Summary:  March is a lion so far, roaring like hell.  Yet the fish seem unimpressed.  In any case, the bite is on and all you have to do is find a piece of shoreline sheltered from the wind.   No one said it would be easy.

STRIPED BASS:  The bite has been consistent from the Marin shore the last week or more.  Mornings with a decent amount of water are good for bait fishing.  A simple sack of anchovies and patience with the crabs is all you need for stripers in the 3-5 pound range.  This would probably apply to any spot on the San Pablo shore.  The striped bass are moving back our way.

STURGEON:  South Bay below Alameda or Montezuma Slough by the bridge have been the top producers this past week.  Other spots near the river mouths might pick up with the little storm and the faster tides.  It's a toss up where the action will be.

PERCH: Again, the best bets for perch in the Bay will be the Towers. Rubberlip and striped perch are knocking about the rocks at Fort Point in good numbers and impressive sizes.  That's the good news.  The bad news is that they are mostly pregnant females, weeks or even days away from releasing their babies.  They offer great action on light tackle but it's a shame to keep them--and a shame to let them go, given the impending closure next month.  But you can ease your conscience on the surf for some of the large barred perch and hefty redtail, or fair-sized walleyes.  And the pogies within the bay have yet to get frisky, though the fast tides will make them scarce.  Best baits this week have been fresh grass shrimp and pile worms, in that order.

MISCELLANEOUS SPECIES: Nothing changed here at all. The halibut are coming in from the Golden Gate.  Keepers have been taken off Berkeley Pier on live shiners, though this is not a trend yet.  More common are the smallish guys chomping lures on sandy beaches like Crissy Field, shy of legal by several inches.  Rocky areas have cabezon within the boundaries of the bay and definitely outside the Gate, yet most of these will be small males.  A keeper or two per day come out of both towers' rock walls.  Fort Baker has small but frisky lings smacking into swimbaits and hair raisers.  Not much happening with rockfish.

FRESHWATER:   Trout plants this week at  San Pablo, Shadow Cliffs, Chabot, Del Valle, Lafayette, Temescal and Bon Tempe.   The little storm system this week muddied up the water, so smell is more important than sight for the next few days. Working baits remain pretty much the same as last week: Power Bait in chartreuse, orange or rainbow, or inflated nightcrawlers.  Bass have shown a little interest in spinnerbaits but nothing to get excited about.  It's still too cold.  Take some anchovies and try for stripers in Del Valle and Contra Loma; the cold weather doesn't bother them as much. Nothing happening with panfish, or for that matter, catfish.

DELTA RUMORS:  The week began well and is ending terribly, a windsurfer's dream and an angler's nightmare.  The rain has neither hurt nor helped.   Good fishing is possible, however, somewhere between gusts. Mixed baits are picking up sturgeon by the Montezuma Slough Bridge. The Isleton Bridge has sturgeon on shrimp baits.  So does Cache Slough, accessed from the west side river road just north of Rio Vista; don't take the ferry.  Sherman Island has them but wind makes the mission very difficult.   Stripers are on the move and tough to target.  You could find them from Walnut Grove down into the Susiun Bay, or from Stockton to Discovery Bay.  Stay light and mobile.  Fishy baits (live is best) are the way to proceed, though the water clarity has improved.  Shoreline fishing isn't spectacular but it has its moments.  Catfish males are milky and hanging out together in dinner plate sizes.  The spawn is imminent.   Bad weather has blown out the panfish action for the next few days.