Summary: Merry Christmas, please be safe on the journey and on the water.
 
 

STRIPED BASS: Finicky bite this past week truly separated the anglers from the anxious.  Blame it on the cold water or holiday fasting.  Stripers are still meandering in the bays and you can find them by any river mouth on cut fishy baits.  Some keepers in the mix.   The bigger schools are suspended somewhere between Benicia and Pittsburg; boaters have caught some by Decker Island through Rio Vista and not much beyond.  From shore it's a crap shoot until you hit the Delta, so anywhere  in the bays soaking a chunk of bait or a pile worm could get you a large rogue bass.

STURGEON:  Less than two weeks of Central Bay fishing available.  Remember the closure from 1/1-3/15. Not that fishing within the boundaries is getting anything.  Spots worth noting have been the usual bridges and shoreline south of Candlestick, and McNear's Pier (productive and crowded: try the banks from China Camp to San Quentin).  No one is talking about other places, and that's because the Internet makes them apprehensive.  Rightly so.  Find mud and narrow fast water.

PERCH: Bigger morning tides will bring the big black perch close to the rocky banks from Emeryville to Richmond. Some nice solitary pile perch will be around as well.  Pile  worms or grass shrimp.  The surf is still messy.
 

MISCELLANEOUS SPECIES:   Musical chairs and misinformation continue as the DFG tries to make sense of federal and state rules and politics.  Until further notice, rockfish are off the table but it's okay to pursue the groundfish.  Keep checking here: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mrd/ .  Shark enthusiasts can try Oyster Point or the South Bay in general right now on squids for good leopard action.  Kingfish are all around on the incoming tide.