Bay Area Fishing Report - Wild Conditions, Sturgeon, Halibut, and More After New Year's Storms

Hey folks, this is Artificial Lure, your go-to guy for all things angling in the Bay Area. It's Friday morning, January 2nd, 2026, and the San Francisco Bay is kickin' with some wild conditions after those New Year's storms rolled through. Tides4fishing charts show a high incoming today: low at 1:54 AM around 2.1 feet, peak high at 8:24 AM hitting 6.7 feet, then dropping to -0.8 feet by 3:15 PM, and evening high at 10:15 PM near 4.7 feet. Coefficient's 86—high activity, so fish are movin' with the flood tides. Sunrise was at 7:07 AM, sunset around 4:50 PM, givin' us a solid 9.5-hour window. Weather's stormy per ABC7 News: heavy rain continuin' through the weekend, coastal flood advisories with high tides 1.8 feet above normal, possible thunderstorms in the South Bay. Bundle up, watch for surge floodin' roads and parks.

Fish are bitin' despite the chop. Pierfishing.com's January report notes sturgeon catch-and-release only, Dungeness crab season wide open. California Dawn out of Berkeley boated 193 Dungeness, 10 lingcod to 15 pounds, and 200 rockfish yesterday—limits easy on full-day trips. Okuma Fishing reports stripers, halibut, salmon, and sturgeon active; recent sightings of Chinook in Alameda Creek tributaries after decades. Leopard sharks riggin' up hot too. PowerBait or mud shrimp for sturgeon and stripers on the bottom; anchovies or sardines live for halibut driftin' incoming tides. Best lures? Jerkbaits, swimbaits in chartreuse or motor oil for stripers, spoons or bucktails for rockfish and lings. Rapalas trollin' slow for any holdover salmon.

Hit these hot spots: Coyote Point Marina for flats halibut on the rise, or Berkeley Flats for stripers and sturgeon near the piers—storm surge's pushin' 'em shallow. Stay safe out there, check regs, and release those big whites.

Thanks for tunin' in, folks—subscribe for more Bay bites! This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease.ai.

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