Podcast Episode Details
Back to Podcast Episodes
SF Bay Fishing Update: Stripers, Halibut, and Crab Bonanza for November 1st 2025
Artificial Lure here with your San Francisco Bay fishing report for Saturday, November 1st, 2025. The Bay is buzzing this morning, and so are the anglers—let’s get you dialed in for a productive day on the water.
Published on 18 hours ago
**Tides & Weather:**
We’ve got a classic fall tidal swing today. Low tide rolled through just after 2:30 a.m. at 0.56 feet, and we’re building toward a big high tide about 9:00 a.m., peaking around 5.4 feet. Another high tide will hit roughly 8:20 p.m. Tonight’s moonrise is at 7:54 p.m., and we had sunrise at 6:42 a.m., with sunset coming early at 5:03 p.m. According to tide-forecast.com, these big November tides are perfect for inshore feeders moving into the flats and marsh edges, especially at those tide changes.
Weatherwise, it’s mild with clear skies and not much wind—prime fall conditions for both pier and boat action.
**What’s Biting:**
The bay lit up with **striper**, **halibut**, and **leopard shark** last week. NorCal Fish Reports and 976-TUNA note decent hauls of striped bass up to twenty-eight inches in the South Bay, with a steady halibut bite along the Oakland-Alameda estuary and near Angel Island. Anglers are hauling leopard sharks from Crissy Field and the Berkeley Flats, mostly released, but a few keepers in the mix. Out near the deeper sections, some rockfish (mostly smaller blues and blacks) are still coming over the rail.
The real news: **Dungeness crab season opens today!** You can keep up to ten legal-sized crabs south of the Sonoma/Mendocino line, but you can’t use traps—just hoop nets and snares, because of the risk to whales, as the California Department of Fish and Wildlife cautions. Crabs were showing strong in pre-season test pots—look for them stacking up from Ocean Beach out to the Marin coastline.
Inside the bay, surfperch and white seabass are still available, and the herring schools should start building in a few weeks.
**Best Lures & Baits:**
- For stripers: toss **chartreuse hair jigs** or **swim shads**, especially on the last of the flood tide. If you’re soakin’ bait, go with **anchovies** or cut sardines.
- For halibut: nothing beats a **live shiner perch** on a sliding rig, or slow-trolling a **herring**.
- For leopard shark and bat ray: fresh **squid strips** or whole anchovy fished on the bottom.
- For Dungeness crab: use **raw chicken parts** or oily fish in your hoop nets and snares—the stinkier, the better for crabs.
**Recent Counts:**
Pier anglers at Fort Point and Pier 7 scored decent numbers of stripers, with some reporting up to a half-dozen fish before the tide slack. South Bay party boats reported limits of rockfish and a sprinkling of legal halibut. Surf anglers at Ocean Beach and Crissy Field reported strong perch action using **gulp sandworms and bloodworms**.
**Hot Spots:**
- **Berkeley Flats**: Turned in quality halibut and sharks this week; try just outside the marina.
- **Crissy Field/Fort Point**: Great access for shore-bound folks with stripers cruising the outgoing tide.
- **Pier 7 (near the Ferry Building)**: Mix of stripers, perch, and even a couple of bonus halibut on the night tides.
- **South Bay near Oyster Point**: Quiet, but those in the know are scoring nice stripers at dawn.
**Regulation Reminder:**
Striped bass minimum is 18 inches; halibut, minimum 22 inches. Dungeness must be at least 6¼ inches wide, and only hoops and snares allowed—no traps due to whale entanglement concerns, per CDFW. Always double-check the regs, especially for changes with crab gear and protected areas.
That’s the scoop for your first November Saturday in San Francisco Bay! Thanks for tuning in—don’t forget to subscribe for the latest reports, tips, and more. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear