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Author Abe Cuanang shows even a school-size
striped bass will put a deep bend in a fly rod.
No question about it, striped bass are one of the most popular game fish along California's north coast, but especially so inside San Francisco Bay. Powerful and brawny, its husky shoulders and big bucket mouth befits this true brawler, and on top of that it is equally handsome. Cast in a silver golden hue, overlaid with black stripes, the fish glows when you heft one of these beauties against the dawn.
Indeed, the striper is the epitome of what a game fish should be, but perhaps its most endearing quality lies in the fact that it can be caught on a host of angling options. Whether your discipline lies with trolling, drifting live bait, surf fishing, casting lures or flies, they all come into play for stripers at some time or another.
Through the years I've caught my share of these impressive fish, and yet I admit I still get rattled over how hard they can hit. Like a linebacker stopping a fullback in his tracks, the striper gives no quarter. It will jolt you out of your morning stupor, and send an electrical tingle down your spine. When such energy is directed toward your jig or fly, it's impressive . . . and addicting.
This year prospects for the spring through fall striped bass season are looking positive, and a lot of anglers are going to be jolted out of their fishing boots.
Environmentally, the future appears promising for striper fishing. Successive wet years of high runoff and flooding in the California Delta have been a boon for bass. Not only has the rush of fresh water rejuvenated the bay, the high runoff literally has flushed stripers out of the delta and dispersed the fish into many parts of the bay system.
This, along with government programs reclaiming young stripers from delta pump screens and raising them to yearling size and finally releasing them, has been a big boost for this fishery.
As witnessed in the last two years, even old-timers are proclaiming it is like the good old days, as young stripers are invading traditional haunts throughout the bay. Sport anglers should be giving big thanks to Tom Hempson and volunteers of the United Anglers of California for doing such a great job in raising these young bass saved from the pump screens.
Equally encouraging, the National Marine Fisheries Service -- after long, bureaucratic delays -- recently approved a plan by the California Department of Fish and Game to plant either 320,000 two-year-olds or 1.28 million yearling stripers in the delta over a five-year period. The one-year-olds are native fish saved from screens at California Water Project pumping stations. If this program is fully implemented the striper fishery really will start popping.
Angelo Cuanang displays a hefty striper.
This spring and summer will see fish invading the shallows on the west and east sides of San Francisco Bay. Both areas feature a mix of shallow flats, coves, pilings, plus rocky points and shorelines built of asphalt and concrete rubble. While it is an artificial environment, stripers will utilize available structure for trapping prey. Hence, both sides of the bay offer many possibilities for light tackle advocates.
On the east side, skiff anglers will attack the diverse shoreline from Alameda, the Oakland Airport and San Leandro.
On the west, and south of the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge, the stretch from Candlestick Point south to Coyote Point has been my favorite zone for many years. In between these areas sits San Francisco International Airport, and its numerous shallow coves and points consistently harbor transient fish.
While the latter is a big stretch of water, striper ambush zones can be defined quickly, and this holds true for other locales as well. Skiff anglers should focus on the corner zones of open coves and their shoreline stretches of riprap, plus any small points. Such structural settings are utilized by stripers as feeding lanes during incoming flood tides, and on the initial push of outgoing tides.
However, I especially favor the small points. They consistently attract action because bait and foraging bass will gravitate to them during tidal movement. Small points also are easier to cover since they feature a smaller strike zone to work.
Essentially, you'll have fish coming to you, and for that reason they are great places for light tackle or fly rod fans.
However, spring and early summer on the bay is notorious for afternoon winds, so fly rodders should concentrate on fishing during early morning. Toward fall wind is at a minimum, thus presenting better conditions for fly fishing.
For open water work, a nine-foot, 9 to 11 weight fly rod balanced with a compatible saltwater fly reel and 200 yards of backing will do. The average depth will not be more than five feet, but water depths will vary with tides for most inshore work. The fly angler should be able to get by with a type IV sink rate 10-weight shooting head.
Although there is a wide assortment of saltwater streamers, I've had great results using a simple four to six-inch streamer composed of white hackle and peacock herl for its back and tied on a 2/0 to 3/0 stainless steel hook. I also add a red collar and use bead chain for eyes.
When covering points I anchor about a cast away and focus on placing my jig, plug or fly right on the shoreline edge and toward the tip of the point. If you see any partially submerged rock with a slight current eddy forming behind it, that's a sure ambush lane, so put your offering there throughout the tide.
