Striped bass continue to trickle into the Sacramento River from the salt waters of the bay where trolling seems to be best way to hook a few to 12 pounds. The best lures are the deep-diving Yozuri Crystal Minnow or P-line predators in the green or fire tiger color patterns at depths ranging from 11 to 14 feet. Some of the better areas to troll have been the west bank of the Sacramento River and off Decker Island. Surface water temperatures are still warm holding at between 71º and 72º. The bigger stripers have yet to arrive, but it is still early in the season. The big fish of the week was the 30 pound striper taken off Big Break on the San Joaquin River with a Rat-L-Trap.
Salmon continue to move into the waters at a slow pace with occasional bright charmers taken from 12 to 22 pounds in the Freeport and Courtland section of the Old Sacramento River where Silvertron Spinners along with Mepps Flying C seem to be the lures of choice these days. Closer to Rio Vista a few salmon are taken in the early morning from the mouth up to the Isleton Bridge. Due to warm water temperatures most of the salmon are moving through at a fast pace to find cooler waters further upstream in the Anderson area. As we approach September the salmon fishing will only get better.