By Dave Hurley
On Wednesday 5-7 Do at Dockside reported the winds have really slowed things down the past couple of days. He said no one has been out there with the wind and whitecaps.
Kevin Yost of Lucky Strike Fishing has been off the water for a couple of days in response to the wind and the big minus tides. He is taking reservations for sturgeon trips, but he also will be trolling for stripers in the Delta and fishing for kokanee and king salmon at Lake Berryessa for the summer months.
Paul Cunningham at Rio Vista Bait and Tackle said trolling action in the Old Sacramento River near Isleton remains very strong. Red-head/white Yozuris have been the big sellers. He has weighed in stripers to 21-pounds within the past week. Bank anglers are purchasing dozens of jumbo blood worms for striper limits from the local hot spots such as Sherman Island or the Old Dairy off of Highway 160. He added that Montezuma Slough has picked up for both sturgeon and stripers. Sturgeon continue to be landed on a regular basis, but most anglers are focusing on the stripers. Catfishing has been decent, but most fishermen are targeting the larger fish.
Allison at Haps Bait in Rio Vista said the trolling fleet is still working the Old Sacramento from Viera�€™s to Walnut Grove and also into Cache Slough near Markers 41 to 47. Shallow running Bombers and Yozuris have been flying off the shelves. Some stripers to 10-pounds have been taken from the shoreline near the Moose Lodge to go with a 55-inch sturgeon on a pile worm from the empty lot north of the lodge.

On Sunday 5-4 Jack Kelly at Vieras Riverside Bait reported continued great striper action in the Old Sacramento from Isleton to Walnut Grove. Party boat operators have been hanging around this stretch of river, trolling shallow-running Yozuris. One group of anglers reported limits to 14-pounds, another limited and released a 25-pounder yesterday, and Kelly said Mark Wilson, troller extraordinaire, had a really big fish on that came unbuttoned near the boat. That's good fishing.
Randy at Benicia Bait said there was very good sturgeon fishing in the area from the Benicia Bridge to the Glomar to the 1st Row of Ships in 40 feet of water with shrimp baits. There have been few anglers targeting sturgeon since halibut fever took over a few weeks ago, but those making it out are landing fish. One boat at Ozol was all around the slot limit with 4 shakers to 44-inches and a 76-inch oversized. Striper fishing has slowed along the Benicia shoreline as salmon smolts were released at Rodeo and Mare Island. Anglers have been tossing RatLTraps for a chance at these fish. A few flounder are still being caught by boaters in upper Suisun Bay.
Do at Dockside said, The fish are biting, with several stripers brought in yesterday. One boat had a 55-inch legal sturgeon and an 80-inch oversized released to go with stripers of 9 and 20-pounds. Shrimp baits and fresh shad have been the baits of interest. There was far more wind today, but Do pronounced things as "fishable"�.

Kevin Yost of Lucky Strike Fishing said the water in Suisun Bay is starting to clear up after last weeks high winds. They released 3 shakers for 3 anglers on Friday 5-2 and lost a larger fish after a 10-minute fight. Today's action came on salmon roe or grass shrimp.
Curtis at Benicia Bait said sturgeon activity is on the upswing with some good reports out of both the Benicia-Martinez Bridge and up at the mouth of Montezuma Slough. One group landed 11 sturgeon, including oversized and one that spooled a reel, near the Bridge. The mouth of the Montezuma in the deep 40 foot section has been holding good numbers of undersized fish. One angler has nearly filled up his Sturgeon Report Card on released fish in the past couple of days. Both anglers have been using the E-chip Sturgeon Leader. Stripers were coming in good numbers from the shoreline on blood worms prior to the winds the past couple of days.
Stripers once again have been the top bet in the metro Sac area with good fishing happening inside city limits. From Clarksburg, Freeport, Garcia Bend, Miller Park, Discovery Park on up to Knights landing, anglers are bagging schoolie sized stripers to 10 pounds. The top baits have been sardines, anchovies, pile worms and blood worms.
Do at Dockside said the winds have been pretty bad the past two days, but today was better than yesterday with the wind dying down a bit. Chain Island has been the best area for stripers on either grass shrimp or fresh shad.
Jeff Boyle of the Fisherman's Warehouse in Manteca and Charlie Zellar caught and released 15 legal stripers to 10-pounds near Decker Island with both shallow running Yozuris and deep-diving Rebels on Monday in very breezy conditions on Wednesday. They found a good bite at the west bank on the high tide and also near Deckel Island. The water temperatures are up to 64 degrees in the afternoons throughout the Delta.
Paul Cunningham at Rio Vista Bait weighed in 3 limits of stripers to 22-pounds on Sunday by bank anglers from the Sherman Island area on blood worms. This has been the hot bait of choice for bank anglers. A 50-pound sturgeon was also taken in the same area. The wind has been pretty bad the past two days, but is showing signs of slowing down.
Randy Pringle, the Fishing Instructor, reported a strong bite for large fish to 12-pounds targeting 0 to 5 feet in depth with the black/blue Persuader E-chip jig with a Chigger Craw Trailer or a 10-inch greenpumpkin Berkley Power Worm on a Texas-rig. He recommended working the lures slowing, keeping contact with the bottom and dragging them slowly. The Optimum 7-inch OB Minnow in shad or blue gill and the Strike King Pure Poison vibrating jig are his activity baits of choice. Pringle added that staying out of the wind has been a key, so he targets the northern end of east/west running sloughs. Excellent numbers of smaller fish can be found on dark-colored 4-inch Berkley Power worms.

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