Here in California our grandstanding Gov. Newsome has supported the same. Only here it will it take a vote of the assembly. This proposal came up before COVID and I have not heard any thing more since then. I will say the bill supporting this is very vague about where this will happen and just what a "protected" area means. I love these politicians who push things that won't happen while they are in office. We already have a series of "MLPA's up and down the coast. They basically restrict fishing but nothing else. The Navy can still do sounding test and blow all sorts of munition's but we can't fish there.

Way cool Saw!!!

Years ago we had a great day at Lyon's res. Not sure if it is still open to fishing. They used to stock trout and limits were easy.

It was a pleasure to finally meet in person. Just one thing though, those are monthly meetings. Any one interested in becoming involved with the California Striped Bass Association here is a link to our website http://striper-csba.org/ We have 5 chapters throughout throughout the delta.

When I ran my charter boat on S.F. bay through most of the summer we would be live bait fishing for halibut/striped bass. At least a couple times a year we would hook a seal or a sea lion. The seals would just take off hard and spool you if you did not cut the line. Sea Lions being much bigger tend to just stay in one place, again cut the line. Pelicans were a daily nuisance with at least one a day getting hooked. One year the bait in the bay was scarce and the only food source for the birds was our bait, the poor things were starving. That year the daily bird hook rate was around 10. Getting the hook out was not a problem. Just reach down and pull it out of the beak.

Not sure if it is strange. When rock cod fishing I have hooked a smallish rock cod, and had a ling cod, around 20 lbs. hit the rock cod. The ling does not have a hook in him but refuses to let go. You don't want to horse them in, take it slow and easy and do not let them get all the way to the surface. Net them just under the surface. This happens often enough there is a phrase for it. We call it "hitch hiking"

This thread has brought back memories. The first time I had a pole in my hand was at a trout farm. I was probably 4 years old, and you will never guess where. This small about 1 acre pond was in San Mateo! This would have been around 1956. I had bugged my Dad to take me there for my birthday. I grew up about a mile from this pond. All I remember was it was hot (no shade at all), and I am not sure if we caught anything. This place was not going to be there much longer. By 1960 the city of San Mateo had bought the property and built the then new police station on that site. These days you would not know that there was ever anything like that there.

I took my then 4 year old grandson to the place you mentioned near Bodega. Great place to teach a kid the basics. Went on a week day and it wasn't crowded. Used their tackle too. Based on the number of poles they had I would say it must get very busy on the weekend. Family run and a bit expensive, but worth it.

I have fished for striped bass all sorts of ways, but never downriggers. My experience with downriggers is fishing for salmon. Like the previous post said find what they are feeding on and zero in on that depth. As to your question about distance back from the downrigger. To my way of thinking that depends on how many lines are in the water, and how sharp a turn you expect to make. If a single line with basically a straight troll, you could go back as far as you want. I think 75' would be about max. If you have multiple lines out, or will make sharp turns, you could go as short as 10'-15'.
My experience with striped bass is they tend to feed coming out of a deeper spot and up the slope to a shallow area.
Not sure just how deep you intend to fish, but there are all sorts of lures that will troll at the surface down to 15' without adding weight.
The real fun with downriggers is trying different depths, lures and speeds until you are happy with the results.

Saw,
There will always be somebody trying to rain on your parade. I am President of the California Striped Bass Assoc. Our clubs policy on keep or release of striped bass is that it is up to the individual. I personally will release any fish that is not bleeding through the gills. Most fish caught trolling, lure casting, or live bait drifting are hooked in the lip and are prime candidates for a release. Fish caught on bait when anchored get a lot more tricky. To insure a hook-up you want to let the fish run with the bait, which will usually mean it will be hooked in the throat. If I can easily remove the hook I will. If that will cause damage I will cut the leader as close to the hook as I can and leave the hook in the fish. I do not use stainless hooks for that type of fishing, as they will take longer to rust out. I personally use barbless hooks for anchor fishing, makes it more of a challenge. I know some guys who use circle hooks which tend to hook the lip, although I think there are less hook ups with circle hooks.
CSBA has a hook and release requirement for all of our club derbies. We usually have a picture taken next to to tape measure for verification.

How do you know a blonde is driving the car? The kids are running behind yelling "mom stop"

What do you call a blonde who dyes her hair brown? Artificial intelligence.

So is my nephew. Praying they all stay safe.

Have you checked into Chevy performance crate motors? I am sure they have a 350 short block. The advantage to crate motors is they come with a warranty.

My advice is go on one of those charter boats, see where they go, and how they do it. Ask lots of questions. Information from the deck hands, skipper etc. will be much more forth coming when you have paid for a trip.

There is a video done by bass fishing pro Bobby Barrack called turning frogs into toads. Very good instructions on working a frog.