Fishing report for week of April 22-28: Some angling left in aqueduct, Kern, Ocean, Delta

Compiled by Dave Hurley and edited by Roger George, a former Olympic-class decathlete at Fresno State and striper record-holder at Millerton Lake and who now guides in the greater Fresno area. Telephone numbers are in 559 calling area unless noted.

Photo gallery

Show off your success! Share your fish photos and videos with Bee readers. Please share only jpeg images and Mp4 video files. Include “Fishing Report” in the subject line and email to sports@fresnobee.com

Key

1-Try dynamite

2-Have to work hard

3-Limits possible

4-Fish jumpin’ in boat

The California Aqueduct is one of the only locations in which fishermen have access for striped bass with the closure of San Luis Reservoir and the O’Neill Forebay parking lots and launch facilities.

In the northern section of the aqueduct, anglers are using ripbaits or topwater lures around moving water near the head gates. The bass have been boiling on the surface on occasion, and with the warmer weather anticipated this week, the boils should increase.

In the southern section of the aqueduct in Kern County, Pete Cormier of Bob’s Bait in Bakersfield said, “The aqueduct has been hot, and we sold out of minnows and blood worms quickly. Anchovies and sardines are also working along with jerkbaits, tubes, flukes and Rat-L-Traps. If the temperatures reach the 90s this week as anticipated, the topwater bite should be happening, as well.”

Call: Valley Rod and Gun in Clovis 292-3474; Bob’s Bait Bucket 661-833-8657

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District has closed all recreation facilities, including campgrounds, visitor centers, boat launches and day-use areas, at the 10 lakes and parks it runs to protect against the spread of the coronavirus.

Any questions about the status of a USACE park can be directed to that individual park staff. Contact information can be found at the Sacramento District Parks website spk.usace.army.mil/Locations/Sacramento-District-Parks or by web searching USACE and the name of the park.

Additional information and updates on modifications, closures and other restrictions related to the USACE district’s response can be found at spk.usace.army.mil/coronavirus and on its Facebook (@SacramentoDistrict) and Twitter (@USACESacramento) pages.

Call: Eastman Lake 689-3255

Another Corps-run lake that’s closed.

Call: Valley Rod Gun, Clovis 292-3474; U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Hensley Lake Hidden Dam 673-5151

The Don Pedro Recreation Agency reported that a full closure of the reservoir is in effect until further notice. This closure includes campgrounds and recreation on the reservoir. Houseboat owners will have access to their houseboats, and for questions regarding Houseboat Service, owners are to contact Suntex Marinas at 209-852-2369. For campsite cancellations, refunds or credits, email dprc@tid.org, but expect delays in the response as increased phone traffic and emails are being received. Minimal DPRA staff will be on-site to support essential functions of the area, but staff services will not be available during the park’s closure.

Call: Monte Smith 209-581-4734; Kyle Wise – Head Hunter Guide Service 209-531-3966; Ryan Cook – Ryan Cook’s Fishing 691-7008

Pete Cormier of Bob’s Bait in Bakersfield reported solid action for crappie, largemouth bass, catfish and trout at Lake Isabella. He said, “We have been busier than we have been in five years as anglers are heading to Isabella along with both the upper and lower Kern River and the California Aqueduct. Crappie action has been best with small to medium minnows around the Cages in 15 feet of water while bass fishing is best with jigs, Brush Hogs, plastics or deep-diving crankbaits. The coming 90-degree weather should increase the snowmelt, and the lake will be filling up with the fish moving closer to the shorelines as the water warms. The catfish bite remains the best with Triple S Dip Bait, frozen shad, jumbo or extra-large minnows or clams. Trout plants have occurred in the upper river near Kernville Park and also above the park, and planted rainbows can be taken out of the deeper holes with salmon eggs, nightcrawlers, crickets or spinners. In the lower river, both bass and trout have been taken. There has been a tremendous demand for live bait, and blood worms and live minnows have been sold out within a day of arriving in the shop.”

The local lakes are open, and fishing has been fair for bass, bluegill and carp. Bass are taken on plastics or nightcrawlers while bluegill are biting waxworms.

