Sean D in the IJ! Sturgeon Crowd the Bay!

After these rains, the sturgeon rigs and sinkers have been jumping off the shelf at record pace - the odd weather patterns of the last couple weeks have kicked off a serious bite!

Ex-tackle department team member and full-time sturgeon fishing devotee Sean Daugherty was just featured in a recent article in the Marin Independent Journal -


Sean Daugherty, a San Rafael fisherman, holds an 76-inch sturgeon. He hooked the fish during a recent expedition just outside of San Pablo Bay. 'People are catching a lot this year,' Daugherty said. The fish was over the legal limit, so Daugherty released it. (Provided by Sean Daugherty)

Here's the article:

Enormous sturgeon crowding into San Pablo Bay

By Alastair Bland
IJ correspondent

A large, unusual concentration of big sturgeon in San Pablo Bay has scientists baffled and local fishermen thrilled.

Thousands of the lumbering bottom-feeding fish seem to be gathered in the waters between the Carquinez Straits and the Tiburon Peninsula. Sport anglers, who are generally accustomed to long and tedious hours of fishing to catch just one sturgeon, are deeming 2011 one of the best fishing years in history.

But just why the white sturgeon — whose smaller and rarer cousin, the green sturgeon, is a threatened species — are swarming in San Pablo Bay more than elsewhere is uncertain. The season's intense precipitation almost certainly has something to do with the phenomenon. Fishermen generally associate heavy rainfall with increased sturgeon activity. Some anglers say the influx of fresh water into the bay stimulates the fish's appetite.

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Whatever the reason for the bite, don't miss out! Get out and enjoy the action!