Halibut Sturgeon Striper Plans

Sturgeon fishing is good right now! 

Tony Thompson

Now is the time to get a sturgeon.  Your NEW sturgeon punch card is waiting for you to use it and the fish are biting good enough to make that a reality.

Lue Gumm

  Weather is the most unpredictable factor in this game. The sturgeons are cooperating for the most part and the normal areas we fish when the wind is up have fish at them.

Here’s my plan for the next couple of months:

 Planned departure from Martinez is somewhat up in the air. If I can get a few striper trips I’ll stay in Martinez through April 2014. The Department of Fish and Wildlife and hatchery personnel will be dumping fingerlings (salmon) starting in April. As a result the striped bass will be thick in the Carquinez Straits. Trolling trips starting late and finishing early with limits will be the rule. It just depends on how excited clients will be about catching striped bass.

Halibut pictures are starting to pop up from early halibut trips and I’m anxious about getting on the Butts early.   As you know this has been a drought year and halibut have been un-influenced by fresh water. This may lead to a few resident fish being picked off early.  If clients are anxious and want to book some early trips on halibut I just may move back to Berkeley in March. I need to make that call soon.

Currently the sturgeons  have been on the chomp around the Moth Ball Fleet, in the Big cut and Roe/Ryer areas.  San Pablo definitely has its moments but finding bait (Ghost shrimp) has been hard on Wednesdays and Thursdays.  This makes it hard to run to San Pablo after we have 2 days fishing up above.

The fresh water has an impact but it’s not what you think. The fresh water at this point stops the bite, as the sturgeon acclimates to the new water.  It will make it better in the long run but the fresh water makes for an added variable that seems to pop up at the wrong time.  Most anglers and news broadcasters have been complaining about how bad the sturgeon fishing is with no rain. Totally not the case! The lack of rain has the fish loving life as the nutrient rich salt water promotes feeding, allowing for more critters on the dinner menu for the fish. If I was a sturgeon I’d be pretty happy right now and full. Just look at the scores. Does it look like the sturgeon aren't eating? I think not!!

Feb 21 2014