San Francisco
fishing charters
Top Fishing Charters in San Francisco
Explore the Waters on a San Francisco, CA Fishing Charter
When it comes to choosing fishing ports on the West Coast of America, you’ll have a tough time finding one with a better outlook than San Francisco. The fish are so plentiful here that it’s been a commercial fishing hub for generations, and these days, recreational anglers flock to town. Thanks to close access to the open Pacific, San Francisco Bay, and flowing rivers like the San Joaquin and the Sacramento, no matter what type of angling you enjoy, it’s sure to be close at hand. So, whether you hope to cast near the Golden Gate Bridge or troll past Treasure Island, now’s the time to make a plan and book the best San Francisco fishing charter for the type of fishing you enjoy most.
Geography is another big plus of probing these waters with a rod in hand. Between the bays and rivers, you’ll always be able to find water sheltered from the wind, so if you opt to rent a fishing boat but the weather doesn’t cooperate, you’re still almost sure to have a good time. When the weather and sea conditions are in your favor, you can even try going for a deep sea fishing adventure in the Pacific and target oceanic beasts like tuna fish.
Fishing in San Francisco
People who aren’t intimately familiar with these waters will usually hire a fishing guide or charter boat. If you decide to enlist the help of a pro, these three types of trips will be in the offing.
Fly Fishing Guides
Fly fishing is a very popular way of angling in the area, and it can take place in just about any inland waterway, be it freshwater or salt. The wide variety can include everything from a pair of anglers going down a river in a drift boat while casting for trout to hitting one of the bays in a center console (the boat’s size will dictate how many passengers the captain will carry) as you cast streamers for stripers.
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Guided Bay Fishing
San Francisco Bay is a large body of water so guides will run boats of all different sizes. You’ll find some relatively small center consoles that carry one to four anglers aboard, but it’s also common to see big cruisers and full-sized six-pack charter boats working these waters.
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Ocean Charters
Boats that head out into the Pacific generally have the size — and the Coast Guard licensing — to haul a crew of six anglers in addition to the captain and mate. Some can carry even more. And since ocean fishing often requires long runs that may start in the predawn hours, most six-pack charters will be offering full-day fishing trips instead of shorter half-day trips off the dock.
Learn moreBest Places to Fish in San Francisco
There are so many tempting options in San Francisco, one day of fishing simply isn’t enough.
Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta
Just east of San Francisco is the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta, famous for the striped bass fishing. There’s also great catfish action here, solid bass fishing, and even steelhead and sturgeon will be biting at certain times of the year. The River Delta is a prime destination not only for San Francisco anglers but for those who enjoy fishing in Sacramento, as well.
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San Francisco Bay
Out in the Bay, there’s a huge variety of fish to catch. Halibut, striped bass, ling cod, rockfish, sharks, sea bass, and sturgeon are all on the list. King salmon are also present, and hopefully this fishery will reopen soon. Still, thanks to the diversity, no matter what time of year it is or where you choose to go in the Bay, there are certain to be some hungry fish willing to bite nearby.
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The Pacific Ocean
Anglers in search of pelagics will head west. Albacore tuna generally run 40 to 80 miles from port and are only around for a portion of the season, usually during the summer and early fall. When you get into them, however, you often get into them in a big way and chaotic action can ensue with multiple hook-ups and nonstop strikes.
Learn moreTips for Fishing in San Francisco
As you prep for your San Francisco fishing trip, remember:
Get Licensed
Anglers over the age of 16 fishing in California waters are required to have a license. Reduced fees or free licenses are available for disabled and recovering veterans, low-income seniors, and other anglers who fall into special categories. Both long- and short-term licenses are available, and California residents can also purchase a lifetime fishing license. Visit the California Department of Fish and Wildlife Sport Fishing License webpage for more information.
Bait and Tackle
There are plenty of bait and tackle shops in San Francisco, mostly clustered around San Francisco Bay but also up around San Pablo Bay and the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta. Remember that most tackle shops cater to the local bite, so when you’re traveling inland from the coast or vice versa, it may be best to wait until you’re near the area you plan to fish before hitting a store.
Fish Processing and Shipping
Guides usually don’t handle the fish cleaning, but charter boats with mates commonly do. Naturally, paying an additional tip or cleaning fee should be expected. As for packing and shipping fish home, check out the UPS webpage on How to Ship Food or the FedEx webpage on How to Ship Perishables. Both services will deliver your fresh fillets to your doorstep, but it’s important to pack them properly, or the fish could spoil.
