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Bay Area Fishing Heats Up with Halibut and Stripers Biting Strong
Artificial Lure here with your San Francisco Bay fishing report for Monday, May 26, 2025.
We’re kicking off the week with cool, stable late-May weather. Skies are partly cloudy and air temps are ranging from the upper 50s early to the mid-60s by afternoon. Winds are moderate, so expect some chop but nothing that should keep you off the water. Sunrise hit at 5:52 AM and sunset is coming at 8:22 PM, giving you plenty of daylight to work those tides.
On the tidal front, we’ve got a mixed semi-diurnal tide today—morning outgoing and a solid afternoon incoming, so plan to work those transitions hard, especially near structure and mouths of creeks or channels.
The fishing has been absolutely on fire. The halibut and striped bass bite is as hot as we’ve seen all season. Party and charter reports have boats returning with impressive scores. Out of San Francisco and Berkeley yesterday, the Lovely Martha checked in with 8 halibut and 2 striped bass from a half-day trip, while the Berkeley-based Gatherer II put 10 halibut and 4 stripers on the deck. Emeryville boats like the Pacific Pearl produced 16 halibut and 6 striped bass on short runs. The action for stripers is fast and furious, with plenty of keepers and some real quality fish showing all over the central and south bay channels[1][3][4].
For best results, drift live anchovies or shiners near the bottom for halibut. Artificial swimbaits, white or chartreuse, are also solid choices—especially when the water gets stained. Stripers are hammering trolled deep-diving plugs and live bait, but plenty are being caught on topwater poppers and paddle-tail plastics along the rocks, especially early and late. Bait-wise, pile worms and cut anchovy are hard to beat for both species.
Other species: A few leopard sharks are showing in the mix, mostly as bycatch, and if you want something different, rockfish are steady off the coast with boats out of Half Moon Bay hauling up limits.
For hot spots, try the Berkeley Flats and the Alameda Rockwall for halibut—the fish are stacking up in these areas on the incoming tide. The San Mateo Bridge pilings and nearby flats are also holding both bass and halibut. Early risers working Crissy Field to Fort Point have been rewarded with schoolie stripers on the topwater.
That wraps it up for today. Get out early, drift those edges, and keep the drag light. Tight lines from Artificial Lure.
We’re kicking off the week with cool, stable late-May weather. Skies are partly cloudy and air temps are ranging from the upper 50s early to the mid-60s by afternoon. Winds are moderate, so expect some chop but nothing that should keep you off the water. Sunrise hit at 5:52 AM and sunset is coming at 8:22 PM, giving you plenty of daylight to work those tides.
On the tidal front, we’ve got a mixed semi-diurnal tide today—morning outgoing and a solid afternoon incoming, so plan to work those transitions hard, especially near structure and mouths of creeks or channels.
The fishing has been absolutely on fire. The halibut and striped bass bite is as hot as we’ve seen all season. Party and charter reports have boats returning with impressive scores. Out of San Francisco and Berkeley yesterday, the Lovely Martha checked in with 8 halibut and 2 striped bass from a half-day trip, while the Berkeley-based Gatherer II put 10 halibut and 4 stripers on the deck. Emeryville boats like the Pacific Pearl produced 16 halibut and 6 striped bass on short runs. The action for stripers is fast and furious, with plenty of keepers and some real quality fish showing all over the central and south bay channels[1][3][4].
For best results, drift live anchovies or shiners near the bottom for halibut. Artificial swimbaits, white or chartreuse, are also solid choices—especially when the water gets stained. Stripers are hammering trolled deep-diving plugs and live bait, but plenty are being caught on topwater poppers and paddle-tail plastics along the rocks, especially early and late. Bait-wise, pile worms and cut anchovy are hard to beat for both species.
Other species: A few leopard sharks are showing in the mix, mostly as bycatch, and if you want something different, rockfish are steady off the coast with boats out of Half Moon Bay hauling up limits.
For hot spots, try the Berkeley Flats and the Alameda Rockwall for halibut—the fish are stacking up in these areas on the incoming tide. The San Mateo Bridge pilings and nearby flats are also holding both bass and halibut. Early risers working Crissy Field to Fort Point have been rewarded with schoolie stripers on the topwater.
That wraps it up for today. Get out early, drift those edges, and keep the drag light. Tight lines from Artificial Lure.