Since you don't know when company will swing by, be methodical and patient while fishing. Continue to fan-cast the shoreline, and retrieve your offering all the way to the boat using a medium to fast pace. With streamer flies I find an especially active pace generated by brisk two-foot strips brings more strikes. To increase your efficiency with the fly, minimize false casting, double haul and then unload the line.
At times, hesitant fish will hit with a series of sharp bumps during the retrieve. You can trigger a more aggressive response by suddenly cranking the lure or fly away with a burst. This simulates an escaping bait, and it often will cause the bass to chase and hit the object. Equally important, as the lure or fly comes into view don't pull it quickly out of the water, but instead continue to retrieve it alongside the boat. Followers sometimes will strike out of nowhere, so it pays to keep your offering in the water as long as possible.
If a hookup occurs, have your partner immediately cast to the same spot. Stripers travel in small pods, and double hookups are not uncommon.
Striped bass always are on the move, so if you don't find anything on the points try covering the corner zones of open coves, especially during big flood tides. These corner spots are natural trapping zones, and feeding bass will attempt to corral prey in these spots. To cover corner zones, utilize any light breeze to drift along the shoreline while methodically casting and retrieving. Again, the emphasis is on putting the offering tight to the water's edge, then working it back to the boat. If you hit action and it proves consistent, quietly drop anchor and continue to pound the spot.
In rocky corner zones you often will find shiner perch, anchovies and young smelt holding along the shoreline. Try matching them with half-ounce Rat-L Traps, 5 1/2 inch straight or broken-back floating Rebels, or with 1/2 to 3/4-ounce bucktail jigs tipped with white or chartreuse curl-tail worms.
Tackle can be any of your favorite casting or spinning outfits you use for black bass. On line, 10 to 12-pound monofilament is fine, but add a two-foot shock leader of 30-pound test with an appropriate barrel and snap.
When stripers are scattered and lurking along straight sections of rocky shoreline, try trolling near the edge during flood tides. Both Rat-L Traps and bucktail jigs can be used effectively. If you get a hookup, put the engine into neutral and, as the fish is brought closer to the boat, anyone with a free hand should try casting to the immediate area. Occasionally, a hooked fish will bring company with it, so be prepared.
Other types of dominant structure are wharf pilings and bridge abutments. Fish will lurk in their shadow while waiting to ambush potential prey. The long runway pilings at the south end of San Francisco International Airport, and bridge pilings on the east side of San Mateo/ Hayward Bridge will hold fish.
Another well known striper spot in the east bay is the Berkeley Pier. Generally, fishing the long pier is most productive during early morning incoming tides.
Boaters often will drift parallel to the structure while plunking plugs or jigs deep into the shadows. Once you hook up, apply maximum pressure and force the fish into open water.
Looking to the waters of the middle bay, its open flats off Treasure Island, Berkeley and the South Hampton Shoals generate a lot of attention, producing California halibut and mobs of schoolie stripers during midsummer and fall. This region can be very productive drifting live bait.
Last fall my brother, Angelo, and I had a ball drifting anchovies with whippy, 8 1/2-foot mooching sticks and baitcasting reels loaded with 12-pound-test monofilament while fishing the area north of Treasure Island. Fishing in 25 to 35 feet of water during an incoming tide and near buoys 2 and 4, it was a simple matter of rigging our live bait drift rigs with two ounces of lead and pinning a live anchovy through the nose.
Using a sea anchor to slow our drift, we allowed the bait to drag on the bottom with the tide. When a hungry bass took the bait, the fun was in watching our limber mooching rods double over. Limits came quickly.
The fall season can present premier shallow-water fishing, and the weather can be warm and windless. One of my favorite fall spots is the rocky shores near the McNears Brickyard at San Rafael.
In one memorable outing while fishing a rocky point, we hooked and released 15 fish on chartreuse Rat-L Traps, while our 7-year-old nephew Gabe Weisbarth learned how to cast a spinning outfit. In the process he hooked and released a trio of five pounders on his own.
If you like no-brainer fishing, especially if you want to keep the fishing entertaining for the kids, try San Pablo Bay during early fall. When we were last there, mobs of hungry school bass were beating up anything put in the water, and action was so hot it was not uncommon to have multiple hookups.
