Fish report for March 30

Lake Don Pedro

The lake continues to rise by leaps and bound with an increase of 7.5 feet to 752.87 feet in elevation and 59 percent of capacity. All three launch ramps are now open, but boaters who use the Blue Oaks ramp are advised that the area from this ramp out to the 5-mph no-wake buoys between Schoolhouse and Fleming Point will remain a 5-mph no-wake zone until lake-level conditions allow for the removal of houseboat mooring from this area. Travel time from the Blue Oaks launch ramp to the buoys is 25 minutes. Vessel access in the Tuolumne River Arm is now navigable 4 miles upstream from the Moccasin Point Recreation Area. A barrier boom is closed below this floating debris to prevent it from moving downstream. A second boom located further downstream is open but subject to closure during rainy weather. Please boat with caution throughout the lake, as there is still floating woody debris in many areas. Monte Smith of Gold Country Sport Fishing confirmed the floating debris, but the water clarity is good at 10 feet of visibility. They picked up a kokanee, three rainbow trout and a bass on a recent trip, so trolling action is picking up. With the rising water levels, bass fishing remains hit or miss. Call: Monte Smith, 209-581-4734; Danny Layne-Fish’n Dan, 209-586-2383; Gary Vella, 209-652-7550; Bait Barn, 209-874-3011.

McClure Reservoir

The lake has risen 10 feet in the last week to 723.76 feet in elevation and 32 percent of capacity, but the lake is still below the 50 percent average at this time of year. The original Exchequer Dam is now covered with water for the first time since 2013. Mike Gomez of the Bait Barn in Waterford said, “Bass fishing is solid with the fish holding from the banks to 10 feet with jigs, spinnerbaits and shallow-diving Squarebill crankbaits in bluebill/chartreuse, particularly the River2Sea squarebill. The water is stained, but it is clearing up.” The Barrett Cove launch ramps are in the water. Call: A-1 Bait, 209-563-6505.

McSwain Reservoir

The lake is clearing after months of overflow of stained water out of Lake McClure. The trout plant within the past two weeks has led to improved action from the banks at the regular locations of the marina, Brush Pile and Handicapped Docks. Call: McSwain Marina, 209-378-2534.

New Melones Reservoir/Tulloch

The Glory Hole launch ramp is on the concrete, and the floating docks are in the water, as the lake has risen 8 feet to 879.84 in elevation and 25 percent of capacity. The lake now will be able to host upcoming bass tournaments. Glory Hole remains the only launch available on the lake with another 30 feet of vertical rise necessary to open the Tuttletown ramp. John Liechty of Glory Hole Sports in Angels Camp said, “The bass are getting more active, as we are finding 60-degree water in many locations in the lake. The fish are thinking about spawning, and some have already starting to spawn, as it is bass season right now. Senkos are good for both numbers and size, and I like to fish them on a Texas-rig near brush before switching to a dart head or tube when working around rocks. Ripbaits and small swimbaits are also effective. The fish are still relating to deep water, and I look for areas with deep water leading into creek channels and spawning areas. Please practice catch and release, as the spawn is near and many fish will be holding eggs. Take photos and carefully release the fish back into the lake to maintain a healthy fish population for generations to come.” Josh Parris of San Andreas caught and released a massive bag of largemouth bass with his largest weighing 11.24 pounds on a large swimbait. Crappie are the other main story in the lake with slabsides to 2.33 pounds landed by Colten Lewis while targeting bass. Anglers have been picking up limits of crappie with medium minnows or minijigs around the submerged wood along the shorelines. Trout action has improved to fair with trollers picking up a few holdover rainbows in the main river channel with Needlefish in Cop Car in clear water and gold patterns in stained water at depths from 20 to 30 feet. Bank fishing is fair, although the recent rainfall has washed nutrients and oxygen into the lake. Floating baits with scent in bright colors are the top offerings from the banks. Kokanee have yet to emerge, but April should start to produce limits. Catfishing is also on the upswing in the warming water temperatures, and large chunks of bait produce the larger whiskerfish in the shallows. Glory Hole Sports is under new ownership after Dan and Melanie Lewis finished their 20-year run at the business. The new owners will hold a grand opening April 23 with a large sale, raffle prizes and a barbecue. Call: Glory Hole Sports, 209-736-4333; Monte Smith, 209-581-4734; Danny Layne-Fish’n Dan, 209-586-2383; Sierra Sport Fishing, 209-599-2023.

