Sep
Sacramento River: Fishing in the West Delta is very productive at this time, provided you avoid targeting salmon. Stripers are on a solid bite and sturgeon are stacked up, but salmon trolling has proven to be tough.
“We fished for salmon this morning,” related Kip Elton of Sacramento. “We trolled for 3 hours without a bite. The water was warm. After zero love from the salmon in the Rio Vista area we headed down to Decker for stripers. We got into the bass and landed 9 fish on Yo-Zuris including one that was 34 inches long. We let all of them go.”
Bait anglers are relying primarily on shad for their bass, but bullheads, mudsuckers and jumbo shiners are working too, as are slow trolled live bluegill.
In terms of sturgeon not many people are trying for them, but there are big numbers of fish down in the deep water off Pittsburg. For those that put in the effort, both roe and eel are paying off.