When is it not fishing season in the bay area? In California, many of the streams and rivers that lead away from far inland and close by reservoirs, as well as over flooded areas, just about all the ones in Northern California make their way to the bay area. All around the bay, and on the way to it, there is basically an unlimited amount of spots you can go to fish. It all depends on if you are looking for peace, if you are looking for a certain species of fish to catch, where you want to be fishing from, and what kind of gear or boat you have to fish from. This all plays a factor in where you can fish, but let me tell you, for a good fishing time, you will always have that fishing around the bay area.
Of many of the random kinds of fish to catch all around here, it’s still somewhat seasonal and the fish will vary depending on what you are looking for. I have had a lot of luck catching sturgeon, trout, freshwater bass, halibut, striped bass, albacore, and salmon, usually in that order for my seasons.
Some of the best spots in the winter months for catching sturgeon are right in Suisun Bay. My favorite spot is near Browns Island right above Pittsburg, CA. I have a friend who lives a little southwest of Pittsburg in Walnut Creek, CA. When she’s not working on her company, walnutcreekplumberpros.com, we are on her boat cruising around the East Bay catching sturgeon in the winter. As it gets into the late winter, we start moving a little bit more east towards Discovery Bay. It’s really isolated out there, and there is still a sufficient supply of sturgeon that make it worth out while, but the best part of it, is the peace, and the sounds of nothing that I truly love.
As Spring starts to show its warmth, we move towards the Sloughs, Montezuma Sloughs that is, and that’s when all the fish are biting. We catch trout, freshwater bass, and of course, we are still catching those sturgeon.
Mid Spring going into summer, you can find us on the San Pablo Resorvoir on the weekends, cause that’s the only free time she has during her busy months. We are using some stinky anchovies to catch halibut and striped bass.
Some other fantastic fishing points in the early summer are the South San Francisco Shorelines, Alameda Rockwalls, the Flats in Berkeley, South Hampton, Paradise Beach, and one of my personal favorites, Angel Island, where, if you get there at the perfect time, the fog will still usually be out and the island appears to glow. It’s amazing sight to see and not too many people really know about it.
Deep summer months are usually striped bass and halibut seasons at the locations that I listed above, except now, we are spending most of our time at Angel Island since people get too lazy after long summers to make it all the way out there, and we get it to ourselves very often.
In the fall, we finally start reeling in tons of Salmon, but we usually go up to Marin and the Sonoma Coastline to do so. Some spots there that are great to fish at are Dillons Beach, and Double Point.
If you want to catch any albacore, I recommend going past the Farallon Islands to Pioneer and Davidson. Look up the 455 Spots, I guarantee you’ll catch more than you think there.