Half Moon Bay

New opportunities are on the horizon out of Pillar Point Harbor with the opening of rockfish below Pigeon Point starting April 1, the ocean salmon opener April 2 and the rockfish opener in local waters above Pigeon Point on April 15. Dungeness crab remains excellent, but the opening of the commercial season will impact the recreational haul. The Huli Cat out of Pillar Point went crabbing off Half Moon Bay on Saturday for 18 limits, pulling only seven pots for 180 crab. The commercial season opened March 26, but there should be enough crab to continue to put together limits to near-limits. Mattusch will start a variety of trips, including crab-only, crab/rockfish and salmon trolling trips after April 1. The California Kayak and Canoe Company will offer its kayak fishing safety and rescue class April 23 at Pillar Point Harbor, and these are essential skills for anyone fishing in the ocean. Registration is available at fareharbor.com/calkayak/items/14239. Call: Happy Hooker, 510-223-5388; Captain Roger Thomas, Salty Lady, 415-760-9362; Emeryville Sport Fishing, 510-654-6040.

Monterey/Santa Cruz

Chris Arcoleo of Chris’ Landing in Monterey reported a slowdown on crabbing with an average of five or six Dungeness per angler Saturday. They will be crabbing until the end of the week, pulling the pots before the rockfish opener Friday. The water temperature has dropped to 59 degrees, and with the northwest winds coming in, darker water is showing up in the bay along with more krill. He said, “There are plenty of sardines along the beaches from Monterey on up in 15 to 20 fathoms of water, and small striped bass are bunched up in large schools along the beaches.” They are sold out for Friday’s rockfish opener along with both weekend days with the salmon opener April 2. Allen Bushnell of Santa Cruz Kayak Fishing reported, “The Santa Cruz Harbor may be receiving federal assistance soon to deal with the shoaling problem at the harbor mouth.” Last week, the U.S. Coast guard assigned a safety-zone status to the harbor entrance. The original notice indicated the harbor entrance would be closed to any traffic beyond emergency services. This was quickly amended with the harbor issuing a notice that traffic would be permitted, albeit with conditions. Essentially, the harbor master has to approve any traffic. The amended statement from the Santa Cruz Port District includes, “The safety zone is closed to all vessel traffic, except as may be permitted by the Captain of the Port (COTP) or a designated representative. Vessel operators desiring to enter or operate within the safety zone must contact the Santa Cruz harbor master to obtain permission. Vessel operators given permission to enter or operate in the safety zone must comply with all directions given to them by the Santa Cruz Harbor Master. Persons and vessels requesting permission to enter the safety zone may contact the harbor master on VHF-9. In the event the harbor master can’t be reached, persons and vessels may contact the Coast Guard Command Center at 415-399-3547.” Call: Chris’ Landing, 831-375-5951; Bayside Marine, 831-475-2173.

San Francisco Bay

Ocean salmon season begins April 2, and party and private boats out of Sausalito, San Francisco, Emeryville and Berkeley will be out searching for the popular species. Most boats will run south of the Golden Gate to the Deep Reef off the San Mateo coastline. Heavy winds limited private boats over the past weekend, and only the largest party boats were able to head out for Dungeness crab. Captain Jim Smith of the Happy Hooker out of Berkeley Marina went outside the Gate in rough conditions Saturday to put five pots for 25 limits of crab before heading back to the safety of San Francisco Bay. He was right when he predicted the pots would be stuffed, and they were with up to 50 legal crab in the pots, stating, “Every pot was plugged.” Once inside the bay, they landed four halibut and four striped bass in the Berkeley Flats with a few more missed opportunities using sardines. Captain Chris Smith ran the California Dawn on Saturday and Sunday, and in addition to crab limits in the rough conditions, they found halibut, including at 26-pounder on Easter Sunday.

San Luis Obispo

Rockfish season starts Friday, and both ports are ready. Out of Patriot Sport Fishing in Port San Luis, rockfishing is on the agenda for the opening weekend. Virg’s Landing in Morro Bay has a two-for-one on rockfish trips during April. They are taking reservations for this year’s two-day trips aboard the Princess along the Big Sur coastline. The trips leave Friday night and return Sunday evening at $295 per angler for the boat, bait and bunk on limited loads of 24 fishermen. Two limits are possible and generally the rule on these trips. Trip dates are available at www.virgslanding.com. Bob’s Bait Bucket in Bakersfield has scheduled its first of a series of rockfishing charters on the Endeavor out of Morro Bay Landing on April 10. Call: Virg’s Landing, 805-772-1222; 800-762-5263; Patriot Sport Fishing, 805-595-4100; Port Side Marine Sports Launch, 805-595-7214.

