San Joaquin River Fishing Report | August 25, 2025
The report at a glance
Presentation
Compact swimbait on an underspin head, fished run-and-gun while searching for marks; adding live-bait drifting and anchor-and-bait to reach deeper fish
Lures and baits
Small swimbait on a Blade Runner Tackle underspin head (compact, heavy vibration)
Rattle Trap style bait for largemouth
Those brands are not carried at Catch America; match the profile with gear from the striped bass collection
Other techniques
Run-and-gun searching with electronics
Planned live-bait drifting and anchor-and-bait fishing for deeper marks
Water temperature
71 degrees (surface)
Weather
Hot, near 100 degrees with bright sun
Advice for this week
Stay on the move and let your electronics do the work. Cover water, find the marks, then commit. With warm surface water and heavy sun, expect fish to pull deeper onto the flats and into holes.
Next week
With stripers pushing into the Delta and the West Delta bite already strong, Cal expects a really exciting fall on the striper front. His next trips will test live-bait drifting and anchor fishing for the deeper marks.
Stripers are moving into the California Delta in late August 2025, with good action in the west Delta and fish caught in the San Joaquin River. Surface temps are around 71 degrees. Cal Kellogg ran and gunned for marks, throwing a compact swimbait on an underspin head. Largemouth bass came on rattletrap-style baits. A fun fall striper season is shaping up.
What is biting in the San Joaquin River right now?
Stripers are moving into the Delta, with a good bite in the west Delta and fish caught in the San Joaquin River. Cal Kellogg ran and gunned for marks on his first exploratory trip and boated stripers, plus a bunch of largemouth bass mixed in.
What baits are working for Delta stripers?
Cal's top bait was a compact swimbait fished on a Blade Runner Tackle underspin head, a competitor product with a ton of vibration. For largemouth, a Rattle Trap style lure from Berkley produced well. Both were cast and retrieved on a run-and-gun search pattern.
Where are the stripers holding in the San Joaquin?
Many marks were fairly deep on the sand flats, with some sitting in holes. Cal thinks the fish went deeper because of the warm surface temperature and heavy sun that day. He plans to work those deeper marks with bait next time out.
What are the conditions on the Delta?
Surface temp was 71 degrees in the San Joaquin River, with hot air near 100 degrees and a lot of sun the day of the trip. That heat pushed fish deeper, but the west Delta striper bite has been very good for anglers throwing swimbaits.
What is the outlook for Delta stripers?
Cal expects a really exciting fall on the striper front for anglers who get out to the Delta. His next trips will add live-bait drifting and anchor-and-bait fishing to reach the deeper marks he found on the sand flats and in the holes.
Watch the full report
San Joaquin River August 25, 2025 FAQ
Stripers are moving into the Delta, with largemouth bass mixed in and a good west Delta bite.
Surface temp was around 71 degrees, with hot air near 100 degrees.
A compact swimbait on a Blade Runner underspin head was the top bait. Rattletrap-style baits took largemouth bass.
Deeper on the sand flats and in holes, likely pushed down by the warm surface temperature and heavy sun.
Live-bait drifting and anchor-and-bait fishing to reach the deeper marks on the sand flats.
Capt. Cal Kellogg.
