Napa River

The striper bite continues to deliver shaker-size fish. While a few are taken on lures like Rattletraps, most are falling for cut and live bait fished from the bank.

I saw a young angler casting under the Soscol Street Bridge. He had wonderful casting ability — but no fish that we could see.

Lake Berryessa

Here are the secret lures for your kokanee trip. Get your Radical Glow tubes and spinners at Sweeney’s Sports on Imola. Insist on pink.

Got to go deep to troll for salmon and trout.

Lake insiders tell me that the productive band is from 55 to 75 feet.

This lake doesn’t have a hot weather bass bite.

Oh sure, you can catch some — but nothing like Clear Lake when the water temperature is 80 degrees.

Clear Lake

Last week, it took two days to boat and release 42 fish. It didn’t take more than five minutes to learn that the green pumpkin brush hog drop-shotted was the hot bait. My partner fooled a perfect, fat six-pounder.

We had a couple more near five — all the rest were legal size, and 21 feet was the best depth. Deep rocks worked, too.

Even though we were on the water before 5:30 a.m., we only got one top water fish — on a spook against the tules at Long Tule Point.

San Francisco Bay

It is the best halibut season in memory. They are big and plentiful. Call Captain Barry Canevaro at (916) 777-6498 to book a trip.

There is no better eating fish than fresh halibut cooked simply with a squirt of lemon juice.

Klamath River

Pro guide Kevin Brock (800 995-5543) gave us our salmon dates in September on the Klamath. This is going to be one of the very few places in California where you’ll be able to keep a salmon.

They have a quota of something over 20,000 salmon. No one really knows how long that will last because they have never had the pressure of anglers who fished the Sac in the fall other years.

Better call Kevin to reserve your spot.

Bodega Bay

Wil’s Bait & Tackle (875-2323) continues to report limits of rockfish all around on each of its charters. The wind laid down pretty well last week.

They also ran a Berryessa trolling charter that totaled 17 kokes and a 2.5-pound small mouth bass.

San Pablo Dam Reservoir

Here’s the most recent “Top of the Whopper” count: Edwin Diestler caught a 15.5-pound catfish on a night crawler. Jacob Jacobaid landed an 11.5-pound trout, and the best bass of 2008 — so far — went just under 14 pounds.

California Delta

An old salt at the Isleton fishing pier passed on this report — the big striper was 16 pounds, and there was an 11-pound catfish. Across the river, two anglers caught a 25-inch and a 37-inch striper on chicken liver/sardine combo baits. The size of these stripers is extraordinary because that run is over.