Bay Stripers

I fished in the SF Bay for stripers for the first time last week. I have not been doing well in the Delta recently so it seemed like a good time to look for them in the Bay. Winds were light and the water was flat so it was a pleasant time to be out there. I imagine it can be pretty windy, rough and unfishable more often than the Delta. We fished two days. The first day we had a big tide swing and the current was strong which seemed to get the stripers and the birds on the feed. The second day we had a weak tide and the catching was not as good. Both days we found schools of fish and were able to park on them for a while. We got some that were 5 or 6 pounds and it did seem to me like they pulled a lot harder than they do in the Delta. It could be the current or my imagination but they sure seemed to pull hard. Fun stuff although we did get beat up by traffic a bit. I also threw in a couple of birds I saw in the bypass this week.

http://i.imgur.com/Jeut04M.jpg
Angel Island


http://i.imgur.com/ueXxS28.jpg
Red Rocks


http://i.imgur.com/uH920bH.jpg
Some bridge we saw


http://i.imgur.com/eaQaHqj.jpg



http://i.imgur.com/zEXV0o0.jpg



http://i.imgur.com/4zPGYfA.jpg
Curlew


http://i.imgur.com/n8UKVLR.jpg
Lesser Yellow Legs

Great shots as usual John!

Richmond-San Rafael Bridge?


Captain John Quigley used to guide that area for Stripers in the Fall.


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Over 50 years ago my fishing partner, Cecil Wilder 'Junior", and I would drive down there from Sacramento.

We had gotten word from the Red Rock Marina and Bait Shop that the fish were in and the tide was good at 9am.

We launched Cecil's 15' Gregor aluminum skiff and headed out to Red Rock to hit the outgoing tide that morning.

Back then we used medium spinning tackle with 15# mono throwing red and white bucktail jigs and Pet spoons.

Around 9:30 am the tide started going out and hundreds of boats of all sizes came out of the launch ramps and moorings.

Naturally, we had the smallest boat out there and had to be careful to not get run over, accidentally.

Dozens of boats would back down the west side of Red Rock all casting lures making a continuous oval/circle.

We were too small to get in there so we pulled up to the bottom end of Red Rock in the slack water.

Started throwing bucktail jigs and hooked up on every cast. Eventually, we both limited out.

As soon as the outgoing tide slowed all the boats started to head back to where they came.

It was over.



About 20 years ago I was reminiscing with John Quigley about this amazing fisheries.

I think he said it was in Sept/Oct/Nov ?

I can vouch for the salt water striper pulling harder- they really do. Great report and shots as always!

That fish is a stud. Wasn't too many years ago thise fish would come into the Delta to feed this time of year. Now they don't...

My friend says they don’t come to the Delta because there is no bait. Seems like that might be what is happening. We saw lots of bait and stripers in the Bay. In the last month I have kayak fished the Delta 5 times including this morning and my striper totals are 2,5,2,6 and 2. My biggest is 24”. That is not great striper fishing. I did catch 30 bass this morning which is the most I have gotten there in one day there. I tried the bobber there for the first time and it seemed to work. I might be doing more of that down there.

John awesome pictures and report. Just curious where did you launch from?

Thanks
Erik B

Richmond. That worked pretty well but you roll the dice on traffic anytime you venture into the Bay Area.

Thanks for the info John.
I have launched there in my friends boat. I have a 18' Wooldridge Alaskan XL which is not ideal if the wind and waves come up.
My friend has a 18' Seahawk and it works but if it gets rough we get soaked in it too.