Not to go too far off topic, but I fished heavily for Striped Bass, Steelhead and Salmon before our estuary was decimated. Steelies fight great better than salmon. But Striped Bass are better than both. Salmon are slow and heavy. They will pull for a long time, but don't rip out the line like stripers. One trip I caught both a 20 lb salmon and a 20 lb stiper. They fight much differently in the bay. But the salmon was easily the best fish of the day catchwise. My best ever two fish limit was a 32 and a 21. Splitshotting or fly lining live anchovies out off of Pacifica, going under the Golden Gate. Our skipper was so crazy he would back all the way in to the surf and the hull would bounce on the sand. One guy snagged a body surfer, oops. That trip I won the pool, 38 guys $3 bucks a pop. But that is all ancient history now as the salmon fishery is closed, and the striper planting program long gone. All of the bait fishes are less than 1% of thier former count.
