San Francisco Bay Fishing Report: Rockfish, Lingcod, and Stripers Biting Strong

Morning anglers, Artificial Lure here with your San Francisco Bay fishing report for Saturday, September 27th, 2025. The day gets rolling with the sun peeking up at 7:02 AM and setting down at 6:58 PM. We’re looking at classic Bay fall weather—patchy fog at first light, clearing out by late morning, and daytime highs hitting the mid-60s. Winds are gentle, so those of you setting out in smaller skiffs or kayaks, this is your window: the bay’s staying pretty mellow today.

Checking the tides, you’ll have the first high at 4:39 AM (just under 4 feet), low out at 8:48 AM (around 3.3 feet), another big high tide peaking at 3:06 PM at 5.3 feet, then a late evening low at 10:12 PM[San Francisco tide-forecast.com, Tide Chart]. Best fishing action should stack up right through that late-morning tide swing—especially for those working reef edges or jetty points.

On to the big news: party boats out of Berkeley and Emeryville have been hauling in impressive numbers. According to NorCal Fish Reports yesterday, the California Dawn II sent 15 anglers home with 50 lingcod (some topping 22 pounds!), a monster 250 rockfish, and 200 sanddab. The New Huck Finn and Sea Wolf got into the same mix: over 20 lingcod and well north of 100 rockfish per boat. Colors were flying—vermilion, copper, blacks, blues—if you like variety, this is as good as it gets. Lingcod are on the chew around the deeper reefs by South Tower and Marin Coastline, especially if you’re working past Alcatraz and Point Bonita.

Off the bank and piers, the bite is picking up too. Candlestick Point’s producing some strong striped bass for anglers running paddle-tail swimbaits on half-ounce to 1.5-ounce heads, and frozen anchovy either on the bottom or under a slider. Oyster Point and Paradise Pier locals are also reporting good luck on both stripers and an occasional California halibut, especially as that afternoon tide fills in. From shore, stick with 4–6” swimbaits in bluegill or anchovy colors; offshore, white or chartreuse jigs tipped with squid strips are drawing aggressive hits from both big lings and beefy rockfish.

When it comes to bait, frozen anchovies and sardines are the go-tos for those drifting or soaking on the reefs—rockfish and stripes can’t resist a chop of fresh. Live shiner perch or anchovy will up the odds for halibut if you can score them.

Hot spots to circle? Give Pier 7 in downtown SF a try for striper and the shot at halibut, especially as we hit the late-morning rising water. The reefs off Marin and around Alcatraz continue to stack up with bragging-size rockfish and lingcod—if you’re heading out on a party boat or in your own ride, that’s the ticket for a quality sack.

A couple reminders: Know your regs—no keeping quillback, yelloweye, cowcod, or bronzespotted rockfish. Canary rockfish is strictly two per bag. Always bring a descending device if you’re releasing fish back down deep; these new regulations from the California Fish and Game Commission are in play right now.

It’s one of the best Septembers for mixed-bag action we’ve seen in a long stretch—tight lines and smooth drags to all of you getting after it out there. Thanks for tuning in to Artificial Lure, your local line on the Bay. Be sure to subscribe so you’re always the first to get the inside track on every run, tide, and hot lure. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.

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This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI