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Fishing Report December 16, 2011

Fishing and hunting

Capt. Rick Powers, at Bodega Bay Sportfishing, said he has never seen a December with such fantastic weather and fishing conditions as he has had for the past two-and-a-half weeks. “It's the perfect time to get your own Christmas crabs, as well as an ice chest full of rockfish,” Rick added.

He's taking party boats out of Bodega Bay in flat, glassy calm weather, with virtually all anglers on board coming home with full limits of rockfish and dungeness crab. Call Rick at 875-3344 for more information and to book a trip.

Sturgeon fishing in North Bay waters has been excellent this week. Joel Sinkay, of Leonard's Bait Shop at Port Sonoma, said the best action he's heard of is near the mouth of Sonoma Creek in a shallow area referred to as “Round Mountain.” Joel, who catches his own live shrimp for the shop, said live shrimp is the bait that is working best. Joel also has live dungeness crabs for sale at $6.50 a pound. Call him at 762-7818.

Keith Fraser, of Loch Lomond Bait Shop in San Rafael, adds the Pump House area as a hot spot for sturgeon right now. He said many anglers are catching and releasing numerous sturgeon, including some 80-inch-plus fish.

Striped-bass fishing slowed a little with the cooler temperatures, but anglers are still catching lots of them using the same baits they use for sturgeon. Keith books bay fishing party boats. Call him at 415-456-0321.

Lake fishing near Sonoma has been slow this week, with the best large-lake action at Berryessa, where there are still some trout being caught, along with a few bass. The Department of Fish and Game planted rainbow trout in Marin’s Bon Tempe and Lagunitas lakes this week, and will add more rainbows at Bon Tempe and Santa Rosa's Lake Ralphine next week. This could be a good time to take the kids fishing there.

Dry conditions and low flows have kept the upper Sacramento River a good bet for fly-fishers after trout. Bob Grace, at the Ted Fay Fly Shop in Dunsmuir, said there are still a lot of planted trout in the river as it flows through Dunsmuir, and conditions are cold, but the fish are still biting.

Steelhead fishing on the Trinity and Klamath rivers has been fair to good this week. I saw a report from Sean Riebli, who just got back from a three-day’er on the Trinity, Rogue and Klamath and had some good action. He fished the Rogue one day with guide Jim Andras and caught lots of fish, a good number of adults, and had a great time. Out of one run, he pulled out two steelhead, a coastal cut, and a coho on four consecutive passes. 

Jim Andras is by far the best guide for the Rogue and Klamath in particular. Call him at 530-722-7992 to book a trip.

 

Meat Trap Shoot Sunday

 

Local trap shooters can bring home the bacon (actually it’s salami) this Sunday, Dec. 18, at the annual Valley of the Moon Trap Club's “Christmas Meat Shoot,” at the club's trap range at 27000 Burndale Road.

The shoot is a team event, with five-person groups competing against other groups of five for the best scores. Teams can be composed of men or women and children. The entry fee for each contestant is $25, which is good for five rounds.

There are 80 Molinari salamis available for prizes, which means a lot of people can win.

Lunch is also served for $7 a person.

Squad signups open at 9 a.m. and shooting begins at 10 a.m. For more information, call Charlie Marino at 953-2937, or go to the club's website at vomtc.org.