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But more importantly it does a heart good to know a fishery can thrive in the same environment as a major city. Man with his industry and previous penchant to regard urban waters as dumping ground for industrial toxins, really can claim to have learned how to keep water productive and health.
One such fishery is the striper fishery thriving in the San Francisco Bay. It began as a meager planting of less than 600 New England natives in the 1870's. And has flourished through the onslaught of one hundred years of burgeoning human settlement, to become a success story that hundreds of bay area fly fisherman use to escape the wear and tear of urban life. These stripers have developed into a sustainable fishery literally in the shadows of San Francisco and its famous bridges.
With Bay Areas temperate climate, stripers aren't forced to migrate for months at a time they can live their entire life in the Delta. Although it is possible to catch a fish any day of the year there are definite peaks to the season. The first one occurs Mid-May when stripers return from spawning in the Sacramento River. Bass can be found around the islands and flats. Big Bass can be found in deeper structure. This season lasts until July or so when fish move out of the beaches and head to deeper water.
Fall peak season begins around Labor Day through October. This fall run being with all the excitement, fish can be found everywhere throughout the Bay and San Pablo Bay. The season's intensity works itself up into a frenzied climax around the beginning of November. When they head upriver for warmer waters for the winter and spawning to begin the whole process again.
Because of the frenzied action and relative light pressure, fly selection can be secondary to actually finding the fish. Make sure and have chartreuse colored clousers, and lefty's. Gold Buccaneer has been a favorite when weighted flies are required.
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