Call: Bob’s Bait Bucket 661-833-8657; North Fork Marina 760-376-1812; Golden Trout Pack Station 542-2816

Another Corps-run lake that’s closed.

Call: Sierra Sporting Goods 592-5212

Another Corps-run lake that’s closed.

Call: Sequoia Fishing Co. 539-5626, sequoiafishingcompany.com

McClure and McSwain have been temporarily closed by the Merced Irrigation District, and minimal access will be provided for those needing to reach their houseboats at McClure Point or the Barrett Cove launch facilities. Those with existing camping reservations that include a motorhome or trailer with a self-contained restroom only at McClure Point, Barrett Cove or Lake McSwain. No other day-use or camping is available and no new reservations will be taken during the temporary closure. For further information or questions, 855-800-2267 or parkinfo@mercedid.org.

Call: Ryan Cook – Ryan Cook’s Fishing 691-7008, McSwain Marina 209-378-2534

As a California State Park, Millerton State Recreational Area temporarily closed its parking lots and launch ramps. The lake is inaccessible for power boats, and all parking lots at the recreational areas are closed. Sycamore Island Park on the San Joaquin River also temporarily closed.

Call: Valley Rod & Gun 292-3474

All campgrounds, trails, day-use and boat launching facilities at New Melones are temporarily closed until further notice. Information: 209-536-9094 extension 0 or usbr.gov/ccao/newmelones.

Lake Tulloch remains open for those with gate access, and there have been some huge largemouth bass and brown trout in excess of 10 pounds landed by local fishermen within the past week.

Call: Glory Hole Sports 209-736-4333; Monte Smith 209-581-4734; John Liechty Xperience Fishing Guide Service 209-743-9932

Pine Flat is another Corps-run lake that’s closed. No reports from the river.

Call: Valley Rod & Gun 292-3474; Sequoia Fishing Co. 539-5626

As a California State Park, San Luis Reservoir temporarily closed its parking lots and launch ramps. The lake is inaccessible for power boats, and all parking lots at the recreational areas are closed. Anglers can walk into the lake from access points to fish from the banks, but they’re reminded to practice social distancing.

Call: Coyote Bait and Tackle 408-463-0711, Roger George, 905-2954, rogergeorgeguideservice.com

The launch ramps are temporarily closed. The 2020 Bass Lake Fishing Derby scheduled for the first weekend in May has been canceled. If you have already registered for 2020, organizers are offering a refund or will carry your registration over to 2021. For more information, email chamber@basslakechamber.com.

Kaiser Pass is blanketed with snow, limiting access to the region.

For the latest Sierra National Forest road conditions: bit.ly/2rfH8BB

Call: Vermilion Valley Resort at Edison Lake 259-4000

Shaver Lake is temporarily closed to boat traffic as well as shore access. Dick Nichols of Dick’s Fishing Charters said, “The Department of Fish and Wildlife has already begun planting rainbow trout, and the first of two trophy plants from the Shaver Lake Trophy Trout Project will be occurring in the near future. It looks like we will be having an ‘old-fashioned’ opening in June as the planted trout will have plenty of time to circulate around the lake and acclimate. With all of the rainbows, brown and golden trout in the lake, I am going to fish late in the season until the weather makes us quit for the winter.”

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Shaver Lake seminar by Dick Nichols of Dick’s Fishing Charters and Ken Thompson, senior biologist from the Department of Fish and Wildlife, has been rescheduled for May 21 at Turner’s Outdoorsman in Fresno.

Call: Dick Nichols, Dick’s Fishing Charters 281-6948; Todd Wittwer, Kokanee.net Guide Service 288-8100; Dinkey Creek Inn 841-3435

Snow will keep these lakes inaccessible until late April, at least.

Call: Wishon RV Park 865-5361

Ocean

The ocean salmon season will be May 1-Nov. 8, but access to the ocean will depend upon whether the launch ramps are open along the coast. Those with private boats in a berth will be able to launch while the shelter-in-place order is in effect as long as those in the boat are from the same household.

