Meandering Angler: Fish are biting despite SIP order

With other activities closed off or limited by the COVID-19 virus restrictions, fishing has become a popular activity for people looking to be outdoors and doing something interesting.

Keith Fraser at Loch Lomond Bait Shop told me this week that he is seeing record numbers of anglers coming to his shop to get bait and ask about fishing spots. Most of the smaller party boats are still tied to the pier because they cannot create the required six-foot distancing on the boat.

The larger bay party boats like the Berkeley-based California Dawn are going out with limited numbers of clients and finding lots of good fishing. Even with minus tides, anglers on board are catching limits and near limits of good-sized halibut plus a few striped bass.

People who have their own boats are also finding good action on the bay.

Fishing from the bank near Paradise Park and China Camp along the Marin Shoreline has been fairly productive this week as well.

By this weekend, the tides will be back on the plus side and fishing will improve, Keith said.

Some salmon fishing party boats are working out of Berkeley and San Francisco, again with partial loads of anglers, and finding limits of chinook salmon.

Private boaters out of Bodega Bay are also finding lots of nice fish. Capt. Rick Powers of Bodega Bay Sportsfishing expects to start his party boat charters on June 1, limiting the number of anglers he takes out to maintain social distancing. The combo trips will allow anglers to go after salmon, rock and ling cod and Dungeness crab. The cost is $200 for a full day.

Rick said that the salmon are plentiful and unusually big for this time of the year. He’s gotten reports of fish up to 34 pounds out of Bodega Bay this week. To book a trip with Rick, call 875-3344.

Clear Lake and Lake Berryessa are now open for limited day time fishing. Early reports indicate bass action on both has been good, and trollers are connecting on rainbow trout at Berryessa.

I talked to Bob Grace at the Ted Fay Fly Shop in Dunsmuir this week who says the trout fishing on the upper Sacramento River is fair to good. Social separation is easy because there are lots of access points and miles of river on which to fish.

He said fishing on the McCloud River is also good right now.

Fly-fishing on the lower Sac between Redding and Anderson is excellent right now according to The Fly Shop in Redding. It’s an easy 3-hour drive from Sonoma. And there are several guides that work that part of the river, including those from The Fly Shop, call 800-669-3474.

Hogan Brow guides on the Sac near Chico and expects action for stripers on that part of the river to pick up soon. He is also guiding on the lower Yuba River near Marysville and reports excellent fly fishing for trout. Call him at (530) 514-2453.