Sweeney’s Fishing Report and Shop Update – March 5
- alexosen
- 12 hours ago
- 4 min read
Today we are covering:
Napa Fishing Club Update.
Live Bait Update at Sweeney’s
Store Hours – Spring Change is Coming
Salmon Season Outlook
Fishing Report - Napa River and Lake Berryessa
Catch Of The Month Contest - Win a $30 gift card!
By Alex, AKA “Mr. Sweeney’s”
Early March is always an interesting time for anglers. Winter patterns are still hanging on, but the first real signs of spring fishing are starting to show up around Napa. Here’s the latest update from the shop – plus a few updates about what we’re building here at Sweeney’s.
Napa Fishing Club Update
First, a quick update on the Napa Fishing Club.
The response from the community has been fantastic. Some of you have already joined before we’ve even published the full programming – thank you for the trust. It means a lot.
Next week we’ll be holding our first advisory board meeting to begin shaping the club’s programming and activities. The goal is to create a space where local anglers can learn, share knowledge, and build community around fishing.
At the same time, the Heritage Suites space inside the Sweeney’s building is getting very close to completion. I’m finishing some final work this week – baseboards and small details – and we’ll soon start bringing in furniture. Once the space is ready, it will become the meeting hub for the Napa Fishing Club.
As soon as the programming is finalized, we’ll share the full details with everyone. Meanwhile you can learn more and join here: https://www.sweeneyssports.com/napa-fishing-club
Live Bait Update at Sweeney’s
We’ve also been working hard to bring more live bait options to the shop.
Many of you have heard me talk about this before, and I’ll be honest – we’ve had a few false starts trying to secure reliable sources for ghost shrimp and grass shrimp.
But we’re not giving up.
Our goal is simple: We want Sweeney’s to be the place where customers can reliably get the live bait they need.
Whether we make money on it or not, we’re committed to bringing in:
Grass shrimp
Ghost shrimp
Live minnows
Bullheads if we can help it
We’re going to keep pushing until we make this happen.
Store Hours – Spring is Coming!
Our current schedule will stay the same for another couple of weeks:
Closed Mondays
Opening at 10 AM most days
As we move further into spring, we'll go back to our regular hours and add earlier weekend hours, possibly opening 7:00 or 8:00 AM on Saturdays.
If you have a preference, let us know when you stop by the shop or comment on our social channels. Your feedback helps us set the schedule.
Salmon Season Outlook
Right now, a lot of attention is on the upcoming California salmon season.
What we’re expecting this year is a quota-based season structure. Instead of long open stretches, we may see shorter openings based on catch limits. Once the quota is reached, the fishery closes until the next window opens.
Even if the season ends up being shorter or more limited than usual, we still expect good fishing opportunities during those open windows.
Shane and I are currently working on our salmon inventory orders, and we plan to bring in a strong selection of gear so anglers are ready when the season opens.
Looking further ahead, the long-term outlook for salmon actually looks encouraging. Next year could be even better.
Fishing Report
Napa River
Stripers are still around in the Napa River, and anglers are also picking up the occasional sturgeon, with a few decent reports coming in lately.
The key right now is natural bait.
Recommended baits:
Ghost shrimp
Pile worms
Anchovies
Live minnows
The water is still cold, which means fish are not aggressively chasing lures yet. Fast presentations like jerkbaits usually aren’t the best option right now.
Instead:
Fish slow
Focus on scented bait
If you throw lures, consider adding scent
The most productive windows continue to be around tide changes. A good rule of thumb is to fish one hour before and one hour after the tide change, when feeding activity tends to pick up.
Until we secure a consistent supply of ghost shrimp and grass shrimp, we’ve been getting good feedback from anglers using pile worms and live minnows.
If you can find jumbo minnows, they’ve been producing some solid fish.
Lake Berryessa – Trout
The trout bite at Lake Berryessa has actually been pretty decent for early March.
Trolling has been the most consistent method right now.
Recommended setup:
Troll 2.5 – 3 mph
Focus on the top 20–25 feet of water
Effective lures include:
Spoons with flash (gold or silver)
Chartreuse patterns
Pink accents
Shiny hoochies
Water deeper in the lake is still a bit murky, but since most trout are being caught in the upper water column, visibility hasn’t been a major issue.
I’m planning to fish Berryessa early next week and will have a firsthand report in the next update.
Catch Of The Month Contest - Win a $30 gift card!
Show us your most impressive fishing moment by tagging @sweeneys_sports in your Instagram post or story. The grand prize? A $30 gift card and a feature on our social networks! 🏅.
If you’d like to participate, it’s simple:
Share a photo of your catch to your Instagram stories
Tag @sweeneys_sports
Each entry gives you a chance to be featured and win a $30 gift card.
A big thank you to everyone who submitted this month - we truly appreciate your participation and can’t wait to see what you reel in next. Keep the photos coming! 🎣
As always,
We truly appreciate every time you walk through our doors. Thank you for choosing to spend your hard-earned dollars with us. It's a privilege to be of service.
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