Hi’s Tackle Box | Fishing San Francisco Bay & Northern California Articles, Tips & Information

As certain as gravity taking hold, you cannot avoid hooking sharks in our bay waters especially if you put your bait on the bottom. And barring any major intrusions of fresh water via storms it’s a rare piece of bay bottom that does not have some type of local shark in residence.

The more common sharks of our bay include: the brown smooth hound, spiny dogfish, and leopard shark. Much larger species include: the seven-gill and soup fin, however, this column will concentrate on the smaller more abundant species.

And abundant they are. Once the boat is anchored up and a scent trail established typical of predators keyed on a free food source the action can be fast and furious. The larger brown smooth hounds and spiny dogfish will give a decent fight on lighter tackle, but the leopards are something else.

They run with speed and power rivaling that of a striped bass, and they have surprising endurance, which means it will take some sweat to bring one to boat side. But you’ll sweat even more because it’s not uncommon to get double and even triple hookups as a pack of its hungry siblings move in. If you’re an adrenaline addict and what angler isn’t, sharking will definitely keep one on a natural high all day.
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While they will not rate a second glance or pin you to the rail during a fight, nonetheless sand dabs have other qualities that makes them worth going after. Besides being willing biters, and no limit to worry about, they’re a perfect dinner combination to add with freshly boiled Dungeness crab.

Deep fried and with the right mix of seasoning, sand dabs melt in your mouth like tasty potato chips, and just thinking about it gets my salivary glands all worked up. Angling for sand dabs fills in that void when nothing else is going on, and it’s a lot of fun, and it’s also a perfect way to coordinate a combo trip.

When conditions are ideal and the seas flat, we’ll drop our string of crab pots, and then go sand dabbing. And in practically all cases where you drop the pots the sand dabs will be there as well. You couldn’t ask for a more perfect setup. Keep reading →

With the start of the new year, another cycle begins anew that is eagerly awaited by sport anglers. Forming a vital food base like our anchovies, herring migrate into the bay. First they come in small unpredictable spurts, but once the buildup gets too big for the dam to hold back, huge schools of these shiny fish flood the shallows to spawn.

Herring spawn throughout much of the bay system during the winter season, and this act of procreation itself feeds numerous marine predators. As the male and female herring crowd the shallows, and then release their milt and their sticky eggs, these oily protein rich fish are vulnerable to seal lions, harbor seals, sharks and marine birds.

The spawning cycle is a unique event when you realize it still takes place at our urban doorstep, and if you’re lucky enough to be on the scene, the water will be discolored a murky white from spawning activity, and the scent can be strong enough to be picked up by the human nose. At the same time you can see the flashing silver glints of amorous fish.

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I can’t think of a better way to end the season and begin the holiday festivities by sitting down with family and friends and having a hot steaming plate of freshly boiled Dungeness crab.

Indigenous to the San Francisco coastline and bay, this crusty bottom curmudgeon prefers a sandy floor plan from just outside the surf line to relatively deep water where currents can also be strong. Here it roams, scavenging on just about anything it can find.

Remarkably, despite its salty character the flesh of the Dungeness is the opposite. Its hard shell stores a white succulent flesh that is sweet, and one that goes well with any number of home recipes and dishes. It is little wonder why eating these crabs has become a popular holiday tradition for many families.

Dungeness crab can be found along the length of our rugged coastline but in our region of immediate interest, luckily there is fertile ground loaded with crabs, and most can be reached by boat in a relatively short time.

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Do you feel like you’re ready to go into deep hibernation after indulging on too many holiday sweets? Most of us fit into that category and once you get into the couch potato mode its hard to get motivated for anything. But for those interested in losing calories, and reinvigorating the soul, I can’t think of a better and cheaper way to do that then by walking the suds for the feisty surfperch.

Walking the beach and having the salt breeze in your face is such a wonderful tonic for the mind and spirit, and it gets better when you feel a scrappy perch thumping on the end of your line.Fortunately, encountering the surfperch is not some elusive event.There are numerous species of surfperch that live along our bay and coastline, and so the chances of hooking up are very good.

