THE WEEKLY SHORELINER'S REPORT
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 Summary:  Minus tides, muddy water, cold nights, and tolerable winds are all contributing to excellent fishing conditions for sturgeon and stripers.  Everything's moving, water, fish, and time.  Shoreliners should get moving,  too.  Choose your species and go catch it!

STRIPED BASS:  Striper fishing is very good if you happen to be in the right place at the right time--and that could be almost anywhere from the Pacific Ocean to the Delta.  Live bait is the key: shiners, bullheads, shad, and mudsuckers depending on your location.  Or pile worms, blood worms, grass shrimp and cut baits like anchovies, sardines, and mackerels.  In short, nearly anything you throw out will be fair game for striped bass.  Even lures, though the lack of water clarity is an obstacle.  Recent productive spots from shore have been the beaches from Pacifica to Baker Beach; inside the bay off Candlestick Park; Bullhead Rock at Pinole; the Napa River from Vallejo past the Highway 37 bridge; Eckley Pier; Martinez Pier; Sherman Island up to Rio Vista; and the Mokelumne River.  But those places are subject to change.  If they don't pan out, move upriver and find the schools.

STURGEON:  Recent rain has moved the sturgeon further into the Bay System.  Still tough from shore, but getting better.  Try Emeryville, China Camp or Rodeo on high tide, Port Costa on the incoming, or Montezuma Slough any time.  Shrimp baits are best.

PERCH:  Great perch fishing is happening in a variety of places.  Barred perch are being taken from the ocean beaches on grass shrimp and  both pile worms and blood worms.  The bottom of the tide has been very good.  Sausalito is good on the incoming for striped perch and some black perch, and white perch on the outgoing.  In the East Bay, black perch fishing is excellent along the rocks between Emeryville and Richmond.  Recently a large rubberlip was caught in the Berkeley Marina, but that's fairly unusual.  Still, the larger tides may have pushed more of them across the bay, so it's not out of the range of possibility.

MISCELLANEOUS SPECIES:  A few flounder have been caught in the East Bay already, so maybe that's a sign they're coming in early.  For a long shot, halibut are concentrated around Point Bonita right now, some of them in water at 50 feet, so maybe an adventurous shoreliner could climb down the rocks and catch a 30 pounder.  Fish Trap lures are really effective.  Jacksmelt and kingfish are in the Berkeley area.  Salmon are very good near Isleton on spinners like Blue Fox and Mepps Flying C.

FRESHWATER: Trout plants in the following lakes: San Pablo, Lafayette, Temescal, Chabot, Del Valle and Shadow Cliffs.  Chartreuse or rainbow powerbaits and nightcrawlers are all working.  Catfishing is still good on the usual baits.  Not much happening with bass or panfish.

DELTA RUMORS: The best striper fishing is taking place between the Suisun Bay and Sherman Island right now, with the best shoreline chance at Sherman Island near the power towers.  Shad, blood worms, and cut anchovies are the best baits.  Mitten crabs are nasty throughout the Delta.  The only solution is to fish when the water is moving swiftly or at least keep your bait active.  Grin and bear it.  Other spots for striped bass are Twitchell Island, Cache Slough, and just south of Rio Vista.  Catfishing is good on fish baits in both the north and south.  Some sturgeon coming out of Cache Slough.