Midweek Bay Bites: Rockfish, Crab, and Striper Possibilities on the San Francisco Waterfront

Artificial Lure here with your Wednesday, November 26th San Francisco Bay fishing report. Out on the Bay this morning, we're looking at a mild autumn start: temps hovering in the mid-50s, light westerly breezes, and skies trending mostly clear. Heads up: a Spare the Air Alert is in effect all day, so folks with respiratory sensitivities might want to take it easy according to local air advisories.

Sunrise hit at 7:02 a.m. this morning and sunset will slip below the horizon at 4:52 p.m., so we've got a tight window for prime fishing—make the most of that midday bite.

Tidewise, we started with a 4.5-foot high at 4:42 a.m., fell to a 3.5-foot low at 9:12, and we’ll see another 4.9-foot high tide roll in at 2:34 this afternoon, followed by a minor 0.1-foot low at 9:39 tonight. That morning drop and afternoon push usually fire up the fish around structure and channel edges, especially for stripers and halibut, so timing your outings an hour before and after these swings could mean the difference between slow and steady action.

Let’s talk about what’s biting and what locals are reporting: According to Nor Cal Fish Reports, boats out of Emeryville and Berkeley have been putting up lights-out numbers on rockfish—think full sacks of blues, browns, and blacks, with the occasional vermilion for those dropping jigs down the Marin and San Mateo coast. Dungeness crab is coming up solid as well, especially just outside the Gate, adding a tasty bonus to your haul.

A few striped bass are popping up around Oyster Point and the South Bay flats, mostly schoolies, with some keeper halibut still hanging on deeper mud bars near Alameda and Berkeley Pier. Recent party boat counts up and down the coast (Fisherman's Landing, Marina del Rey Sportfishing) show high counts of sculpin, sand bass, rockfish, and the stray halibut for those dropping either cut anchovy or squid on a double dropper loop. These same methods work in SF Bay—squid strips or anchovy cut bait on dropper rigs along the rock walls and pier pilings are drawing bites.

If you’re hunting stripers or halibut, try white or chartreuse paddle-tail swimbaits, 4–6" and bounce them slow near the bottom. San Francisco regulars swear by Lucky Craft Flash Minnows on the slower-moving outgoing for stripers off Crissy Field and Candlestick. Crabbing is hot just outside the Gate, but don’t forget your hoop nets and a good chunk of raw chicken or salmon scraps for the bait box.

Hot spots to hit today include:
- The Berkeley Flats—great for late-season halibut and stripers working the tide edges.
- Alcatraz Island rock piles—steady for mixed-bag rockfish for those working small metal jigs or squid strips.
- Oyster Point Pier—for land-based folks, stripers are pushing bait close around change of tides.

Strike King’s spinnerbaits and crankbaits, as highlighted in their latest tackle roundup, remain a favorite for largemouth and spotted bass, but if you’re adapting those to brackish or Bay water, switch to chartreuse or white blade patterns with a trailer for a shot at a surprise striper.

That’s the story from the water this morning. Thanks for tuning in to your San Francisco Bay fishing update. Remember to subscribe for future reports and keep those lines tight.

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