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Bay, ocean fishing remains great

Fishing and hunting

Albacore tuna, rock cod and lingcod, and a few salmon are still in abundance off the Sonoma coast and Capt. Rick Powers, of Bodega Bay Sportfishing, is planning the tuna trips for as long as the weather holds and the fish are here. Closer in, the rockcod and lingcod action is hot and heavy and a few salmon are still being caught. Call Rick at 875-3344 to book a trip.

Bay fishing is also excellent right now with halibut and stripers being caught drifting live shiners off Red Rock, Angel Island, Southampton and Alcatraz.

Trolling worm-tailed jigs at the top of the tide along the Marin shoreline is producing lots of keeper-sized striped bass. Call Keith Fraser, at Loch Lomond Bait Shop in San Rafael, to book a party boat, 415-456-0321.

Fishing on local lakes is gradually improving. I got an excellent report on Lake Berryessa from Guide Silberberg this week. Here is Sid’s report in his own words:

“The past few weeks have been very productive. The bass that we have been catching are good-size and with the water cooling down, the trout are back. I was with my family on my son’s pontoon boat this weekend, and we landed limits of bass and trout. We were fishing along the east side and were just about to cross the lake toward big island to have our lunch when we saw a boil and I threw a ‘rattle trap’ lure and got smacked by a four-pound bass. As my son went to net the bass, he yelled out that there were at least four other bass of the same size swimming with my fish.  

“Of course we decided to stay at this location to have our lunch.  The water was very clear and we beached the boat on the shoreline. There was a grass line in the water about 10 feet wide and the grassy area was full of bass ranging from three inches up to five or six inches, there were hundreds of them. Each time we cast out as we came closer to the shoreline you could see all the little guys going for the lure.  

“We didn’t get any more keeper-size bass, but it was very enjoyable just watching them. Around 4 o’clock, we decided to head over to the west side and make our way back to Lupine Shores. At first, we had no hits at all but that changed pretty quick, and by the time we reached the launch ramps we had limited out on bass and trout. The largest bass was caught by Sarah and weighed in at 6 pounds – she also landed a nice size trout. My son’s friends, Bill and Dorian, caught some nice bass and had a great time.”  

To learn more about Sid, check out fishingconnection.net or email him at bestguide@hotmail.com or call him at 650-583-3333.

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IT IS SAID that the fishing is always great, but sometimes the catching isn’t. However, there are times when the gods are saying, “Stay home!” Here is a firsthand report from my buddy, Steve Kyle, about one of those times.

“Thinking that this might be my last shot at putting some time on the river before heavy winter snows choked off my favorite runs, I was off for a solo excursion to the Sierras and the Truckee River. This is a great time to be in the mountains with aspen and cottonwood trees turning brilliant orange and yellow, warm Indian-summer days faking you into thinking that summer will last forever and hungry trout are eager to put on as much weight as possible.”

It all seemed great for Steve until …

“While getting gas in Auburn, I backed my car into a big truck and drove in my right rear panel. It was my fault. After an hour of fishing the Truckee, I fell in, filled my waders to the top, crashed on the rocks, strained my back and nearly broke my rod in half. Soaking wet, I exited the river, stood naked in a stream side meadow while wringing out my clothes, finally said, ‘forget it’ and tossed the wet rags into the back, got in the car and drove to the house totally in the buff (thank god no cops were around), got dressed, and drove home feeling like an ass. Left Sonoma at 6:30 a.m., returned after 11 hours and 250 miles of driving. Oh … I caught one 12-inch brown trout.”