The California Delta
Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta (Rio Vista / Sherman Island) · near Rio Vista / Antioch · SF Bay Area
Fishing
At a glance
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Best season
- Stripers fall–spring · largemouth spring–fall · sturgeon winter
Permits and booking
- Licence required
- Yes
- Licence detail
- CA license (16+) required. The 1,100-mile Delta is a maze of channels — striped bass and largemouth are the headliners; sturgeon are catch-and-release only. Shore access at Sherman Island, Brannan Island SRA, and public banks; boat opens it all up.
What is here
- Features
- 1,100 miles of fishable channels · World-class largemouth bass · Striped bass runs · Catch-and-release sturgeon
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Fishing detail
- Water type
- bay-delta
- Water
- brackish
- Methods
- Bait · Casting · Trolling · Fly
- Boat
- both
- Target species
- Striped bass · Largemouth bass (world-class) · Catfish & panfish · White sturgeon (catch & release)
- Intl tip
- License required. Stripers (fall–spring) and largemouth (spring–fall) are the headliners; sturgeon are catch-and-release. Shore access at Sherman Island and Brannan Island SRA; a boat opens the maze. Hire a Delta guide for your first trip — it's big and complex. Combine with the Delta's funky river towns.
The guide
The Sacramento–San Joaquin Delta is one of the great freshwater-and-brackish fisheries in America — a sprawling 1,100-mile laby…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to The California Delta — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 38.155, -121.69