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By Quiet. PleaseArtificial Lure here with your San Francisco Bay fishing report for Monday, May 26, 2025.
We’re kicking off the week with cool, stable late-May weather. Skies are partly cloudy and air temps are ranging from the upper 50s early to the mid-60s by afternoon. Winds are moderate, so expect some chop but nothing that should keep you off the water. Sunrise hit at 5:52 AM and sunset is coming at 8:22 PM, giving you plenty of daylight to work those tides.
On the tidal front, we’ve got a mixed semi-diurnal tide today—morning outgoing and a solid afternoon incoming, so plan to work those transitions hard, especially near structure and mouths of creeks or channels.
The fishing has been absolutely on fire. The halibut and striped bass bite is as hot as we’ve seen all season. Party and charter reports have boats returning with impressive scores. Out of San Francisco and Berkeley yesterday, the Lovely Martha checked in with 8 halibut and 2 striped bass from a half-day trip, while the Berkeley-based Gatherer II put 10 halibut and 4 stripers on the deck. Emeryville boats like the Pacific Pearl produced 16 halibut and 6 striped bass on short runs. The action for stripers is fast and furious, with plenty of keepers and some real quality fish showing all over the central and south bay channels[1][3][4].
For best results, drift live anchovies or shiners near the bottom for halibut. Artificial swimbaits, white or chartreuse, are also solid choices—especially when the water gets stained. Stripers are hammering trolled deep-diving plugs and live bait, but plenty are being caught on topwater poppers and paddle-tail plastics along the rocks, especially early and late. Bait-wise, pile worms and cut anchovy are hard to beat for both species.
Other species: A few leopard sharks are showing in the mix, mostly as bycatch, and if you want something different, rockfish are steady off the coast with boats out of Half Moon Bay hauling up limits.
For hot spots, try the Berkeley Flats and the Alameda Rockwall for halibut—the fish are stacking up in these areas on the incoming tide. The San Mateo Bridge pilings and nearby flats are also holding both bass and halibut. Early risers working Crissy Field to Fort Point have been rewarded with schoolie stripers on the topwater.
That wraps it up for today. Get out early, drift those edges, and keep the drag light. Tight lines from Artificial Lure.
We’re kicking off the week with cool, stable late-May weather. Skies are partly cloudy and air temps are ranging from the upper 50s early to the mid-60s by afternoon. Winds are moderate, so expect some chop but nothing that should keep you off the water. Sunrise hit at 5:52 AM and sunset is coming at 8:22 PM, giving you plenty of daylight to work those tides.
On the tidal front, we’ve got a mixed semi-diurnal tide today—morning outgoing and a solid afternoon incoming, so plan to work those transitions hard, especially near structure and mouths of creeks or channels.
The fishing has been absolutely on fire. The halibut and striped bass bite is as hot as we’ve seen all season. Party and charter reports have boats returning with impressive scores. Out of San Francisco and Berkeley yesterday, the Lovely Martha checked in with 8 halibut and 2 striped bass from a half-day trip, while the Berkeley-based Gatherer II put 10 halibut and 4 stripers on the deck. Emeryville boats like the Pacific Pearl produced 16 halibut and 6 striped bass on short runs. The action for stripers is fast and furious, with plenty of keepers and some real quality fish showing all over the central and south bay channels[1][3][4].
For best results, drift live anchovies or shiners near the bottom for halibut. Artificial swimbaits, white or chartreuse, are also solid choices—especially when the water gets stained. Stripers are hammering trolled deep-diving plugs and live bait, but plenty are being caught on topwater poppers and paddle-tail plastics along the rocks, especially early and late. Bait-wise, pile worms and cut anchovy are hard to beat for both species.
Other species: A few leopard sharks are showing in the mix, mostly as bycatch, and if you want something different, rockfish are steady off the coast with boats out of Half Moon Bay hauling up limits.
For hot spots, try the Berkeley Flats and the Alameda Rockwall for halibut—the fish are stacking up in these areas on the incoming tide. The San Mateo Bridge pilings and nearby flats are also holding both bass and halibut. Early risers working Crissy Field to Fort Point have been rewarded with schoolie stripers on the topwater.
That wraps it up for today. Get out early, drift those edges, and keep the drag light. Tight lines from Artificial Lure.