14 September 2025
SF Bay Fishing Update: Stripers, Halibut & More Biting as Fall Runs Begin
San Francisco Bay Daily Fishing Report
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Artificial Lure here with your San Francisco Bay fishing report for Sunday, September 14, 2025.
We kicked off the morning with a low tide just before 7 am, and we’ll hit the next high around 1:40 pm. With sunrise at 6:49 am and sunset at 7:20 pm, there’s a full window of stable, mild late summer weather ahead—mostly clear skies, comfortable temps in the mid-70s, and a light westerly wind that should keep the bay smooth but push a bit of current through the bridges late in the afternoon. Classic Bay Area fall vibes that make for active fish and happy anglers.
Let’s jump into what’s biting: The hot ticket this week is still striped bass. According to the recent fish counts from Berkeley, Emeryville, and SF party boats, boats have been reporting limits of striped bass nearly every day. On the 11th, the Lovely Martha 1/2-day brought in 15 limits of striped bass—30 fish—plus three solid halibut, with other local boats like the Pacific Pearl, Top Gun SF, and Sea Wolf putting up similar numbers all week.
Halibut action is steady, with a handful coming in per trip—one here, a couple there—but most of those spending time just inside the Gate or along the Berkeley Flats have been drifting up quality flatties. Out the Gate, rockfish and lingcod are back on the chew. Party boats like the California Dawn II and New Huck Finn have been stacking up rockfish counts near 170-190 per trip and up to 38 lingcod apiece, with some lings pushing 20 pounds.
For those in the know, late season white seabass are haunting deeper channel edges—a nice bonus, with the Pacific Pearl reporting not just one landed, but more than 30 released just this morning.
Bait and lure selection is pretty straightforward right now:
- For stripers and halibut, drifting live anchovies or shiners is king, with frozen herring and tray sardines doing work for the landlocked. Trolling with broken-back Rebels or chartreuse Rapalas early is producing fish near the Alameda rockwall and along the San Mateo shoreline.
- Rockfish and lings are still hitting on squid strips, mackerel chunks, and the reliable double-squid rig on dropper loops. Try Thirty Fathom line or Point Diablo if you’re heading outside.
- If you’re set on artificials, white or root beer swimbaits, 6-inch paddle tails, and metal jigs in sardine or mackerel patterns all get crushed, especially on a hard tide push.
Hot spots for Sunday:
- The **Berkeley Flats and Alcatraz Island** remain top choices for stripers and halibut, especially on the incoming tide.
- For rock cod and lings, **Duxbury Reef** and the channel edges off Muir Beach are producing big numbers—just be ready for a ride if the wind picks up later.
If you’re looking upstream, the fall run of stripers into the Delta has started—FishCaddy says ten to fifteen pounders are cruising up from the bay, so a quick trailered run could offer some epic action closer to Rio Vista or Sherman Island.
Quick tip: Fish the change of tide today, especially the top of the incoming around 2 pm, anywhere you find a strong current break or bait stacked up. Stripers love ambushing through the rips and halibut will bury themselves just off the edge.
That’s your Sunday rundown from San Francisco Bay. Thanks for tuning in to the Artificial Lure fishing report—subscribe for more Bay Area catch news, local tips, and hot bites every week.
This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn
We kicked off the morning with a low tide just before 7 am, and we’ll hit the next high around 1:40 pm. With sunrise at 6:49 am and sunset at 7:20 pm, there’s a full window of stable, mild late summer weather ahead—mostly clear skies, comfortable temps in the mid-70s, and a light westerly wind that should keep the bay smooth but push a bit of current through the bridges late in the afternoon. Classic Bay Area fall vibes that make for active fish and happy anglers.
Let’s jump into what’s biting: The hot ticket this week is still striped bass. According to the recent fish counts from Berkeley, Emeryville, and SF party boats, boats have been reporting limits of striped bass nearly every day. On the 11th, the Lovely Martha 1/2-day brought in 15 limits of striped bass—30 fish—plus three solid halibut, with other local boats like the Pacific Pearl, Top Gun SF, and Sea Wolf putting up similar numbers all week.
Halibut action is steady, with a handful coming in per trip—one here, a couple there—but most of those spending time just inside the Gate or along the Berkeley Flats have been drifting up quality flatties. Out the Gate, rockfish and lingcod are back on the chew. Party boats like the California Dawn II and New Huck Finn have been stacking up rockfish counts near 170-190 per trip and up to 38 lingcod apiece, with some lings pushing 20 pounds.
For those in the know, late season white seabass are haunting deeper channel edges—a nice bonus, with the Pacific Pearl reporting not just one landed, but more than 30 released just this morning.
Bait and lure selection is pretty straightforward right now:
- For stripers and halibut, drifting live anchovies or shiners is king, with frozen herring and tray sardines doing work for the landlocked. Trolling with broken-back Rebels or chartreuse Rapalas early is producing fish near the Alameda rockwall and along the San Mateo shoreline.
- Rockfish and lings are still hitting on squid strips, mackerel chunks, and the reliable double-squid rig on dropper loops. Try Thirty Fathom line or Point Diablo if you’re heading outside.
- If you’re set on artificials, white or root beer swimbaits, 6-inch paddle tails, and metal jigs in sardine or mackerel patterns all get crushed, especially on a hard tide push.
Hot spots for Sunday:
- The **Berkeley Flats and Alcatraz Island** remain top choices for stripers and halibut, especially on the incoming tide.
- For rock cod and lings, **Duxbury Reef** and the channel edges off Muir Beach are producing big numbers—just be ready for a ride if the wind picks up later.
If you’re looking upstream, the fall run of stripers into the Delta has started—FishCaddy says ten to fifteen pounders are cruising up from the bay, so a quick trailered run could offer some epic action closer to Rio Vista or Sherman Island.
Quick tip: Fish the change of tide today, especially the top of the incoming around 2 pm, anywhere you find a strong current break or bait stacked up. Stripers love ambushing through the rips and halibut will bury themselves just off the edge.
That’s your Sunday rundown from San Francisco Bay. Thanks for tuning in to the Artificial Lure fishing report—subscribe for more Bay Area catch news, local tips, and hot bites every week.
This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease dot ai.
Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn