Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition 3804 Feb 1-15 2019 | Page 17

West Sacramento . lvd l B ia str u Ind . lvd l B ia str Miller Park 50 80 u Ind Port of Sacramento Port Barge Canal of Ri Barge Canal Recreation Access ve Sacramento r (no vehicles allowed) Barge Canal To Rio Vista To Rio Vista Southport Parkway Ro Ro W a r C el Barge Canal Recreation Access Southport Parkway (no vehicles allowed) Rd Ri ve r R . d. Car Top Ramp Car Top Ramp Miller Park Sacramento Marina Sacramento Marina Canal Locks (closed) Canal Locks (closed) el 15 West Sacramento e. West Capitol Av Fishing information: Sacramento Pro Tackle (916) 925-0529, Fisherman’s Warehouse (916) 362-1200 80 To Verona To Verona e. West Capitol Av 50 The Washington Outboard Club: is a member oriented fishing club that resides in the Port of Sacramento. Each June, new members are brought into the club to maintain maximum membership at 600. Membership in the WOC is open to boat owners age 18 and over with a boat not greater than 21 feet in length, and not greater than 3,500 lbs. in weight. Open meetings are held the second Tuesday of each month, at 7:00pm, at the VFW Hall located at 905 Drever St., West Sacramento. You are invited to attend and if you would like to be put on the waiting list, you may get the appropriate application at that time. You must complete the application at the meeting and return it to the Secretary of the WOC. For more information, go to www.washingtonoutboardclub.org or email: Mail@WashingtonOutboardClub.org 80 Barge Canal Access: Located at 100 Jefferson Boulevard in West Sacramento. The access features an all-weather vehicle parking area, a hand-carry boat ramp for non-motorized boats, an all-weather walking/biking trail and fishing access along south bank of the Barge Canal. For more information, call the City of West Sacramento Department of Parks and Recre- ation, 916-617-4620, or email them at parks@ cityofwestsacramento.org. 80 Port of West Port Sacramento of West Sacramento Port of West Sacramento Facts ad To Rio Vista To Rio PORT OF WEST SACRAMENTO FISHING NOTES Vista Striped Bass – are caught by anglers year round, but the action is best from October through April. Bank anglers toss out mudsuckers, ad jumbo minnows and cut sardines and anchovies in the Barge Canal and Sacramento Deep Water Ship Channel. Kayakers and other boaters troll with Yo-Zuri and P-Line Predator lures, tipped with white and chartreuse wormtails. Boaters also experience top-notch action at times while jigging with Blade-Runner spoons or casting Rat-L-Traps and Umbrella rigs. The key to stripers success is finding concentrations of stripers feeding on schools of threadfin shad. Most of the fish are schoolies in the 3 to 10 lb. range, but fish to 40 pounds can be hooked. Catfish – are pursued year round, although the top fishing takes place during the spring, summer and early fall when water temperatures are warm. Use mackerel, chicken liver, anchovies, sardines and jumbo minnows for channel and white catfish. Largemouth Bass - Boaters and bank anglers hook largemouths while throwing out an array of lures from the shore and boat. Jigs, plastic worms, swimbaits, spinnerbaits and Umbrella rigs are among the most popular lures for the bass. The Port of Sacramento area is known for its fine striped bass, catfish and black bass fishing. Photo by DAN BACHER, Fish Sniffer Staff. chicken liver, nightcrawlers, minnows, sardines and prepared baits are you best bets for the whiskerfish. The access is only open from dawn until dusk, so you’ll have to fish in the day for the cats. Striped bass are caught throughout the year, but the port really gets going from October through April when the stripers move into the port to feed on the big schools of shad that congregate here. “The shad look for a calm backwaters like the port to spawn,” said Dennis Pfanner at Sacramento Pro Tackle. “There are times when the shore fishing in the port is so good that I can almost guarantee that an angler who puts in the time will catch some stripers.” Shore anglers experience the top action while drifting jumbo minnows under a bobber or fishing them on a sliding sinker rig. Mudsuckers, butterflied shad, sardine fillets and pileworms, also fished on the bottom with sliding sinker set-ups, are other very productive striper baits. For the float tuber or boater, a plethora Feb 1-15, 2019 MAP FEATURE VOL.38 • ISS. 4 of methods can be used to entice striped bass in the port. You can plug, spoon, troll or drift minnows when fishing for stripers in the port and Sacramento Deep Water Channel. Mark Wilson, striper fishing expert and member of the Washington Outboard Club, recommended trolling minnow imitation lures including P-Line Predators and Angry Eyes, Mann’s Stretch 15 Lures, Yo-Zuris, Bombers and Rebels, tipped with plastic worms, for the stripers. “Ninety percent of the anglers troll deep, but you can catch fish with both shallow diving and deep diving lures,” said Wilson. “I like to troll at 16 to 20 feet deep at 3 mph or shallow at 7 to 8 feet at 4-1/2 to 5 mph.” Most of the keeper-sized stripers caught in the port are in the 18 to 28 inch range, but much bigger fish are landed here every year. Two local anglers each landed a striper in the 40 lb. class in the port during 2018, according to Uncle Larry Barnes at Sacra- mento Pro Tackle. Spooning with Gibbs Minnows, Blade-Runners and other lures is highly effective when the water temperature cools with a higher salinity level on the high down and the shad school up in the port and tide – and bigger tidal movement -than the deep water channel. The trick here is to find Sacramento River in the metropolitan area. stripers balled up on schools of shad. Just about any type of fish that swims During the high tide, anglers like to in the Sacramento River and Delta can be “plug” with Rat-L-Traps and other crank- caught at times in the port. Starry flounder baits and swimbaits off the tules off small have been caught by anglers bait fishing “creek” inlets in the deep-water channel in the barge canal. Other fish caught there during the high tide. over the years include white sturgeon, king Black bass anglers also enjoy fishing the salmon and steelhead. barge canal and deep water channel. Anglers hook lots of fish in the 1 to 2 pound range, along with some larger fish, while fishing Carolina-rigged Senkos, jigs and other lures. Although spring is the best time for port black bass, these fish can be caught year round off the tules and brush around the barge canal. Before 9-11, anglers used to fish around the docks of the port for crappie and catfish at night, but this isn’t allowed anymore because of security concerns. The lock system between the Sacramento River and the port used to allow boats – and water – to go between the port and the main river. However, the City of Sacramento, because of decreasing use and concern over increasing costs, decided to stop operating the locks on a daily basin and the locks no longer remain open. The port is now a Hard-fighting stripers like these are the reward for anglers fishing dead end slough, with spoons in the Port of Sacramento and Sacramento Deep Water the water coming up Ship Channel. through Cache Slough Photo courtesy of BLADE-RUNNER TACKLE, Sacramento.