Attention WON Fishing Reports Online readers:
You are only seeing a portion of our reports. Subscribers to our digital and print newspaper enjoy the full spectrum of fishing reports. Print and online subscribers receive the new issue via email on the Tuesday morning of issue weeks, before we post these reports online.

Subscribe to the online edition today using code “5OFFWON” to save $5 on the annual digital subscription, only $14.99 for the year!

Click here to see all the reports and sign up at a discounted rate

Updated July 16, 2026

DELTA, Sacramento side — Wind remains the story, but the bass bite is improving with Senkos or chatterbaits in the north Delta. The big news is the opening of river salmon season on July 16, and the banks on the Sacramento from Dillon Point upriver into the Old Sacramento will start to be crowded with anglers tossing spinners or spoons. It’s the first time since 2022 that salmon can be targeted on the Sacramento River. Herbicide spraying continues, but once heavy grass mats are found, punching with a creature bait on a 1-ounce tungsten weight have been effective. There is a solid spinnerbait bite in the wind along with topwater lures in low light conditions. Striped bass are still hanging around, but these are mostly resident fish to 24 inches. The first push of larger fish will come toward the month of August. Catch-and-release sturgeon fishing ended on June 30 before reopening on October 1.

DELTA, San Joaquin side — Numbers of smaller bass are the rule, and the fish are loading up on fry, shad, or crankbaits. Red or similar crawdad patterns remain the top baits as the fish are loading up on crawdads. The two major frog tournaments arrive at the end of this month with the Ultimate Frog Challenge on July 25-26 and the original frog tournament, the Snag Proof Open, on August 1 and 2. Both tournaments will be held out of Big Break Marina. There are still small striped bass holding in the northern and western portions of the Delta, but the largest fish are gone. Big striped bass generally start to move into the Sacramento side of the Delta starting in August. Although the river salmon season opens on the Sacramento and Mokelumne sections of the Delta, salmon fishing in the San Joaquin is closed. 

To see the full selection of fish reports, subscribe to the online edition today using code “5OFFWON” to save $5 on the annual digital subscription, only $19.99 for the year!

Click here to see all the reports in the online edition of WON