The recent rains have turned the Sacramento River off-colored which, in turn, has slowed down the striped bass and salmon fishing. The secret this time of the year when conditions on water clarity exist is to find better water clarity and that can be found over on the San Joaquin River side of the Delta where striped bass in the 12 pound category are being taken regularly, especially in the Venice reach area off Venice Island where bait dunkers tossing mudsuckers and shad are scoring on the 2 fish limits on both the outgoing and incoming tidal action. Stockton angler chris Huff was tossing a lure for largemouth bass last week when he hooked into a huge fish. After a long struggle it turned out to be a king salmon weighing approximately 30 pounds that was quickly released. Since the salmon fishing season is closed on the San Joaquin River all hooked fish must be released as per DFW rules and regulations.
Striped bass is rated good over in the South Delta in Whiskey Slough and Middle River off Bacon Island with anchovies and threadfin shad. Drifting live bluegill has been productive as well. Huge striped bass in the 30 to 40 pound range continue to be caught and kept by fishermen out of McAvoy harbor on live split tail or jack smelt. Several bass in the 20 to 30 pound range taken between the Firing Line and Garnet Point. All were released after a quick photo shoot. The sturgeon fishing has improved immensely this past week with 5 to 10 fish days from Benicia up into Cache Slough. Ghost shrimp and eel strips seem to be the top fodder in water 30 to 60 feet deep.