• Napa River

The almost perfect weather these past 10 days has kept all systems go for stripers here. Some slight rain is predicted for the weekend but should not do much harm.

It’s time to broaden your bait/lure/fly selection — try those that have seemed to catch bigger fish for you in the past.

Get down in the cuts and sloughs in the south river for some sturgeon hunting, too. Add lamprey eel and roe to your traditional ghost/grass shrimp blue plate special.

• Check your calendars

A reminder — Saturday is the First Annual NVFF Fly Fisher’s Fair. It will be from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. at the multipurpose room in the Napa Senior Center at 1500 Jefferson. Activities will include fly tying, rod building, casting demos and some inside scoop in the local hot spots.

There is no charge, so bring your kids and neighbors to participate in this fun outreach to the community by the Napa Valley Fly Fishers.

Also, this is the last chance to reserve your tickets for the NVFF Annual Dinner on April 5. You can help support our conservation and education efforts by purchasing your tickets online at www.napavalleyflyfishers.org or call 337-9410. The cost is $25, and the deadline to order is tonight.

• Abalone season opener

This sports dive season opens April 1 for the waters north of San Francisco.

All adult divers and shore pickers will need a sports fishing license — and, regardless of age, must buy an abalone report card, as well as tag all catches immediately after exiting the water.

(Thanks to the Chronicle’s Tom Stienstra for this solid information.)

• Salmon disaster looms

The drastic decline in salmon stocks here is making front page news.

Experts and advocates are saying that the two main culprits are lack of water in the Delta because of subsidized water shipments south and some decline in ocean salmon food.

Our own state senator, Patricia Wiggins (D-Santa Rosa), is the chair of the Joint Legislative Commission on Fisheries and Aquaculture. She is taking solid action to find and implement corrective measures.

Senator Wiggins authored SB 562 to OK urgent funding for salmon restoration and relief. It just passed in the Assembly by an overwhelming 59-11 margin. Now back to the Senate for amendment concurrence.

Even closer to the action, she held a special hearing on the “Salmonid Decline in California: Reasons, Impacts and Next Steps” on Thursday.

I plan to update you on their findings in my next report. Meanwhile, drop Senator Wiggins a note to express your concern and appreciation for her solid moves. The Web site is dist02.casen.govoffice.com, then click on “contact me” — or, just call her at 224-1990.

• Clear Lake

Bob Rider, owner of Lakeshore bait & Tackle in Clearlake, put real emphasis on the jumbo minnow bite by reporting that he sells 200 dozen a week.

Use them for bass, crappie and catfish. Bass are a bit skittish yet, moving in and out with weather changes. Most recently they were out at the 12- to 18-foot mark. But a few warm days will pull them back into five feet or less.

In addition to Jumbos, try plastics in MM III, Slat River Craw and Witches T.

Go for poles, rocks and submerged brush to find crappie. Old timers are scoring 15 fish on average. Toss minnows, mackerel or crawlers for catfish along the shore — be patient.

• Lake Berryessa

Troll at 20 feet with Kastmasters or Needlefish for trout; salmon are deeper near the dam. Early morning is the best time for crappie. Use minnows or tiny jigs off the bottom.

• Sacramento River

This is our first 2008 report on wild rainbow trout action in the Redding area.

Anglers are still sorting out the bite — trying glo bugs, live crickets, crawlers and trolling small Hot Shot 50s. The flows are very low — only 3000 cfs.

This is the lowest I’ve heard in years. Look for that to improve quickly as warmer weather triggers the spring snow pack melt.

We’ll be going on our 11th annual trout trip there in a couple of weeks — with first-hand reports. Stay tuned.