Good late season fishing is still out there in the San Francisco Bay

Dan Bacher
·4 min read
While lingcod and rockfish have provided the most consistent fishing outside of the Golden Gate lately, huge king salmon like these taken aboard the Lovely Martha in San Francisco have been caught as the ocean salmon season nears its end on Oct. 31.
While lingcod and rockfish have provided the most consistent fishing outside of the Golden Gate lately, huge king salmon like these taken aboard the Lovely Martha in San Francisco have been caught as the ocean salmon season nears its end on Oct. 31.

SAN FRANCISCO — The bottom fish action is as good as it gets, with anglers reeling in limits of rockfish and good numbers of lingcod while fishing off the Marin County Coast and catching limits and near-limits of lingcod at the Farallon Islands. Even though it’s late in the season, the halibut bite is still very good inside San Francisco Bay.

If you like to catch salmon outside of the Golden Gate, you don’t have much time left to do it, since the season closes on Oct. 31. Although the salmon aren’t showing in big numbers, those being caught are big.

Aaron Anfinson, Captain of the Bass Tub, reported superb fishing for rockfish, lingcod and halibut on a half day trip outside of the Golden Gate and inside San Francisco Bay on Sunday, Oct. 16, with a very light passenger load of just 4 anglers. The boat returned to the wharf with limits of rockfish, four lingcod to 15 pounds. and four halibut.

“We fished with live anchovies on the Marin Coast in around 30 feet of water at Duxbury Reef and below,” he said. “We caught mostly blue and black rockfish. The bite was crazy, wide-open. Fish were following the hooked fish right up to the boat.”

They finished up the morning by catching four halibut in 40 feet of water in the bay in just two drifts at Alcatraz. “We also lost a couple of good fish,” said Anfinson. ‘The weather was flat, the best we’ve seen this year.”

On Friday, Anfinson came back from a trip to the Farallon Islands with limits of both rockfish and lingcod for the 15 anglers.

“Most of the rockfish were yellows and blues, with some rosie, canary and vermilion rockfish mixed in,” Anfinson said. “We fished with live sanddabs for the lingcod and with shrimp flies and flat falls and jigs for the rockfish at 150 to 200 feet deep.”

Anfinson added that some striped bass are showing in the San Pablo Bay Flats for anglers drifting live bait.

Frank Rescino, Captain of the Lovely Martha, also reported in with top-notch fishing off the Marin County Coast on Oct. 16. The 10 anglers aboard the boat finished up with 10 limits (100) of rockfish, 3 lingcod and 3 salmon while fishing off the Marin County Coast.

On the previous day, Captain Frank reported in with 14 limits (140) of rockfish and 5 lingcod while fishing along the Marin coast. Information: 415 706-4947.

“The rockfish and lingcod were biting today at the Farallon Islands,” stated James Smith of California Dawn Sporfishing after his trip on Sunday. “We ended up with 19 limits of rockfish (190) and 19 limits of lingcod (38) in absolute flat calm weather.” Information: (510) 417-5557.

Pittsburg Stripers

The City of Pittsburg held its annual fishing derby out of the Pittsburg Marina on Oct. 15-16. The 120 anglers entered in the event weighed in 25 fish, including one sturgeon and 21 stripers.

Anglers fished for the striped bass and sturgeon closest to a chosen target length both on-shore and off-shore. Striper anglers used a variety of methods, ranging from drifting live bait to anchor fishing with filleted shad. All of the winning fish were caught from boats.

On Day 1, Grady Rose won first place in the youth striped bass division with a 20.50-inch fish. Steve Bina placed first in the adult striper division with a 25-inch fish. Robert Williams took first place in the senior striped bass division with a 25.81-inch fish.

On Day 2, Hunter Storey won first place in the youth striper division with a 20.81-inch fish. Loren Dennis placed first in the adult striper division with a 26.13-inch fish. Francisco Aguilar took first place in the senior striped bass division with his 25.81-inch fish.

Also on Day 2, Jordan Lexa brought in the event’s only sturgeon, a fish measuring 48.25 inches, winning first place in the adult sturgeon division.

“The weather was rough – the wind made it difficult for anglers to see bites on their lines,” noted Sara Bellafronte, derby coordinator.

Prizes were awarded in each category for 1st through 6th place, including a raffle, free for all registrants, cash prizes up to $1,000 for 1-3rd places, fishing poles and gear and bait shop gift cards. Information: (925) 252-4109.

Pardee Lake Trout

Trout will be stocked every Friday until Pardee Lake closes on November 6. Mount Lassen planted 2,000 pounds of rainbows on Friday, Oct.14.

Bank anglers are catching trout on PowerBait, nightcrawlers, jigs and Kastmasters, while trollers are hooking rainbows on spoons, spinners and nightcrawlers behind flashers or dodgers. Information: (209) 772-1472.

Contact Stockton Record correspondent Dan Bacher at danielbacher53@gmail.com.

This article originally appeared on The Record: Big fish being caught late in season in San Francisco Bay