Delta/Stockton

In the Sacramento River Delta, just when the six-pack operators took off for the cornucopia of species available in San Francisco Bay, the sturgeon bite has gone wild from Freeport west to the Carquinez Bridge. The water is starting to clear from the effects of the rainstorm of two weekends ago, and the sediment load has allowed for the water temperatures to continue to rise. Another wall of muddy water will be arriving by mid-week into the Sacramento River due to releases from Oroville Reservoir on the Feather River and the collapse of a cliff in the tributary of the Yuba River. Captain Jay Lopes of Right Hook Sport Fishing in Martinez said, “Fishing is outstanding with at least 30 fish landed in the last nine trips. We have been working deep water near the Benicia/Martinez Bridge, and we landed two keepers in the low 40s on Thursday along with releasing three oversized to 8.5 feet. Saturday’s trip was even better with three legal fish in the 50-plus-inch range. There are a number of huge oversized sturgeon right now, and the previous day, we had keepers at 54 and 56 inches. The water is very brown, and most everything is coming on lamprey eel.” In the upper river, Johnny Tran of New Romeo’s Bait in Freeport reported red-hot striper action with bank anglers using sardines with garlic spray, pile worms or blood worms on weights ranging from 2 to 6 ounces, as the fish are near the shorelines in the heavy flows. The stripers range from undersized to 30 inches. The water is muddy, and sturgeon are found with eel/nightcrawler combinations or eel/pile worm combinations using a 14- to 16-ounce weight to get far away from the banks. Dan Mathisen of Dan’s Delta Outdoors in Oakley said, “Striper trolling and plug casting has started to recover a bit from the dirty water. Water temps raised a bit this week, and a few more stripers in the Cache Slough area responded. Sturgeon remains the focus here. Diamondback anglers are heading to Light 41, Liberty and Cache Slough areas with roe and eel reporting success. Sturgeon anglers in front of Collinsville or Red Barn are still getting bit while shore-bound anglers are scoring both species. The best place to score a striped bass or sturgeon remains Sherman Island in the area of the Power Lines with Sardines or Big Red’s Bloody Eel. Mathisen will hold a striper seminar at the shop on April 3 from noon to 3 p.m. featuring plug-casting expert Tom Amberson with trolling techniques by Mathisen. Pam Hayes at Benicia Bait reported improved striped bass action from the bank areas with some linesides from 24 to 35 inches with blood worms, pile worms and anchovies. Sturgeon fishing remains good in lower Suisun Bay, and there are reports from Montezuma Slough on salmon roe with anglers scoring much better than others. The Central Valley Anglers Spring Striper Derby out of Sandy Beach south of Rio Vista will take place April 3. Information is available at www.centralvalleyanglers.org. Clear water is still the key to find largemouth bass, but big limits are becoming readily available as the bass are concentrating on moving into the shallows in preparation for the spawn. In the San Joaquin River, Randy Pringle, the Fishing Instructor, said, “As this past week progressed, the bite got tougher due to the full moon allowing the bass to eat throughout the evening. There are some fish spawning, but the majority have yet to spawn, as it has been cold in the mornings, particularly on Monday and Tuesday. When the temperature changes, you have to slow down, and the Havoc Flat Do on 8-pound test has been working in the mornings.” The bite gets better as the day progresses and the water warms up, and the ima Squarebill crankbaits in chartreuse/blue back is working as the water is starting to clear up. A slow presentation is necessary in the dirty water, and you have to use vibrating baits such as crankbaits or lipless crankbaits, and the ima Rock N’Vibe in chartreuse or crawdad patterns are working in the afternoons. Alan Fong of the Fishermen’s Warehouse in Sacramento went out in Monday’s windstorm with gusts to 25 mph, and he found great action for largemouth bass to 9.14 pounds. Delta Outdoors in Oakley held its first bass tournament of the season out of Big Break Marina with 19 boats, and they paid out $1,767 to the first-place team of Hunter and Chris Schandler with their 27.28 pounds. Mike Andrews and Phillip Dutra brought in the tournament’s largest fish at 10.31 pounds. Mathisen said, “Jigs or punching the dead hyacinth with creature baits produced the largest bags, and the females are moving under the weed clumps to keep their eggs warm. The bite is rolling in Discovery Bay with both Senkos or slow-rolling spinnerbaits near ledges along tule flats, and in Frank’s Tract, Vince Borges of Phenix Rods and VBO Outdoors caught and released a 13.9-pound largemouth on a River2Sea Big Poppa.” Steve Santucci of Steve Santucci’s Fly Fishing Guide Service reported, “We found really good numbers of striped bass on Thursday with many fish over 20 inches up to 11 pounds. We also caught largemouth bass and crappie with most of our fish landed on green and yellow Clouser Minnows.” Call: Randy Pringle, 209-543-6260; Intimidator Sport Fishing, 916-806-3030; Captain Stan Koenigsberger – Quetzal Adventures, 925-570-5303.

This story was originally published March 29, 2016 at 5:12 PM with the headline "Fish report for March 30."