SF Bay stripers

This is the fishery that got me hooked, so to speak. The first fish I ever caught as a kid was a striper in SF Bay and spent a ton of time fishing here as a kid but once I left I stopped paying attention.

Fast-forward many decades and I'm back in the area more frequently for family stuff. Usually my CA time is stressful because I don't have easy access to any of my usual stress-busters (like fishing) but earlier this summer, I bumped into Capt. Gregg Holland of Feather Dog Outfitters at the dock when I was visiting the bait and tackle shop I "worked" at when I was a kid. We chatted for a while and I told him I'd get in touch the next time I was back.

I've now had three outings with FDO and every time has been a total blast. He provides TFO Axiom II-X + Galvan + OBS gear and light spinning gear but I usually use my 8wt. We hit all the spots that I remember from my childhood and have yet to have a day with fewer than a dozen fish to hand.

Yesterday was no exception. The "World Series" bite is on. I think I landed 20 or so stripers ranging from little juniors to ~8lbs in a few hours.
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We were motoring from one spot to another and came across a bird pile with a bunch of seals, so we stopped to investigate. Turned out to be our best stop of the day.
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Capt. with a nice one. None of the fish earned the reel but they definitely put a bend in an 8wt! Notice fish on the sounder, and Riley the lab keeping watch from the bow. She's a great fishing buddy!
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One of the juniors. These guys would have been super fun on a lighter rod but when there are bigger ones mixed in with the little ones it's better to be prepared.
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It was around this time when we found out that Phil Lesh passed so we spent the rest of the afternoon listening to the Grateful Dead. The day was nostalgic in so many ways.
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Motoring back to the harbor where it all began for me.
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Beautiful sunset behind Mt. Tam.
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Capt. filleted the catch and we found these in the stomach of one. Anchovies and a pompano (ID by @Cabezon) which was the first that the Capt. had ever seen. IMG_1824.jpeg

The bottom Adachi Clouser was responsible for ~18 of the 20 fish caught. A pink one got the remainder but was lost in the field of duty.
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Good fun right next to a major urban area. Nice report!
 
DimeBrite said:
Good fun right next to a major urban area. Nice report!
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It reminds me of the SRC and coho opportunities in the Salish Sea. All this nature is right there! I've taken the ferry a few times in the last week and have seen bald eagles, hawks, harbor porpoise, harbor seals, sea lions, and all kinds of stuff while everyone else is just looking at their phones.
 
Have you ever salmon fished off the Farallon Islands? That looks like another interesting option if fly rods are effective.
 
DimeBrite said:
Have you ever salmon fished off the Farallon Islands? That looks like another interesting option if fly rods are effective.
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All salmon fishing has been closed the last couple years and will likely be closed again next year. Back in the day I fished salmon but mostly mooching, and closer to the outer Marin shoreline/Stinson area. No need to go out to the Farallons unless you really want to. It's beautiful out there but it's a ways out.

Edit: Also, we were targeting chinook which tend to run pretty deep? Might be tough to target specifically w/ a fly rod. You can definitely get rockfish and even halibut on the fly though.

Edit 2.0: the beach fly fishing scene has gotten pretty popular. https://www.lostcoastoutfitters.com/pages/guide-to-fly-fishing-californias-surf-and-beaches
 
adamcu280 said:
This is the fishery that got me hooked, so to speak. The first fish I ever caught as a kid was a striper in SF Bay and spent a ton of time fishing here as a kid but once I left I stopped paying attention.
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Great to hear! I need to get to SF bay from SoCal. I have fished for strippers in cali most of my life. The crazy thing is for all my hours fishing strippers, my PB came this year on a 4 hour detour from racing at Road Atlanta to fish at famous Lake Lanier.

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So cool! Takes me back...

We used to take old round float tubes and our 5 weights(only rods we owned) to where Corte Madera creek goes under the 101. On an outgoing tide we'd kick out and get behind one of the pillars and could stay in the back eddy. The stripers would hang just down current from the lights on the overpass and smash all the bait getting flushed out. We'd just swing clousers and get lots of fish.
 
Yard Sale said:
So cool! Takes me back...

We used to take old round float tubes and our 5 weights(only rods we owned) to where Corte Madera creek goes under the 101. On an outgoing tide we'd kick out and get behind one of the pillars and could stay in the back eddy. The stripers would hang just down current from the lights on the overpass and smash all the bait getting flushed out. We'd just swing clousers and get lots of fish.
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that was probably when the fish were a little bigger too! Back in my day I recall averaging in the ~10lb range. The fish that people were catching when I was reading Abe Cuanang's 1983 "San Francisco Bay Striper" book were massive!
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Looks like a great outing! Is this fishery year round? I have a buddy in SF and it would be fun to schedule a day with FDO next time I head down there.
 
Skol_Engh said:
Looks like a great outing! Is this fishery year round? I have a buddy in SF and it would be fun to schedule a day with FDO next time I head down there.
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I’m sure there’s some seasonality to the fishery but I can’t remember the details/specifics aside from it getting going in the spring and ramping up to the peak around now. We used to run “potluck” trips to target stripers/halibut/salmon from spring to fall and switch focus to sturgeon in the winter but stripers were “bycatch” then, so I know they’re around all year.
 
Love your post! Brings back memories.
Saw my first jumping Sturgeon on SF Bay while sailing and it surprised the heck out of me, as I wouldn't have expected Sturgeon to do that.
I Never fished for Stripers when I lived down there (wished I had!), and I had that same book too! But the surf Perch were sure fun off the coastal beaches.

Used to hike all over Mt. Tam with my wife before we married nearly forty years ago. I miss it, and all the other open space that was saved/preserved for public use down there.
 
adamcu280 said:
that was probably when the fish were a little bigger too! Back in my day I recall averaging in the ~10lb range. The fish that people were catching when I was reading Abe Cuanang's 1983 "San Francisco Bay Striper" book were massive!
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that's the north end of Linda Mar Beach, just south of SF. where I learned to surf as a youngster. Used to chat with Abe when he was working the counter at Hi's Tackle Box, where I bought all my striper/salmon tackle during the 70's - 90's. Linda Mar bay is one of the better go to's for beach flinging to stripers, and the 60' to 120' trolling lanes outside of it has always been a primary salmon highway from Half Moon Bay to the south to Mussel Rock to the north.
 
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