THE WEEKLY SHORELINER'S REPORT

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 Summary:  Just as we hit autumn we get a taste of the summer, with strong afternoon winds and muddy water.  But it will pass and the good fishing will resume.   Look on the positive side of minus tides and think about the sturgeon.
 
 

STRIPED BASS: Slower this past week because we are in-between schools.  Still a lot of striped bass in the ocean, just about to come in.  Try Rodeo and upriver into the Suisun Bay, soaking bullheads, or lures anywhere along the shore in SF Bay--you might get lucky.  Some fish getting caught on blood worms at Golden Gate Fields, but most are too small to keep--though this isn't stopping some of the car-sitting pseudo-anglers there.
 

STURGEON:  Suisun Bay has really taken off this past week, with some nice diamondbacks coming in from the Broad Slough and Middlegrounds.  For shoreliners this means tough fishing and little access, but it would not hurt to fish as close to the Suisun Bay as you can (like at Goodyear Slough), and start working Martinez and Eckley piers.
 

PERCH: Minus tides and dirty water in the morning, followed by late tides and wind in the afternoon have really put the bit off.  But you can still get black perch and some large pile perch in the East Bay along the rocks.  Pile worms and grass shrimp are the ticket.  On the surf, it's mostly striped perch, with silver, walleyed, barred, and redtail in the mix, all on pile worms or mussels when the wind cooperates.
 

MISCELLANEOUS SPECIES:  Not much of anything going around, save for some small straggling halibut in both bays.
 

FRESHWATER: Trout planted at San Pablo, Contra Loma, Temescal, Shadow Cliffs, and Chabot.  One more time at Lafayette Reservoir and then no more catfish plants anywhere until next summer. Trout fishing has improved but it's still nothing to get excited about.  The fish are deep and somewhat unresponsive.  Trolling might excite them.  Black bass fishing is better. with top choices being plastic worms and crankbaits.   Catfishing remains steady on nightcrawlers, chicken livers and cut fish.
 

DELTA RUMORS:  The last place a shoreliner wants to be this weekend is the Delta.  The 53rd Rio Vista Bass Derby is on, and that means a multitude of gold diggers and weekend warriors roiling the water and tearing up the tules north and south.  Add jesters out for a last hurrah and you have the makings of genuinely crappy time.  Too bad, too, because the Fall Run is in full swing and there are some nice stripers in the main channels of the Sacramento/San Joaquin system.  Also black bass fishing has picked up with the cooler mornings, and catfishing continues to be good. Salmon are hitting spinners upriver from Isleton.  And the sturgeon are moving--and getting caught from Sherman Island (good) down to Pittsburg (better).  But these fish will still be here during the week.