Half Moon Bay

Captain Dennis Baxter of the New Captain Pete is taking advantage of the expectation of household members only to take his adult children, Braden and Jenna, out for rockfish, halibut and squid.

He said, “There have been some large masses of live market-grade squid here, and with one private boat landing two white sea bass on Wednesday, we went looking for the ghosts on Thursday. We had three hookups that sawed off our 25-pound test so we respooled with 40- or 60-pound test to find out that these were soup fin sharks that were breaking us off. We struck out on white sea bass, but they are out there. We found a huge mass of squid, and after breaking the handle on our 18-foot bait net, we were able to load up with our salmon net as the school was thick. Using the live squid, we landed five halibut along the beaches. There have been private boats launching out of their berths in the harbor, and kayaks are coming off of the beaches near Princeton. Earlier in the week, my daughter, Jenna, landed her first cabezon along the local reefs.”

The Pacifica Pier (click here for a webcam) remains open, but anglers are expected to follow Centers For Disease Control guidelines of social distancing.

Call: Captain Dennis Baxter – New Captain Pete (650) 576-3844; Captain Tom Mattusch – Huli Cat (650) 619-0459.

Monterey/Santa Cruz

Santa Cruz County is reopening its beaches, parks, open spaces and the Santa Cruz Wharf to the public effective Thursday at midnight after they were closed in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic last week.

The Department of County Parks, Open Spaces and Cultural Services said on their website that all social distancing guidelines must be maintained for those who visit the parks. Park and beach hours are generally sunrise to sunset.

Santa Cruz city officials released a statement reminding residents that all state and county shelter-in-place orders remain in effect and that all exercise should be done near residents’ homes.

County parks officials listed the following areas as remaining closed as of Thursday: Simpkins Family Swim Center, visitor centers, museums, the skate park at Seacliff Village Park, dog parks at Chanticleer and Polo Grounds Parks and reservable group picnic areas, along with park restrooms and playgrounds.

Allen Bushnell of the Santa Cruz Kayak and Surfcasting Guide Service said, “Unlike the shoreline of Santa Cruz, Monterey County beaches remained accessible for surfcasting last week. All California State Parks remain closed, which means the State Park parking lots many anglers use for beach access are not available. Even some local neighborhood parking was blocked off last week to discourage potential beachgoers who might violate the COVID-19 social distancing suggestions or regulations.

“Surfcasters working the beaches between Monterey and Moss Landing did well last week, Lots of big perch and a good quantity of small striped bass were caught using a variety of lures and bait. Marina fisherman Glen Sales also notes “There are tons of sand crabs right now. That always makes for good fishing.” After the last rainstorm two weeks ago, the Salinas River finally opened up to the ocean, releasing hundreds (if not thousands) of schoolie-size stripers into Monterey Bay. We can expect these fish to be prowling further and further from the Salinas River mouth within the next few weeks. In an interesting side-note, Monterey angler Tim Frahm from Trout Unlimited is eager to invite local anglers to participate in partnership with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration scientists on a striped bass research project in our area. Surprisingly, there has been very little formal study of that species in our area. It’s been obvious for years that spawning striper populations occupy both the Pajaro and Salinas rivers. Now is a good time to take a closer look at specifics. To do so, an app is now available for anglers to record their striper catches on Monterey Bay, including the general area of the catch. 200 stripers have been tagged in order to provide even more detailed info to NOAA researchers. Trout Unlimited described reasoning behind this study stating, ‘California’s central coast once produced a lot of wild steelhead. Steelhead were a staple food for the labor force that built some of the state’s famed Spanish missions over 200 years ago. Today, however, central coastal steelhead are threatened. Trout Unlimited, through our Golden Gate and Steinbeck Country chapters, is working with state and federal agencies to recover them. One way TU is providing support for this effort is through a novel program created in partnership with the NOAA Fisheries’ Southwest Science Center in Santa Cruz. This program aims to better understand the relationship between striped bass and steelhead in this region through collection of angler catch data. The Pajaro and Salinas Rivers are regulated as Steelhead Rivers.’” It is not clear how viable any steelhead spawning populations may still exist in these rivers. In fact, the steelhead trout are Frahm’s primary concern. Why then study stripers rather than steelhead? Frahm explained, “We can’t manage a fishery or recover population unless we know about their life history and how they use the streams lagoons and beaches of the Central Coast. Getting info about striped bass is to better the recovery of steelhead in these waters as well as to increase opportunities for fishing striped bass.”