The hot spot on San Pablo Bay again should be the shallow zones near China Camp, the Shell Banks and the expansive flats surrounding the Pump House. Action can be had here on both incoming and outgoing tides, in six to 15 feet of water. Try trolling a pair of 1/2-ounce Rat-L Traps about 40 feet behind the boat, and another pair of Rat-L Traps or 1/2-ounce white bucktail jigs about 60 to 70 feet back.
If you hit action continue to troll, as striking fish can trigger additional hookups. And be prepared to follow through with some fancy footwork when the fireworks explode.
Author Abe Cuanang fishes everywhere from his home waters at San Francisco Bay to the distant tip of Baja California.
Trailerboat anglers are fortunate. They always are within a few minutes running time to productive spots in San Francisco Bay.
Boaters can hit striped bass, halibut, sturgeon and sharks. And those who find the right spots could score with a grand slam on all four species. The following three regions I rate as hot spots because year after year they produce a diverse mix of game fish.
Located on the west side of San Francisco Bay between these two points is a series of shallow flats and hard shell mounds, while the shoreline is broken by small points and coves. Deeper water occurs near the shipping channel to the east.
Besides hitting stripers, boaters can find good numbers of California halibut in depths from six to 25 feet and, like stripers, these bottom predators will follow bait schools. If you find bait concentrations indicated by hovering terns, you can expect stripers and halibut to be together. Both species can be taken during incoming and outgoing tides, and they're receptive to shiners and anchovies drifted on the bottom.
Sharks and sturgeon will reside near channel edges. To catch them, try anchoring in depths from 18 to 30-plus feet. These larger fish can be marked on a depthfinder, so if you find suspended fish, anchor on that active lane.
Between these two zones afternoon winds blow with a vengeance, so fish early. The flats here may vary from a fathom to depths over 40 feet. Huge anchovy schools typically dominate this section, hence boaters can score on both stripers and halibut. Live bait drifting and trolling hardware are especially productive in depths from eight to 25 feet. Again, both tides will produce.
Lying on the east side of the bay, the floor is composed of hard sand, eel grass and expansive flats. Spring to fall will find stripers and halibut scattered in depths from eight to 28 feet; however, key on spots where the bait schools are. Bottom drifting live baits or trolling hardware will work here as well, and both tides will produce.
Abe Cuanang
1. Petaluma, on Petaluma Creek with access to San Pablo Bay. Drive west off Highway 101 a half-mile to Petroleum Avenue, then right a quarter mile. One lane, paved.
2. Buck's Boat Landing on Gallinas Creek, 4 1/2 miles north of San Rafael at 665 N. San Pedro Road. Two asphalt launching lanes.
3. Loch Lomond Marina, two miles east of San Rafael on San Pedro Road, 110 Loch Lomond Drive.
4. Rodeo Marina, 13 Pacific St., Rodeo. Two lanes, concrete.
5. Richmond Marina, 1340 Marina Way, South Richmond.
6. Vallejo, launch ramp at 1 Maryland St.
7. Napa River, Hudeman Slough Fishing Access, off Skaggs Island Road upstream from Sonoma Creek.
8. Clipper Yacht Harbor, 310 Harbor Drive, Sausalito. Two lanes, concrete.
9. Sausalito Public Ramp, foot of Tunney Street (next to Margaritaville). One lane, concrete.
10. Berkeley Marina, at University and Berkeley avenues, Berkeley.
11. San Francisco, foot of Mariposa St., one block off Third St. at 855 China Basin.
12. San Francisco Public Ramp at China Basin. Located 100 yards north of Pier 54 on Mission Rock Blvd. Two lanes, concrete.
13. Oyster Point Marina. End of Oyster Point Blvd., South San Francisco. Two lanes, concrete.
14. Coyote Point Marina. At 1900 Coyote Point in San Mateo. Three lanes, concrete.
15. Redwood City Municipal Marina. At 475 Harbor Blvd., Redwood City. Two lanes.
16. Docktown Marina (on Redwood Creek Channel), foot of Maple St., Redwood City.
17. San Leandro Marina, one mile south of Oakland International Airport. Take Nimitz Freeway to Marina Blvd. exit, go west. Two lanes, concrete.
18. Alameda Municipal Ramp (north end of Grand Street), Oakland Estuary, Alameda. Two lanes, concrete.
19. Estuary Park, Oakland inner harbor. From Highway 17 take Oak St. exit. Two lanes, concrete.
20. Alameda Rockwall, located off Central Ave. behind Alameda High School. One-lane ramp.
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