and 10 halibut to 10 pounds. The anglers had limits of stripers and four halibut by 9:20 am.

Robust steelhead returns to Central Valley rivers: California’s Central Valley rivers have seen what the California Department of Fish and Wildlife has described as “incredibly strong” steelhead returns this year.

This is in contrast to the record low fall-run Chinook salmon returns on the mainstem Sacramento River that has led to another year of severely limited salmon fishing opportunities or closures.

The Feather River Fish Hatchery exceeded its 2023 total of some 1,200 steelhead on the very first day it opened its fish ladder in January, wrapping up the spawning season with 2,277 returning fish.

The Nimbus Fish Hatchery on the American River, home to both Central Valley steelhead and a larger coastal strain of Eel River steelhead introduced decades ago, saw 3,178 steelhead return to the hatchery in 2024. That is one of its highest totals in many years, according to CDFW staff.

A new record for the number of steelhead returning to the Mokelumne River was set this year. A total of 1,749 steelhead, including 968 adults and 781 fish under 18 inches, came back to the system this season, reported William Smith, manager of the Mokelumne River Fish Hatchery.

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The previous record for total steelhead was in 2018 when the hatchery reported 530 adults and 638 juveniles, a total of 1,168 fish.

Camanche/Amador Lake Trout: After not fishing Camanche in a week and hearing some very mediocre reports, Nate Kelsch of Big Nate’s Guide Service returned to the lake and nailed them on his latest trip to the lake.

“These guys batted 1000%, going 12-for-12 scoring two limits of rainbows and two spotted bass, and gained some knowledge of how to fish this lake not only this time of year but all year round,” he said. “We kept our presentations in the top 20 ft. and varied speeds with a lot of turns to keep the fish interested. We are in the middle of a fantastic bite at all of the lakes that we fish, and our schedule is filling extremely fast.”

Some huge trout have been caught at Lake Amador lately as weekly plants of trout from the lake’s onsite hatchery continue. Brian Lopez from Pine Grove caught a monster 15.7 lb. cutbow, but didn’t disclose the area or bait he used.

Three members of the Perales family had a great day at Amador when they bagged five trout, topped by a beauty weighing 14.98 pounds on March 25, according to the Lake Amador Resort. Chris Plant also landed a healthy Amador Cutbow weighing 10.75 lbs. while fishing PowerBait from shore at the dam.

This article originally appeared on Visalia Times-Delta: Striped bass are hitting on Delta, San Francisco Bay