Surfperch are prolific breeders and their numbers are healthy. When you hit a productive stretch of water the action can be fast and steady. Equally positive most of our beaches are parallel to public roads and highways, providing easy access, so if your time is limited to early morning or evening, you can still make a quick jaunt out, hook a couple of fish, and head to work with a smile on your face.

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Having a solid foundation and proper footwork are essential in many sports and without it an individual cannot execute the task properly. Whether swinging on a moving target with a shotgun, or putting the fly on a distant target, without firm footwork it cannot be done, and the same holds true when you have to hit a biting sturgeon at the right moment.

Unfortunately, a lot of newcomers either set too soon or too late on that critical part of the strike, and more often than not those empty swishes with the rod can be attributed to a combination of bad footwork and an unstable foundation.

Unlike solid ground H20 makes for a highly unstable platform, and one that is extremely difficult to stabilize if it can be done at all. Varying degrees of wind strength and direction will change the water complexion, and if currents are traveling in an opposing direction, that translates into a bumpy platform for the boating angler. As can be expected you’re footwork will not be good either.

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Just as seasonal rains rejuvenate the land sparking new growth and thus benefiting local wildlife, heavy rains and flooding jumpstarts life on San Pablo Bay. Besides flushing the bay clean the additional push of freshwater acts as a huge conveyor belt and hitching on for a free ride is the ancient white sturgeon. If the storms also coincide with strong tides, like a swift kick to the rear end, it further speeds the white sturgeon’s southerly movement into San Pablo Bay.

Interestingly enough, this migration is not one big wave, but rather short pulses of transient commuters that eventually fan out across the bay. As a wonderful consequence, there can be different populations of fish spread throughout the San Pablo. That of course provides more opportunities for the boating angler.

Although its muddy face will never grace the front of a post card, the San Pablo is vital for visiting sturgeon. Serving as both a catching and feeding basin, the San Pablo’s open flats are loaded with tons of grazing fodder, and so it’s no surprise why sturgeon congregate here.

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Grubbing for surf perch has become very popular in the last few years and no wonder! Surf perch are generally available year round. They are scrappy little battlers and delicious on the table. The tackle required is simple and easy to rig. Beach access is usually free. What better excuse is there for spending a couple of hours knee deep in salt water?

Rods, Reels, Line
For most people spinning tackle is the easiest and most simple to use. It can be as effective as conventional tackle, but without the annoying problems of backlashing. The ideal rod for most grubbing is an eight to nine foot rod, medium heavy to heavy power steelhead rod. However, when the surf is running heavy, some will opt for a nine foot light surf rod. These rods should be matched with salt water resistant reels capable of holding 150-250 yards of 10-20 lb. test monofilament line.

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An old Jewish neighbor of mine had a favorite expression he’d pass on to me after watching me struggle with yet another project. He’d watch me for a while, he’d stroke his grizzled beard, and then he’d say, “Don’t work harder, my son, work smarter!”

And so it’s been like that through my life; when confronted with a job that seems to be more work than it should be; I’d figure out a way to do it more easily. Fishing is no different, if you can make it easier on yourself, go for it! Nowadays, with most people finding it harder to fit in any free time for the more important things in life (like fishing), it pays to maximize the experience while minimizing the time spent. This is sometimes referred to as “high percentage fishing” .

All the fish in San Francisco Bay respond one way or another to the ever changing tides and currents that run through the bay. By learning the best tides and currents to fish for your targeted species, you can plan the optimal days to fish months ahead of time, thereby freeing up all those non-productive days to get stuff done around the house (or the car, or the boat, or the office, or whatever).

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Longtime readers know of my fondness for catching rockfish and therefore can imagine my excitement as July draws near and I can dust off my shallow water jigging tackle!

Much more than the fact that rockfish fight really well (they don’t) and are particularly hard to catch (they aren’t) is that I never know what will jump on my lure … will it be a china rockfish? Will it be a big red?

Will it even be a rockfish? My record books show that I have caught striped bass, halibut, salmon, calico bass, bay spotted bass, Catalina blue perch, greenlings, sculpin, various weird eel type critters, and even a bowling ball sized rock while vertically jigging for rockfish

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