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"San Francisco Bay Fishing Report: Fall Bounty and Variety on the Reefs"
Good morning anglers, Artificial Lure here, with your San Francisco Bay fishing report for Saturday, September 20th, 2025. The fall run is picking up and the Bay is alive—let’s get right into it.
Sunrise was at 6:56 AM this morning, and we’ll see sunset right around 7:10 PM, giving us over 12 hours to wet some lines. Conditions are prime for action, with a tidal coefficient starting high at 81 and climbing to 88 by the evening. That means big tide swings, strong currents, and lots of underwater movement — perfect for putting predatory fish on the hunt. According to Tides4Fishing, that’s the kind of day where bait and lures will both get snapped up quickly as those fish chase food from structure to structure.
Weather-wise, we’re starting cool and clear with little fog, warming up to the mid-60s by mid-afternoon under partly sunny skies. Light westerly winds are on tap, so look for mostly flat water in the shallows but keep an eye on the breezes out by the Golden Gate.
Now, for the hot bite: reports from The Fish Sniffer and NorCal Fish Reports are calling this one of the best times of year for variety. Rockfish, lingcod, and sanddab continue to come over the rails in impressive numbers — just yesterday, the California Dawn II out of Berkeley sent 26 anglers home with 52 lingcod (some over 20 pounds), 260 rockfish, and 260 sanddab for a full day’s haul. The TigerFish out of Emeryville saw similar counts with heavy sacks of big browns and reds. And the Pacific Dream found a nice showing of striped bass in the Bay, with 36 landed to go with their rockfish mix.
Bay Area regulations right now let you keep rockfish, lingcod, and greenling at all depths within state waters, so the deeper reefs and ledges are wide open. Salmon fishing has just wrapped after meeting quota, but the drama has shifted to the reefs, jetties, and mud flats around the Bay and along the Marin and San Mateo coasts.
For the striper faithful, the fall migration is beginning—schoolies are pushing in and bigger fish are starting to mix. Best bets are around the Berkeley Pier, Treasure Island, and the flats off Coyote Point, especially at the bottom of the outgoing tide as bait gets swept out. Nighttime and dawn hours can produce the biggest stripers, so don’t pack it in too early.
As for what’s working, here’s your inside scoop:
- For rockfish and lingcod: Large swimbaits, metal jigs, and shrimp flies tipped with squid have been cleaning up. Dropper loops rigged with fresh squid or sardine pieces are deadly on the bottom.
- For stripers: Trolling deep-diving plugs or casting 4-6 inch soft plastics in shad or anchovy colors is hot. On the bait side, live anchovies and pile worms are top picks.
- Halibut action has quieted a bit but isn’t done. Drifting live bait on inshore shoals — South Bay, Alcatraz, Crissy Field area — can still put you on a surprise slab, mainly on slack tides.
Hot spots today:
- The Marin coast just outside the Golden Gate is loaded with quality rockfish and some tanker lings. Try the North Bar and Rocky Point on the big part of the tide.
- Berkeley Flats and the Oakland Airport Channel for stripers as the tide dumps.
Whatever your target, bring a full tackle kit—crankbaits, spinnerbaits, soft plastics, and plenty of bait options, just like the Sanweal kit suggests, will let you adapt to the fish’s moods today.
That’s the word from the water this morning. Thanks for tuning in, anglers, and don’t forget to subscribe for your next update. 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
Published on 3 months ago