Bill Lynch: Fishing report for Aug. 17

Fishing is pretty good on the Sacramento River near Dunsmuir for those willing to fish wearing a P-95 mask.|

“Hold on Bill, I got two guys with big salmon on right now.”

That’s how Capt. Rick Powers of Bodega Bay Sportsfishing answered my call this week, when I checked in with him for a report. He was in the middle of a big school of salmon and the action had been hot and heavy all day. The two he had on when I called were close to 30 pounds each.

Overall the salmon action in the Ocean out of the Golden Gate and Bodega Bay has been outstanding, with the wind being the only exhibiting factor. Now, however, the winds have stopped and fishing has improved, from being really good, to phenomenal.

In addition to salmon, the lingcod bite has gone wild and most of Rick’s clients are able to bring home limits of ling, rockfish and salmon on the same trip. Going out with Rick on his party boat, New Sea Angler, is also away to escape the heat inland. (Call Rick at 875-3344 to make a reservation.)

Inside San Francisco Bay, very large minus tides screwed up the halibut action for most of the week, but those tides ended and conditions will steadily improve for the weekend and next week, says Keith Fraser at Loch Lomond Bait Shop in San Rafael. Keith says that salmon are showing up at Cal City, and the halibut bite and striped bass bite will be good this weekend. (Call Keith at 415-456-0321 for the latest information.)

Inland, heat and smoke, have made fishing on many streams and lakes unpleasant. Nevertheless, fishing is pretty good on the Sacramento River near Dunsmuir for those willing to fish wearing a P-95 mask. Nights are cooling and conditions will improve this week.

Your best source of information for the upper Sac is Bob Grace at the Ted Fay Fly Shop in Dunsmuir, (530) 235-2969.

Salmon season on the Sacramento, which began on July 16, is also open on the lower Sacramento River below Redding. The reports so far are mixed, with some good days, some bad, not yet producing much results.

UPDATED: Please read and follow our commenting policy:
  • This is a family newspaper, please use a kind and respectful tone.
  • No profanity, hate speech or personal attacks. No off-topic remarks.
  • No disinformation about current events.
  • We will remove any comments — or commenters — that do not follow this commenting policy.