Meandering Angler: Fishing for dinner

Put a live anchovy on your hook and throw it in just about any part of San Francisco Bay right now, and you are likely to hook a fish with almost every cast.|

Halibut for dinner tonight?

Put a live anchovy on your hook and throw it in just about any part of San Francisco Bay right now, and you are likely to hook a halibut or striped bass with almost every cast. At least that is what S.F. Bay fishing guru Keith Fraser told me this week.

Keith says that halibut are being caught everywhere in the Bay. While the best chances to get a good limit is from a boat, many anglers are catching keeper halibut off the Marin Shoreline from McNear Park pier and Paradise Park pier.

Party boat skippers are bringing home happy clients with full limits too. If you want to book a boat for a day’s fishing in the bay, call Capt. Trent Slate of Bite Me Charters, (415) 307-8582. Trent runs his boat out of Loch Lomond Marina in San Rafael. He’s a good captain and knows where the fish are.

Keith Fraser’s bait shop is also in Loch Lomond; call him at (415) 456-0321, for tips on the best places to fish.

If salmon is your preferred seafood, the action off Sonoma’s coast continues to be excellent according to Capt. Rick Powers of Bodega Bay Sportsfishing. Rick’s clients have been coming home with limits or near limits of salmon plus limits of rockfish virtually every trip. He said that this is shaping up to be one of the best salmon seasons in a long time. Weather is supposed to be excellent for fishing this weekend. Call Rick at 875-3355.

Bass fishing at Clear Lake has been excellent at the northern end of the lake. Anglers using top-water lures early and late are doing the best.

Lake Berryessa is also good for bass now. Anglers working close to the shaded shorelines early and late do best.

Bob Grace at the Ted Fay Fly Shop in Dunsmuir says the upper Sacramento River flows are excellent and the fishing has been fair to good with some dry-fly action near Dunsmuir.

The McCloud River is also producing good results for fly-fishers.

Sonoman Michael Coats, who represents the Golden Gate Salmon Association, recently sent me some photos from the GGSA’s program to get more kids out fishing. They partner with Salty Lady Sportsfishing of Sausalito and the San Mateo Police Activities League to fund fishing trips for kids.

The GGSA is a coalition of salmon advocates working to protect and restore California’s largest salmon runs. It also sponsors an annual dinner here in Sonoma. California’s salmon industry is valued at $1.4 billion annually.

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