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SF Bay Fishing Report: Rockfish, Bass, and Halibut Bites + Delayed Crab Season
Good morning anglers, this is Artificial Lure coming to you with today’s San Francisco Bay fishing report, Thursday November 13, 2025.
Sunrise hit at 6:48 a.m., with sunset due at 4:59 p.m. We’re entering the tail end of a cool, gray spell—mostly cloudy overhead, with a daytime high pushing to the upper 60s and a light southwest breeze around 10 knots. Expect swell around 4–6 feet and a slight chance of scattered showers late in the day, according to the National Weather Service and AccuWeather.
As for the water, we’ve got a **high tide at 7:06 a.m. at 5.37 feet** and low tide rolling in at 12:49 p.m. at 2.18 feet, based on data from tide-forecast.com. This means a solid morning push followed by dropping water mid-day. These moving tides get the fish feeding and help set up classic bay area action.
Fish reports from this past week have brought in a mixed bag, especially from local party boats and regulars fishing piers and shorelines. Emeryville and central bay charters reported strong numbers of **rockfish**—often over 200 per trip on rock piles and deeper ledges—plus good catches of **sand bass**, **calico bass**, and scattered **halibut** up to 10 pounds, according to Fish Emeryville and Fisherman's Landing. There've also been spot checks of **striped bass** working the deeper tidal seams near Oyster Point and Candlestick, with several healthy keeper-sized fish landed.
Pier and surf regulars have been landing **barred surfperch** and the odd **corbina**—best baits are still **sand crabs**, **fresh mussels**, and **bloodworms** on a basic high-low rig. For rays and smaller sharks—especially thornback and smoothhounds—bring a chunk of squid or mackerel; lively bait works best for the big boys.
For lure selection, locals are swearing by **Berkeley Gulp grubs (motor oil or root beer color)** for perch, while bass and stripers are smashing on **Wild Thing swim baits**—especially silver/blue patterns and anything that mimics anchovy. AA Cotee Lures in white/blue or clear/silver have also picked up several halibut and stray stripers. If you don’t have live anchovy, try cut mackerel or pilchard, but swim baits are out-fishing bait right now.
Keep in mind—Dungeness crab season remains delayed, as reported by the San Francisco Standard. Rock crab and red crab are available if you set traps near rocky structure inside the bay, but Dungeness pots will sit empty until the season opens, so hang tight for the big boil.
Hot spots for this week:
- **Alameda Rock Wall:** Great for stripers on an outgoing tide and easy perch near the shallows.
- **Berkeley Pier area:** Reliable for mixed bags, especially rockfish and bass around tide changes.
For boaters, **Angel Island’s south side** and the **Potrero Reach** channel have held feeding schools of bass and deep-water halibut. Kayakers: hit the flats near Candlestick for perch and a shot at leopards or bat rays.
Today’s bite looks best in the first couple of hours after sunrise—so get out early with tide, wind, and bait working in your favor.
That’s your San Francisco Bay fishing report for Thursday, November 13th, 2025. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe to stay updated on all things local fishing. 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 1 month, 1 week ago