The Guadalupe River and Coyote Creek both end at Alviso, emptying into the Bay through Alviso Slough and Mud Slough. Alviso is the lowest point in the San Francisco Bay Area at 13 ft. below sea level. In my experience, hunting Alviso is all about the tides. Most of my best hunts this past year were during the outgoing tide. In some spots it is better to hunt at the lower end of the tide, especially when the tide is under a plus two (which means the tide is 2 feet above sea level). This is beneficial because the birds come out of the ponds when the water is receding and move to other areas. There are some areas that the birds do travel during incoming tide. Be very careful during lower tides because there are some very shallow areas that you could get stuck in the mud.
Alviso has several different places that can be good hunting. It can be tricky due to the fact that the birds move around often. Most of the hunting is pass shooting, but there are some areas that ducks will work into your decoys. In most areas I don’t use decoys. If you happen to setup in the wrong area and the birds are flying about a hundred yards away. It is easier to make those small moves if you don’t have decoys in the water.
Another thing about Alviso is there are different types of birds found in different areas of the slough. There are a lot of Spoonies and Scaup, but if you move around and explore there are many other varieties of birds. Just this past season I shot several Mallards, Wigeon, Sprig, Canvasback, Teal, Gadwal, Goldeneye, Bufflehead, and Honkers.
Two of my most memorable hunts this last year was with Pro Staff member Kevin Ratliff, and my really good friend Dan Boyle. On this hunt we shot 3 Honkers, 10 Wigeon, 2 Green wing Teal, and 1 drake Mallard. There were many other opportunities that we failed to capitalize on, but we still had an amazing time enjoying God’s creation, and spending time with good friends.
The other memorable hunt was with Pro Staff member Rick Tonkin. On this day we shot 7 Honkers, 2 Mallards, 1 Canvasback, 1 Goldeneye, 1 Wigeon and 3 Spoonies. It was a great hunt and we both had a BLAST!!
As much as I enjoy hunting waterfowl, I enjoy taking others out and spending time with them. In this past last year I was blessed to be a part of 6 different hunter’s in getting their first honker. I truly feel honored that God has allowed me to share my passion with other believers doing what I love.
If you get the opportunity to hunt the Alviso Slough I would recommend that you bring several boxes of shells. There’s a good chance that you might use them all.
Written by,
Pro Staff: Gary Wright