Additional information on this study and downloads of the phone app are available here: bit.ly/36ehHCk, via TU website tu.org or contact Tim Frahm directly at tfrahm@tu.org.

Call: Chris’ Landing (831) 375-5951; Allen Bushnell – Santa Cruz Kayak and Surf Casting (831) 251-9732.

San Francisco Bay

The Berkeley and Richmond Marina remains open, and there is even the possibility of guest docking at Berkeley for those who want to launch the night or so before heading out. Fishermen are required to only have household members in their boats with no outside friends or family members.

Tom and Davis Uslan of Clarksburg have been observing the expectation for household members only, and they launched from Richmond this week for success right off of the bat trolling for halibut. Tom said, “It was the most beautiful day on the bay that your mind could ever imagine. I was happy with that and nothing more. We had a 24-inch halibut within 5 minutes and a similar striper within 10 minutes after setting up, but the rest of the day was spent on a beautiful ‘lake’ nearly alone until 3 p.m. when we called it a day with only two more scratched baits.”

The Uslans were back out on Sunday, and they trolled up three more legal halibut in the central bay.

Halibut fishing has been very good despite the lack of live bait, and there have been a number of social media posts listing success for private boaters in both San Pablo and the south bay.

Speaking of live bait, Keith Fraser of Loch Lomond Bait and Tackle has a large supply of live smelt in the bait tanks, and he said, “These smelt are of the perfect size for halibut. Things are decent around here, and there were bass boiling on the surface at the Marin Islands in the morning. Most of our fishermen are from the shoreline now with the launch ramp closed, but the ramp may be opening up shortly. All of the Marin County fishing piers are closed, but anglers are setting up anywhere they can along the shorelines. The tides this weekend are good for halibut drifting, but they are not banner sturgeon tides. The drifting should be great for the next 5 to 6 days. We have live ghost shrimp, grass shrimp, pile worms, and smelt in the shop.”

Call: Captain Trent Slate Bite Me Charters (415) 307-8582; Captain Jerad Davis, Salty Lady (415) 760-9362; Captain Steve Mitchell of Hook’d Up Sport Fishing (707) 655-6736; Happy Hooker (510) 223-5388;

San Luis Obispo

The launch ramps are reopening in San Luis Obispo County – but only to SLO County residents. The commercial fleet will start selling fish off of their boats starting May 1 in the event the restaurants and the state doesn’t reopen. The city of Morro Bay has already approved the direct sale of fish from commercial boats to consumers starting May 1 as long as the social distancing standards are maintained. As of May 1, anyone will be able to buy whole salmon, rock fish and crab from the commercial fishing boats docked in Morro Bay Harbor. The fish will be sold whole, not filleted. Signs will be present in the harbor and along the Embarcadero directing consumers to the boats selling fish, but those intending to purchase are to bring an ice chest and a supply of ice.

Similar to all ports, party boat operations are on hold until further notice due to the shelter in place order is lifted. Private boats are able to head out for rockfish if they have a boat in a berth. There should be solid action with the local reefs being untouched for the three-plus months. All of the party boat landings are currently taking reservations for the summer months in the event the Shelter In Place order is lifted.

