The Angler's Guide to San Francisco Fishing

San Francisco is surrounded by water that holds fish, and the variety is staggering. Inside the Bay, halibut cruise sandy flats while striped bass hunt baitfish along rocky points. Outside the Golden Gate, king salmon stack up during their migration and rockfish pile onto deepwater reefs near the Farallon Islands. An hour east in the Sacramento Delta, sturgeon root through muddy channels and stripers chase shad in the fall.

The challenge isn't finding fish. It's choosing which one to go after. Whether you're launching your own boat, fishing from shore, or riding a charter out of Fisherman's Wharf, Sausalito, Berkeley, or Emeryville, the species you target determines where you go and when. Here's how to think about it.

Halibut: The Bay's Signature Catch

California halibut are the fish that made San Francisco Bay a fishing destination. These flatfish, distinct from the massive Pacific halibut found up north, average 5 to 15 pounds, with trophy fish over 20 pounds taken every season. They're ambush predators that lie on sandy bottoms and explode on bait drifted past them.

Halibut season runs April through September, with peak fishing in May, June, and July. The standard approach is to drift live bait, typically anchovies or shiner perch, over the sandy flats between Alcatraz and Angel Island, along the Berkeley Flats, and near Crissy Field. The drift is everything: too fast and the bait rips away from the bottom; too slow and you're not covering ground. Reading the tide and current to keep the bait in the strike zone is the whole game.

The daily limit is three halibut at a minimum of 22 inches. The meat is white, firm, and excellent, halibut tacos from your own catch are a San Francisco tradition.

Striped Bass: Two Fisheries in One

Striped bass in the San Francisco Bay system are a transplant from the East Coast, introduced in the 1870s, and they've thrived. The population supports two distinct fisheries: the Bay itself and the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta.

In the Bay, stripers are available from late spring through fall. Anglers troll or drift live bait around rocky points, bridge pilings, and current seams, particularly around the Golden Gate, Raccoon Strait, and the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. Fish in the Bay average 5 to 15 pounds, with larger fish over 20 pounds possible. The minimum size is 18 inches, and the daily limit is two fish.

In the Delta, the action heats up from late August through November as stripers migrate east following baitfish. The Delta is a maze of channels, sloughs, and levees, and knowing the structure is half the battle. Fall striper fishing in the Delta produces fast action and good numbers, with fish averaging 3 to 10 pounds and occasional bigger fish in the mix. This is also where you might hook a white sturgeon as a bonus.

King Salmon: The Ocean Trophy

San Francisco's ocean salmon fishery targets Chinook (king) salmon outside the Golden Gate, and when it's open, it's outstanding. Boats troll down the coast toward Pacifica and Half Moon Bay, or north toward the Marin Headlands, using downriggers to present bait and lures at depth.

Here's the catch: salmon seasons in San Francisco are set annually by the Pacific Fishery Management Council and have been highly restricted in recent years. Some years the season runs only a handful of open days. Other years it's more generous. You cannot plan a San Francisco salmon trip far in advance without checking the current year's regulations, the season announcement typically comes in April.

When the fishery is open, the salmon are magnificent. Kings in the 15- to 30-pound class cruise these waters, and the backdrop of the Golden Gate Bridge and the Marin Headlands makes for a setting no other salmon fishery can match.

Rockfish and Lingcod: The Deep-Water Guarantee

If you want guaranteed action, rockfish are the answer. Boats run out to the rocky reefs and structure along the coast and around the Farallon Islands, a group of rugged, fog-shrouded islands 27 miles offshore that sit atop a deepwater plateau teeming with marine life.

The target species include vermilion rockfish, copper rockfish, blue rockfish, canary rockfish, and lingcod, all caught by dropping heavy jigs and baited rigs to depths of 100 to 300 feet. Lingcod are the bruisers, averaging 8 to 15 pounds with fish over 25 pounds taken regularly. Rockfish come up steadily and are excellent table fare.

The season typically opens in April and runs through fall. Farallon Islands trips are full-day affairs (the run out takes over an hour) and require calm weather, so rough days mean dropping back onto closer nearshore reefs instead. A Farallon trip on a clear day, with sea lions, whales, and seabirds all around you, is one of the most memorable fishing experiences on the West Coast.

Sturgeon: The Delta's Winter Giant

White sturgeon fishing in the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta is a cold-weather pursuit. The season runs January through March, and it draws serious anglers willing to sit in a boat on a gray winter day and wait for something enormous to pull back.

Sturgeon in the Delta average 40 to 60 inches, with the slot limit allowing retention of fish between 40 and 60 inches. They're bottom feeders that root through mud and sand for grass shrimp, clams, and herring roe. The fishing is straightforward, anchor up, drop heavy gear to the bottom, and wait, but hooking a five-foot sturgeon in a narrow Delta channel is an experience that will recalibrate your sense of what freshwater fish can do.

What to Bring

If you're heading out on a charter, the boat provides rods, reels, and tackle. However you get on the water, you'll want to bring:

• California fishing license (purchase online at wildlife.ca.gov/licensing)
• Warm layers, San Francisco Bay is cold and windy year-round; dress warmer than you think
• A waterproof jacket (fog and spray are constant)
• Seasickness medication for offshore trips (the ocean outside the Gate can be rough)
• Sunglasses and sunscreen (when the fog burns off, it burns off fast)
• Lunch and drinks for full-day trips
• A cooler for your catch
• Cash to tip the crew if you're on a charter, 15-20% of the fare is standard