Popular Fish Species in San Francisco
While there’s plenty of variety in San Francisco’s waterways, these three species stand out as top targets among the angling crowd.
Striped Bass
Striped bass are transplants from the East Coast, but they’ve been swimming in California’s waters since the late 1800s. They thrived, had no trouble reproducing, and have since become some of the most popular sportfish around. Stripers are also considered an excellent food fish and as an added bonus, they bite year-round.
Halibut
California halibut are prized for their high-quality meat and can grow as large as 30-plus pounds. They’re also unusual in that they live in a wide range of depths and so can be caught both in the Bay and the open ocean. Just remember that they nibble before they bite, and you’ll need to wait a few seconds before setting the hook, or you might yank it right out of the fish’s mouth.
Salmon
Although they’re closed for 2023 it would be impossible to talk about popular sportfish in this neck of the woods without bringing up salmon. Hopefully, the closure will be a short one. In any case, you can bet that countless San Francisco anglers will be counting down the days until they can once again go after this fish, which fights like a banshee and can reach rather epic proportions — the largest verified in California hit a whopping 88 pounds.
Top Types of Fishing in San Francisco
Anglers fishing these waters will use live bait, soft plastic jigs, and everything in-between, but for many fishermen these three methods top the charts.
Jigging Metal Spoons
This method jumps to the fore because it’s one of the most effective ways to catch striped bass in San Francisco Bay. In the Bay the stripers often congregate around underwater ledges, bars, and drop-offs, which can be targeted by drifting over the fish while vertically jigging your spoons. When the fish are schooled up in these locations, the tide is right, and you send spoons over the side, the action can be nonstop.
Fly Fishing
Fly fishing gets a call-out because it’s a popular way to catch fish in just about all the nearby venues except the open ocean. In the rivers east and north of town, it’s the best way to target trout. On the Delta it’s effective for just about any of the predators around except for catfish. And in the Bay fly anglers can cast for striped bass and rockfish.
Trolling Plugs
When it comes to catching halibut, trolling lipped plugs at two or three knots often gets the nod when other tactics don’t produce. The fish have trouble resisting those wiggling, wobbling plugs, which can be weighted to reach deep or can be pulled without weight (when their lip is designed to dive) in shallower areas.
January
At the beginning of the year the two main options will be going after sturgeon and stripers. Both can be caught in the Bay and the Delta, so they’re a prime target even with unsettled winter weather that can make open waters rough.
February
There aren’t many changes in the fishing scene this month, so the sturgeon and stripers will remain the prime targets for most anglers.
March
If you want to target those prehistoric-looking sturgeon, now’s your last chance. By next month they’ll have migrated away so catch ‘em while you still can.
April
As the waters warm up more of the seasonal visitors arrive, and one that catches the attention of many fishermen looking for a thrill is the leopard shark. If you want to give a kid an exciting fishing trip, hooking them up with one of these critters will certainly do the trick.
May
Halibut come into the picture in May, with the recreational season opening up May 1 (note that this can vary from season to season and you should always check up on the current regulations). And considering how good these fish are on the dinner plate, no one will wait around any longer before going after them.
June
The beginning of summer marks the beginning of good bottom fishing. Species like ling cod and rockfish start biting better, halibut are often in peak form, and dropping baits down deep gets very productive.
July
There’s usually good fishing in the Bay for stripers and halibut, but as summer hits there’s now the possibility of running offshore for albacore tuna. It may be early in the season, but who can resist if the reports are good?
August
With summer in full swing, just about all of the warm-water species should be biting right about now. Good luck trying to decide which to go after!
September
If you’re up for a long run and 10- to 12-hour fishing days, now’s prime time to target albacore tuna. While they usually show up earlier in the season, by September, these fish should be within range of the San Francisco fleet in solid numbers and often offer peak action.
October
Normally, we’d expect lots of anglers to be catching the tail end of the king salmon season right about now. But stripers and bottom fish are more likely targets for as long as the closure lasts.
November
Striped bass feed hard through the later part of the fall, and in November you’ll find plenty of anglers prowling San Francisco Bay on the hunt for them.
December
Anglers who enjoy bottom fishing will likely have their sights set on ling cod and rockfish this month. The bite for these species can be expected to slack off as winter sets in, so now’s the time to get in your last licks of the season.
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