Dodging the Storms and Chasing Stripers

Dodging the Storms and Chasing Stripers Saturday March 15, 2025 – It’s been raining for three days straight, and tomorrow promises more of the same. But today? Today was one of those freakishly perfect days—sandwiched between storms—when the wind disappears, the sun comes out, and everything feels just right. I wasn’t the only one who…

Rack Fever after 8 days of Quarentine

March 5, 2025 – Somewhere in the Wild Bureaucratic Hellscape of California Another bout of rain looms on the horizon, but the real storm already passed—an eight-day exile at the hands of California Parks and Recreation. Banished. Quarantined. A punishment so absurd it could only have been conceived by a government agency with no clear…

February Stripers with Dan

Monday February 24, 2025  –  February striper fishing these days is a roller coaster—a transitional circus of nature gone mad. The rains have come down like a curse, swelling both Forebay and Lake to surreal levels. Water turbidity is off the charts, with murk reducing visibility to a mere 1–4 feet, and a bitter cold…

Cold Water Stripers

Sunday November 24, 2024 – The first major atmospheric river of the year swept through the Bay Area this week, and as in past years, I made an effort to hit the Forebay after the first big rain. Fortunately, today’s weather cooperated—flat water and sunny skies made for an ideal day on the water, even…

Fall Striper action at the Forebay

It’s really frustrating that rebanding is no longer allowed, especially now that they’re inspecting boats as they leave. If the goal is to prevent mussel contamination in other bodies of water like the Forebay and the lake, inspecting boats on the way out doesn’t make much sense if. your not rebanding.   I timed my inspection…

Algae Lines and the Silent Blitz

  Monday October 21, 2024 – It was one of those days where the universe seemed hell-bent on screwing with me. Saturday had me in a sour mood, hunting for fish like some kind of desperate maniac and coming up empty-handed. The only glimmer of hope came in Portuguese Cove, where a brief blitz yielded…

October Crawdadin’

Monday October 15, 2024 – This year has definitely been the year of the crawdad. It seems like the minnows have taken a break at Big Lake, or they’ve been dodging my sonar for the past 10 months. I did see some fish activity today, though—it’s possible I spooked a school of shad near the…

National Coffee with a Cop Day

Wednesday, October 2, 2024 Today, I had the pleasure of fishing with my good friend Steve. Steve is a retired San Jose police officer and Air Force veteran. He worked on F4 Phantom aircraft, much like my son-in-law Ryan does with transport planes. I’ve been waiting all year for a day like today. It’s been…