Stripers, Halibut, and Crab Bonanza in the Bay - Your Weekly Angling Update
17 January 2026

Stripers, Halibut, and Crab Bonanza in the Bay - Your Weekly Angling Update

San Francisco Bay Fishing Report Today

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Hey folks, Artificial Lure here, your go-to guy for all things angling in the Bay Area. It's a crisp Saturday morning in San Francisco Bay, sun's up at 7:23 AM and sets at 5:18 PM today. Tides4fishing.com charts show low tide hit around 3:57 AM at 3.3 feet, high at 9:50 AM peaking 6.2 feet—perfect incoming current for chasing stripers and halibut right now. Coefficient's average at 69, with solunar activity ramping up for solid bites through midday.

Weather's cooperating after those early January rains—no major storms, just cool temps in the 50s, light winds from the west. Fish activity's been steady despite tough Delta reports; San Francisco Estuary Institute notes pelagic declines like Delta smelt crashing to near zero, but bay stripers, halibut, and sturgeon are holding. NorCalFishReports and 976-TUNA logs from Emeryville boats last week tallied halibut, Dungeness crab (limits easy), petrale sole, sanddabs, even bonito and sculpin offshore. Party boats out of Emeryville pulled 1 halibut, 170 crab, 10 sole on recent full-day runs.

Stripers are key now—schools pushing into shallows on the flood. Best lures: white or chartreuse swimbaits like Big Hammer or Keitech 4-inch, or jerk minnows in anchovy patterns. For bait, pile on live mudsuckers or ghost shrimp near structure; frozen anchovies work great drifted. Crabbing's hot too—chicken livers or squid in traps.

Hit these hot spots: the Emeryville flats off the marina for halibut on incoming, or Paradise Cay in the North Bay for stripers around pilings. Launch early, watch for mud from recent flows.

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