Call: Virg’s Landing (800) 762-5263; Patriot Sport Fishing (805) 595-4100; Morro Bay Landing

Others

Delta/Stockton

Bass 3 Striper 3 Sturgeon 3 Catfish 2 Bluegill 2

The Delta has a number of launch ramps open as of press time, but this could change at any time:

B and W Resort on the Mokelumne River, store open 9 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Hogback on Steamboat Slough

Suisun City

Benicia 9th Street

Arrowhead – envelope – exact change – below 18 feet - $10 – more than 18 feet - $12 – put in envelope

Sugar Barge on Bethel Island – two lanes – self serve $15 cash

Pittsburg Marina

Holland Riverside Marina

Paradise Point – open 24 hours - $15 self-pay

Turner Cut –$10 – pay in envelope

Eddo’s Marina – if there before open, launch and pay when you return

Sherman Island

Closed launch ramps:

Rio Vista City

Belding’s Landing on Montezuma Slough

Lauritzen’s Yacht Harbor in Oakley

Brannan Island

Big Break in Oakley

Russo’s Marina on Bethel Island

Vieira’s Resort on the Old Sacramento

Pam Hayes at Benicia Bait said, “The 9th Street launch ramp is open, but the parking lot has been limited and most of the boat trailers have to park alongside the surface streets. We are open from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. daily, and we are only letting in one or two people in the shop at a time. We have all of the frozen baits in the shop, but pile worms have been hit or miss along with ghost shrimp. We do have grass shrimp most of the time. Sturgeon fishing has been very good, and the bite has been outstanding since the Shelter In Place started. We were expecting this bite to occur much earlier, but it is on now. Striped bass has also been very good.”

Alan Fong, manager of the Sacramento Fishermen’s Warehouse, continues to launch out of Arrowhead Marina in the north Delta to work the area around Liberty Island, and he said, “The striped bass bite is really good, and I hooked one of the largest fish that I have latched onto all year long. After taking off like a freight train with 50 yards of line on its initial run, I brought it back to where I could see it three times before it took off again, finally wrapping my line around a tree that I didn’t realize was there. It was so powerful that it was pulling the bow of my boat around, and I could have chased it down with the trolling motor, but I thought I could bring it in. My Mega Bass Mega Dog topwater bait was wrapped into the tree, floating on the surface after it broke off. They really wanted topwater lures this week as they are chasing small bass and bait in the shallows around 2 feet in depth. The bite has been really good as our Assistant Manager, Michael Kidwell, caught and released a 30-pounder the day before, also on the Mega Dog. The fish I lost was huge as I have already released two stripers over 40 pounds this year, and this was even larger.”

Clyde Wands, shallow trolling expert, went out solo yesterday out of Hogback on Steamboat Slough, and he said, “This was my first day out for a while, and this is my favorite time to troll Steamboat Slough, but the stripers weren’t there. I went shallow trolling with Rat-L-Traps without any luck so I headed into the Old Sacramento River near Walnut Grove and found a school of striped bass. They were good quality, and I released a 14-pounder, keeping a limit of smaller, legal stripers. I ended up with 10 legal stripers along with 3 to 4 shakers. The parking lot was pretty clear when I launched, but it was full of trailers when I returned.”

Nelson Vineyard of Top Line Sport Fishing has been taking his son, Joey, out for striped bass trolling over the past few weeks, and he said, “We worked the West Bank again this week for three keepers and two shakers before the high tide. Once the bite died during the outgoing tide, we followed the tide up into the San Joaquin for one more keeper near the San Andreas Shoal. Since this was our limit, we called it a day, but I am marking tons of fish everywhere in the Delta. You just have to keep moving into you find stripers actively feeding. We were back out again on the West Bank on Saturday, and we caught and released over 20 legal stripers, keeping two limits to 14 pounds running deep-diving Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows on orange/charteuse at 4.0 mph with the current. The best action occurred during the first two hours of the incoming tide.”

Steve Wirfs of Ripon was out with Jeff Boyle of Bass Pro Shops in Manteca, and he said, “We had our best day on the Delta so far this year as we hooked 14 stripers, landing a dozen to 6 pounds by 9:30 a.m. running Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows on a deep-dive along the West Bank.”

Smolt planting has begun in the San Joaquin River between Eddo’s Marina and the Antioch Bridge, and the striped bass along with predatory birds and sea lions have magically made an appearance in response. The plants will continue until May.

Striped bass have finally shown up in the San Joaquin River, and Dave Houston of Livermore was out on Thursday, and he said, “This is what I’ve been waiting as for the fish are finally on the San Joaquin in big numbers. However, finding them is still difficult. We started on the Sacramento side and did fairly well, but when the bite died, we went searching on the San Joaquin and found them. Within 3 hours, we caught 46 fish including a couple 8s, 10s and a 13 working deep-diving Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows in either orange or chartreuse. With the current, I am working between 13 and 18 feet around 4.5 mph while against the current, I run between 12 and 15 feet at around 3.5 mph.”

James Netzel of Tight Lines Guide Service still has his boat tied up at Korth’s Pirates Lair, and he took his wife out on Saturday for great action with deep-diving Yo-Zuri Crystal Minnows in double chartreue/black dots or chatreuse/orange/yellow trailer for linesides in the 6- to 8-pound range on the San Joaquin River from the Antioch Bridge east to the Santa Clara Shoals.

Randy Pringle, the Fishing Instructor, found the Mother Lode on Monday in the San Joaquin River after launching out of B and W Resort. He said, “We absolutely destroyed the largemouth bass in the morning on the high tide as I was throwing the ima Rock N’Vibe Suspend in bluegill pattern for 10 to 15 largemouths to 3 pounds. I was also using a Berkley General or a 4-inch Power Hog on a Texas-rig using a heavy-gauge 3/0 offset hook using a light 5/16th-ounce weight. The lighter weight allows the plastics to float slowly and stay in the strike zone longer. I am not bed fishing, but there are plenty of bass on the beds. I was making long casts and pitching around the sparse tules on the high tide. The largest bass came in at 6.5 pounds on the plastics, and I lost one that was clearly 8 pounds plus after the hook came unbuttoned. The big news came on the low tide when a huge group of striped bass came through in the shallows. I was bass fishing at the time so I threw out the General, and a striper blew up on it. I reached for my rod with the ima Little Stick already tied on, and the first cast landed a 25-pound lineside that was quickly released. The next two casts came in at 5 and 7 pounds, and after trying to film this for Optima as I started to score on the Bubba Shad, they were gone as quickly as they came through. There were at least 2 to 3 stripers in the 20-plus pound category with the remainder in the 5- to 8- pound range. They were roaming through the flats in shallow water. The shallows are holding small largemouth bass, and the stripers are feeding on the bass along with the huge schools of splittail. We saw a big school of splittail moving through the shallows. The bass are holding in the warmest water, and when you see carp in the shallows, you will know the bass are there as well as they are also seeking the warmest water.”

Ladd’s Marina at Buckley Cove in Stockton is now closed as of this week.

Call: Randy Pringle (209) 543-6260; Captain Steve Mitchell – Hook’d Up Sport Fishing – (707) 655-6736; J.D. Richey – Richey’s Sport Fishing – (916) 952-1554; Vince Borges – Vince Borges Outdoors (209) 918-0828

Lake Nacimiento/San Antonio/Santa Margarita/Lopez

San Luis Obispo County has closed all campgrounds. At Lake Nacimiento, the launch ramps and day use remain open, subject to closure. Interested fishermen are advised to regularly check back on the Lake Nacimiento Resort Facebook page, website, or call the reservations office at 805-237-4924 Option 1 before driving to the lake. A webcam of the lake is available at lakenacimientolive.com.

Lopez Lake Marina store has changed hours to 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.; the docks are open but the bar, dining room and game room are closed until the shelter in place order is lifted. A webcam of the lake is available at 805webcams.com/lopez-lake-webcam.

Santa Margarita is open for boating, but this may change at any time at all San Luis Obispo County lakes. The Santa Margarita marina is closed.

All tournaments scheduled in April are postponed.

California Department of Fish and Wildlife announced that it has removed the fish plant schedule from its website in order to slow the spread of COVID-19 by preventing public crowding at water bodies. CDFW said it will continue stocking trout at locations where social distancing by anglers and physical distancing of hatchery staff can be maintained.

This story was originally published April 21, 2020 at 11:25 AM with the headline "Fishing report for week of April 22-28: Some angling left in aqueduct, Kern, Ocean, Delta."