Benicia fishing advice

I’m sitting in my RV in Olema today because the wind gods decided  - - today was not my day at Tomales. In the meantime I’m thinking about Benicia.  I’m not an ocean guy and I’d love to catch a salmon low enough in the river/delta system so it was edible! Only tried Benicia twice before and both times the tide and wind kicked my butt. 

In the river a boat would normally troll upstream or ‘back troll’ by rowing upstream to slow the drift down slower than the current - letting the current take the lure down to work below the boat. 

Like the river, I know which way the fish are going in Benicia.  Do you just troll ‘upstream’ (towards the Delta) no matter which way the tide is going in Benicia?  I am guessing yes - but just in case I’m missing something I thought I’d check with the NCKA community. Does anyone troll down stream or with the outgoing tide?

And the damm wind there is a bitch!!!  How much wind do some of you experienced Benicia yakkers tolerate there? 

The last time I was there I just used spinners with a flasher. Does anyone have a different rig they like in there?  I’ve been told that flatfish are not effective there but I don’t why because I’ve caught salmon in Sacramento with flatfish... so if someone could explain that I wouldn’t mind. 




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I’ll chime in with the somewhat limited experience I have in Benicia, which amounts to 2 fish.

The first place I found was Glen Cove Rec area. I would wheel my kayak down to the beach at the end of the Rip rap wall to launch. I tried a lot of places away from the row of shore anglers, but had no action to show for it. I tried trolling as close to the bank as I could without interfering with the shore fisherman, but also found it unproductive and discovered the shore guys really don’t appreciate the tactic. Eventually I found an eddy off of Dillon point which seemed to line up with a lane fish would have to travel through to reach the stretch of shore the shore guys are using and backtrolled it for my first fish. I was toplining a double bladed spinner

I later found out about 1st street and started fishing that area, as it provides more space for a kayak to troll productive water without entering the shore anglers territory. I use a 3-way bounce ball rig like you would use for halibut, with a flasher followed by a spinner. Have had success using this rig and landed a nice fish last year right in the cove. It didn’t seem to matter if I was going with or against the current, as long as I could maintain a speed that kept the spinner blade moving. I had hookups going in each and every direction. Hope some of that helps, get yourself some chrome this fall!

That is great stuff!!  Thank you so much.  Can’t wait to check that out

before going there stop by Benicia tackle and ask them what color is working according to the current water conditions, they keep track of everything and have plenty of supply available. they have spiners in different colors and weights that seems to work well there. keep us inform when you plan to head out and a few of us may come along.

Presently there are 0 salmon in Benicia...the old timers are puzzled and scratching their whatevah's....

maybe they are on Hwy 80 

maybe they are on Hwy 80 

Maybe the smart train...

It is slooow, but actually 2 have been caught. Friends that fish the ocean have said that the eggs in the females are still small and that they are not ready to come in yet.  Hopefully, it will turn on soon🤞

Thinking of hitting Benicia tomorrow, as everywhere else is blown out. Any recent reports or advice? Are apex or brads cut plugs effective there? 1st time there for me & my buddy, planning on trolling some spinners & spoons, any advice is appreciated.

Thinking of hitting Benicia tomorrow, as everywhere else is blown out. Any recent reports or advice? Are apex or brads cut plugs effective there? 1st time there for me & my buddy, planning on trolling some spinners & spoons, any advice is appreciated.

I bet it all works but I tend to lean towards what they’re using on shore.  Spinners, chrome or chartreuse, two rods if you have the stamp, 2 fish limit, no size requirement?  Trebles and barbs ok...stay out of casting range if shore guys...

Thinking of hitting Benicia tomorrow, as everywhere else is blown out. Any recent reports or advice? Are apex or brads cut plugs effective there? 1st time there for me & my buddy, planning on trolling some spinners & spoons, any advice is appreciated.

I bet it all works but I tend to lean towards what they’re using on shore.  Spinners, chrome or chartreuse, two rods if you have the stamp, 2 fish limit, no size requirement?  Trebles and barbs ok...stay out of casting range if shore guys...

You need to be on the east side of the Benicia bridge for 2 rods. The Benicia bridge is the 2 rod border for boats.

For some reason you need to look in the ocean regs to get a detailed definition of the border between inland and ocean waters. The western span of the carquinez bridge is where inland waters begin and two poles can be used upstream from there.



27.00 DEFINITION.TheOceanandSanFranciscoBayDistrictconsistsoftheOceanandSanFrancisco Bay, as described herein. The Ocean is the open seas adjacent to the coast and islands and the waters of open or enclosed bays contiguous to the ocean, including the waters of Elkhorn Slough, west of Elkhorn Road between Castroville and Watsonville. San Francisco Bay is the waters of San Francisco and San Pablo bays plus all their tidal bays, sloughs, estuaries, and tidal portions of their rivers and streams between the Golden Gate Bridge and the west Carquinez Bridge. For purposes of this section, waters downstream of the Trancas Bridge on the Napa River, downstream of the Highway 121 Bridge on Sonoma Creek, and downstream of the Payran Street Bridge on the Petaluma River are tidal portions of the Napa River, Sonoma Creek, and Petaluma River, respectively. Also see Section 1.53.


1.53. INLAND WATERS
Inland waters are all the fresh, brackish and inland saline waters of the state, including lagoons and tidewaters upstream from the mouths of coastal
rivers and streams. Inland waters exclude open or enclosed bays contiguous to the ocean including the waters of San Francisco Bay and the waters of Elkhorn Slough, west of Elkhorn Road between Castroville and Watsonville. See Section 27.00 for the description of San Francisco Bay.

Thinking of hitting Benicia tomorrow, as everywhere else is blown out. Any recent reports or advice? Are apex or brads cut plugs effective there? 1st time there for me & my buddy, planning on trolling some spinners & spoons, any advice is appreciated.

I bet it all works but I tend to lean towards what they’re using on shore.  Spinners, chrome or chartreuse, two rods if you have the stamp, 2 fish limit, no size requirement?  Trebles and barbs ok...stay out of casting range if shore guys...

You need to be on the east side of the Benicia bridge for 2 rods. The Benicia bridge is the 2 rod border for boats.

Yes, the carquinez bridge...on the west side is ocean regs...don’t forget the two rod stamp if you decide that...

Thursday I drove to the end of first st and talked to the people there, the whole action for the morning was 2 salmon bites but none were landed and 1 landed stripped bass.
Action has been slow and have not seen any good results.

Uh oh...fish showed up today at 1st...28lber from shore...hmmm...what's the forecast for tomorrow?