Striped bass fishing in Central California Coast

In Central California Coast, striped bass peak May–October and are around year-round, according to Fish Scouter's month-by-month season calendar. May: Bay stripers on the reefs off Alcatraz, Angel Island and the Brothers.

1. JanuaryAroundWinter stripers up in the Delta and the warm-water sloughs.
2. FebruaryAroundSturgeon peak; surf perch; stripers up in the Delta. Carquinez Strait and the Benicia channel edges for sturgeon; perch on the incoming tide.
3. MarchAroundPerch peak before they drop; the last sturgeon. Perch troughs at Pacifica and Monterey; stripers start moving down the Bay.
4. AprilArrivingSpring run through the Bay toward the Delta — trolling and bait at the Richmond rocks and Carquinez.
5. MayPeakBay stripers on the reefs off Alcatraz, Angel Island and the Brothers.
6. JunePeakSurf stripers on Pacifica, Ocean Beach and Thornton — swimbaits and poppers at dawn.
7. JulyPeakPeak surf and bay fishing.
8. AugustPeakStill on the beaches.
9. SeptemberPeakFall stripers back on the Bay reefs and the Berkeley flats.
10. OctoberPeakGood on the Bay's tide rips.
11. NovemberLeavingMoving up toward the Delta.
12. DecemberAroundSturgeon and surfperch — the winter pattern. San Pablo and Suisun for sturgeon on the big winter tides; perch on the beaches; boat groundfish closes.

A rugged, cold coast of kelp and granite — Big Sur, Monterey Bay's submarine canyon, Half Moon Bay, the Farallones — and San Francisco Bay, San Pablo and Suisun Bays running up into the Delta.

Fish Scouter charts 31 reservoir, 19 lake, 1 artificial reef spots in the Central Coast & San Francisco Bay map area — the kinds striped bass hold on.

• Live eelsHooked through the lips on a 5/0 to 7/0 circle hook and sight-cast to a cobia or dropped to a cobia on a ray — the eel is the cobia bait.
• Menhaden (pogies)Nose-hooked on a circle hook and free-lined or slow-trolled; cut in chunks for the bottom.
• HerringCut-plug for salmon: head off at an angle, guts out, two hooks in tandem so it spins slow behind a flasher or a banana weight. Whole and live on a circle hook for stripers where the herring run.
• BloodwormsA piece threaded on a #2 to 2/0 hook on a hi-lo or fish-finder rig — the striper, spot, croaker and white perch bait of the Chesapeake and the surf.
• Sand eelsFree-lined or on a light jig head for stripers, fluke and bluefish; strips teased on a fluke rig.
• Minnows (fatheads, shiners)Hooked lightly through the lips or behind the dorsal on a #6 to #2 hook under a slip bobber for crappie, perch and walleye; a big golden shiner on a 2/0 to 4/0 for largemouth, pike and stripers.

• Leader10–20 lb fluorocarbon
• Hook#2–3/0
• Jig head1/8–1/2 oz
• Braid10–30 lb

Feeds in 42–80°F water, best at 50–68°F.

All about striped bass · Central Coast & San Francisco Bay, the whole year