Stripers are still biting in Winter!
Januari 18, 2026 Rio Vista 1 photo
Bass (Striped)
Gestreepte Zeebaars

Trip Summary

Today's trip was very foggy, cold morning about 39° air temps with water temps at 51°. We started out looking for some schools of fish and only cruising about 3 to 4 knots with radar and line of sight along the shore as our guide. We fished 3 spots this trip and caught 3 catfish that were pan sized and 3 Stripers with only 1 keeper. 2 of the Stripers were just under legal size of 18" minimum. We drifted some live bait, but all fish today came on cut sardines in about 25 feet of water. We headed out about 0830 from the docks and headed back on by 4pm. The fog cleared shortly before 3pm, and by the time we were headed home, it was coming back in thick. There was still quite a bit of hyacinth and debris from recent storms in the water. But we were able to fish without fighting weeds on our lines hardly at all. All in all for a limited day of movement and visibility, I think our guests had a great time and got to catch some fish and see a part of the local waters they never have before. We are gearing up for a full on live bait party this spring on board as we have secured a reliable source. Check out the calendar and get on board for a day chasing big California Delta Stripers!
Doug McArthur
Rio-vista, California, United States
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If you're going to cast a line in Northern California, look no further than the Team Mc Fishing Guide Service. Around here, the fishing is popular for King Salmon, Striped Bass, Cutthroat Trout, Sturgeon, Rainbow Trout (Steelhead), Brown Trout, and m...

Other reports from this charter

Water temps are still good!
Water temps are still good!
December 29, 2025
Water temps are holding about 54° on both sides of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers we fish on. We started out the morning from Rio Vista and went down to check the west bank. Dropped some jumbo minnows and cut sardines on top of some decent marks on the sonar. We didn't get many takers so we moved down to the San Joaquin side near Antioch. The water coming through 3 mile slough was muddy, but both sides of the river were fairly clean after the large storms we just had the week before. Once we settled into our first spot, the tide was just hitting high tide. We started with some cut sardines and caught a small catfish. Only a short time on anchor and the tide turned and started going out. We dropped live bait and cut sardines and couldn't hardly get the rods in the water before the first few fish took them. After the tide and current picked up speed from the outgoing, there started to be some weeds in the water clogging up our lines. We moved down to our next spot, closer to the Antioch bridge. Again, dropping live bait and cut sardines, and the fish were biting good. 12 fish to the boat, biggest striper was 5.46 pounds and several just short of being legal. We kept 3 fish for our guests that day and safely released the others to grow. The guests of the day were great to fish with and the young ladies on board wanted to catch their first Delta Stripers. We accomplished that and I'm sure they will be talking about this adventure in the days to come.
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