San Francisco Bay Shoreline & Flats
San Francisco & San Pablo Bays · near San Francisco / Berkeley · SF Bay Area
Fishing
At a glance
- Difficulty
- intermediate
- Best season
- Stripers & halibut spring–fall · sturgeon winter
Permits and booking
- Licence required
- Yes
- Licence detail
- CA license (16+) required (shore/boat; only public PIERS are exempt). IMPORTANT: white sturgeon is now CATCH-AND-RELEASE ONLY statewide (population down ~80%) — barbless single hook, don't remove fish over 60" from the water, Sturgeon Report Card required (no fee 2025–26). Green sturgeon: no take at all.
What is here
- Features
- Striped bass & halibut in an urban bay · Leopard sharks & bat rays from shore · Catch-and-release sturgeon fishing · Fish beneath bridges & skyline
Worth knowing
- Dogs
- Allowed
- Good for a first timer
- Yes
Fishing detail
- Water type
- bay-delta
- Water
- brackish
- Methods
- Bait · Trolling · Drifting · Fly
- Boat
- both
- Target species
- Striped bass · California halibut · Leopard shark & bat ray · White sturgeon (catch & release)
- Intl tip
- License required (shore or boat). Stripers and halibut are the spring–fall targets; leopard sharks and rays bite from shore year-round. Sturgeon are CATCH-AND-RELEASE only now (barbless, report card) — handle with care. Shoreline spots: Berkeley/Emeryville flats, the jetties, Candlestick. Fly anglers work the flats for stripers.
The guide
San Francisco Bay is a world-class urban estuary, and you don't need a boat to fish it — the shorelines, jetties, and flats aro…
In the Guidebook
Everything above is yours for free. The written guide to San Francisco Bay Shoreline & Flats — what it is actually like, and what we would tell a friend before they went — comes with the Guidebook.
Getting there
- Coordinates
- 37.8, -122.37