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San Pablo Bay.
To the north, San Pablo Bay is starting to brighten, sturgeon-wise, with each miserable gray day. That's the way winter works here. Keith Fraser -- poet, bait slinger, action hero, lover of birds -- has been out at the Pumphouse trying to catch a "demonstration" fish for his upcoming seminar. Out Tuesday, he and a small group of ridiculously eager volunteers landed four bass to 15 pounds and a 48-inch sturgeon. They had another sturgeon hooked, that Fraser estimated (super powers, remember?) at 50 pounds, but alas, it was farmed at the boat. All the fish were released, one way or another. Back to the seminar: "Sturgeon Fishing Bay Area Waters," an annual and much-anticipated event. (Corte Madera Rec. Center in Marin County). Fraser himself will conduct the where-and-how seminar, while Mike "Moose" McNair handles the cooking demonstration. Advance tickets are $4. Info: (415) 456-0321 ... The finest striped bass fishing around, arguably, is right at Port Sonoma, where at least one co-owner of a bait shop, when not selling bait, is catching fish. Daily. There also are documented catches of sturgeon from the Petaluma River, from shore at Sonoma Creek, and from boat out near Buoys 5 and 9.
San Francisco Bay.
It's not always clear why, but the South Bay continues to fish better than the main bay, and, all things considered, that's just fine. Even the faintest whisper of sturgeon caught from shore will motivate and mobilize the piscatorial masses. Down at Coyote Point, right along the shoreline, no less than two keeper sturgeon were wrestled in (presumably legally), along with an undersize diamondback that was released. If you're stocking up, ghost shrimp is the successful bait. Moving back toward Oyster Point, there's documented evidence of at least one striped bass and a halibut caught from the pier this week. Off shore a ways, a commercial fisherman worked all day for one halibut. Not good. Brisbane to Candlestick to Hunters Point, there are some large leopard shark caught on frozen squid and anchovy. Only thing: It helps to fish from a boat ... Alameda Rockwall and places nearby continue to provide fair to steady action for small sharks, plus 'rays, kingfish and smelt, and even a striped bass or halibut, or two. Same deal from Emeryville to Berkeley.
