All indications point to a top-notch live bait drifting season for striped bass, halibut and other species this year in San Francisco Bay and outside of the Golden Gate. Live shiner perch are now available for bait out of Loch Lomond Live Bait and Tackle in San Rafael, while J & P Bait out of Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco is expected to soon announce when live anchovies will be available for sale.

The hottest area for halibut now is the south bay between Oyster Point and Candlestick Point. The halibut action is just starting and should get better as more bait and halibut move into the bay.

Saturday, March 31 was a good day for halibut fishing in South San Francisco Bay. "Ten halibut were weighed in on Saturday by boaters fishing the main channel from Oyster Point to Candlestick Point," said John Akina at Oyster Point Bait and Tackle. "The anglers both trolled and drifted with frozen anchovies. Four of the five were in the 22 to 30 inch range, and the other six were over 30 inches."

Three anglers in one boat Saturday landed five halibut, topped by two fish measuring 30 and 32 inches long, according to Akina. A father/son team also bagged two halibut, a 16 lb. fish measuring 37 inches and an 18 lb. flattie going 36 inches.

"Anglers on the previous weekend reported catching five halibut, while anglers out on the bay on Thursday, March 29 brought in three halibut," said Akina. "The largest fish weighed 21 pounds and measured 38 inches. The best spot seems to be 'The Swirl' near the water treatment plant."

Although boaters are reporting the top halibut action, the Oyster Point Pier recently produced two halibut in the 24 inch class.

A few striped bass averaging around 22 inches are also beginning to show in the south bay. "A fishermen landed the largest bass this week, a 26 inch fish, while bait fishing off the Oyster Point Pier." said Akina.

The most consistent bet for pier anglers is the abundant jacksmelt. "Anglers are catching lots of jack smelt while fishing pileworms and anchovies," noted Akina.

Akina does not have live shiners available yet, but plans to start carrying the popular bait soon.

Meanwhile, Keith Fraser of Loch Lomond Live Bait and Tackle announced that live shiner perch are now available for bait out of his shop in San Rafael. "Nothing could be finer than a Loch Lomond shiner," quipped Fraser.

However, very few anglers are drifting for halibut or bass with live bait yet at the usual spots in the north or central bay. He recommended fishing the Berkeley Pier, Southampton Shoals and Paradise Cay for a mixture of halibut and striped bass. When the bass surge into the bay in larger numbers, Fraser recommended drifting live shiners at the Brothers and Sisters.

"Early in the season you will have to move around to find the fish," advised Fraser. "Expect to catch the halibut and bass on both the incoming and outgoing tides, but stay away from drifting during the big minus tides."

Since the fresh water inflow into San Pablo and San Francisco bays has been relatively light to date (although that could change if major storms hit the region this month), the fishing should be better in the early season than it has been over the past several rainy springs. The lack of large flows of fresh water should spur large schools of anchovies and other forage to move into the bay early.

J & P Bait, the supplier of live anchovies at Fisherman's Wharf in San Francisco, hasn't yet announced a date when live bait will become available to charter boat operators and private boaters. For more information, call 415-507-1962.

Live bait charter boats will focus on halibut, striped bass and sharks out of Bay Area ports in May. When rockfish season opens on June 1, 2007, many boats will also be booking live bait trips for rockfish and lingcod, as well as halibut and stripers. Summer live bait trips are very exciting, since you can catch stripers, halibut, leopard sharks, lingcod, greenling, cabezon and a rainbow assortment of rockfish all in one day.

Live bait trips will be available out of San Francisco's Fisherman's Wharf, Loch Lomond Marina in San Rafael, Emeryville Sportfishing Center, Berkeley Marina Sports Center, Richmond Marina and Point San Pablo Yacht Harbor.

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