Today's best fishing in San Francisco: 9 AM to 12 PM
This page is full of real data to show you what you can see with ReelCaster in San Francisco.
The next 14 days in San Francisco
Data from: ECMWF + GFS + BlueCasterTwo weeks ahead
Most forecasts stop at the weekend. This one runs a full 14 days, so you can pick the day before you book the time off.
One number, out of 100
The best score anything in San Francisco reaches that day. Green is good, amber is fair, red is slow, and you can read it from across the room.
3,024 scores behind it
9 spots, every hour of every day, out to 14. This row is the best of them.
Hour by hour today at Old Alameda Point
All times PDTOne real spot
A city has no tide or wind of its own, so this is Old Alameda Point, the most fished mark in San Francisco, scored for California Halibut.
Six readings, one clock
Tide, current, wind, sea, air and sky, all lined up on the same hour, so you can see what is actually driving the score.
Currents, not just tides
Modelled flow for the water off San Francisco, so you can see slack coming before you leave the dock.
The spots people actually fish in San Francisco
3 more on the mapA year of catch reports
The order here is how much each mark actually gets fished, not today's guess. The busiest water in San Francisco comes first.
Today's number too
Beside each name is the best score that spot reaches today, so you can weigh a proven mark against a good forecast.
Every mark has a page
Its own chart, its own species and its own rules, worked out the same way as everything above.
- 82Old Alameda PointKnown markBest 9 AM–12 PM · Mid flood · Light ripple · Mud bottom
- 78Dillon PointKnown markBest 9 AM–12 PM · Mid flood · Light ripple · Rock reef
- 74Hump 1.4 km NE of Rincon PointKnown markBest 8 AM–11 AM · Early flood · Chop · Rock reef
- 74Hump 1.6 km NE of Rincon PointKnown markBest 8 AM–11 AM · Early flood · Chop · Rock reef
- 70Point AvisaderoKnown markBest 9 AM–12 PM · Mid flood · Chop · Rock reef
- 70Hump 0.9 km SE of Lime PointKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Early flood · Chop · Rock reef
Every spot we score in San Francisco
Bathymetry: NONNA-10 + NRCanReal charted seabed
Depth soundings, not a stock map. The banks, reefs and drop-offs are where you can see them.
9 marks, all scored
Every spot we cover around San Francisco, each one carrying its own number for today.
Point at any of them
The name, how busy a mark it is, and the tide, sea and seabed at its best hour.
Create custom spots
Our full model on your custom private spots.
- Drop a pinAnywhere on the water. The ledge you found, the bay nobody talks about.
- Name itYour name for it, not ours. It stays private to your account.
- Choose speciesPick what you fish there, and it starts scoring from the next run.
What you can keep in San Francisco today
- LingcodKeep2 a day · min 22"Open at all 8 spots we cover
- California HalibutKeep2 a day · min 22"Open at all 6 spots we cover
- Striped BassKeep2 a day · min 18"Open at all 3 spots we cover
- CabezonKeep10 a dayOpen at all 1 spot we cover
- Chinook SalmonClosedShut at all 9 spots we cover
- Blue RockfishClosedShut at all 4 spots we cover
- Black RockfishClosedShut at all 4 spots we cover
Rules differ between groundfish management areas and change in season. Check CDFW for the groundfish management area you are fishing before you keep anything.
That was one day. Pro opens the next fourteen.
Every spot on this map, hour by hour, two weeks out, with alerts when your water crosses the score you set.
$0 today, then $33 USD a year, which is $2.75 a month. Card required, cancel any time.
When to fish San Francisco
Each row is shaded against that species' own best month here, so a dark cell means a good month for that fish rather than a comparison between them.
| Species | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinook Salmon | ||||||||||||
| Lingcod | ||||||||||||
| California Halibut | ||||||||||||
| Striped Bass | ||||||||||||
| Blue Rockfish | ||||||||||||
| Black Rockfish | ||||||||||||
| Cabezon |
Chinook Salmon: January none, February none, March good, April peak, May peak, June peak, July peak, August peak, September good, October none, November none, December none. Lingcod: January fair, February good, March good, April fair, May fair, June fair, July fair, August good, September good, October good, November good, December good. California Halibut: January none, February poor, March good, April excellent, May peak, June excellent, July peak, August peak, September good, October fair, November none, December none. Striped Bass: January none, February poor, March poor, April none, May poor, June excellent, July peak, August peak, September peak, October excellent, November poor, December none. Blue Rockfish: January fair, February fair, March fair, April good, May good, June excellent, July excellent, August good, September good, October fair, November fair, December fair. Black Rockfish: January fair, February fair, March good, April good, May good, June excellent, July excellent, August good, September good, October fair, November fair, December fair. Cabezon: January fair, February fair, March fair, April good, May good, June good, July fair, August fair, September good, October fair, November fair, December good.
- Chinook Salmon. Chinook staging in the Gulf of the Farallones and off SF build through spring as ocean feeding intensifies, peaking mid-June through August when mature fish concentrate before their fall spawning migration up the Sacramento system. Abundance drops sharply September–October as fish enter the bay and rivers, leaving offshore waters largely empty through winter with only a scattered residual presence.
- Lingcod. Lingcod are resident bottomfish present year-round on SF Bay Area reefs and rocky structure, so abundance never hits zero. The strongest concentrations occur in fall (Sep–Nov) when post-spawn adults and recruits are aggressive and dense on nearshore reefs, with a secondary late-winter/early-spring bump as mature males move shallow to guard nest sites (Dec–Mar); a summer softening reflects fish holding deeper in warmer, less productive surface conditions.
- California Halibut. California halibut move into San Francisco Bay and nearshore areas as water warms, with a strong spring spawning influx (Mar–May) peaking in early summer as bait like anchovies flood the bay; a secondary late-summer/early-fall peak (Aug–Sep) reflects warm water and abundant forage before fish disperse to deeper, cooler water in winter.
- Striped Bass. Striped bass stage a spring migration up through SF Bay toward the Delta spawning grounds (roughly March-May), producing an early peak, then a strong fall peak (Sept-Nov) as fish return bayward chasing anchovy and herring before dispersing to deeper channels and the Delta over winter, keeping some year-round presence in the estuary.
- Blue Rockfish. Blue Rockfish are resident, non-migratory reef dwellers around San Francisco's nearshore rocky structure and remain present year-round, so abundance stays broadly stable with no true biological zeros. Peak local density occurs late spring through summer (roughly May–August) when upwelling drives plankton and baitfish over the reefs and adults aggregate in shallower water, tapering modestly in winter as fish disperse to slightly deeper, calmer holds during storm-driven swells.
- Black Rockfish. Black rockfish are resident, non-migratory reef dwellers off San Francisco, so they're present year-round with only modest seasonal variation. Abundance peaks in summer (July–September) when upwelling drives baitfish concentrations and fish move shallower into accessible nearshore reefs, with a gradual winter lull as fish disperse into deeper water during storm-driven swells.
- Cabezon. Cabezon are resident, non-migratory ambush predators on SF's rocky reefs and kelp edges, so they're present year-round with only gentle seasonal variation. The strongest peak reflects the spring nest-guarding period (males aggressively defend egg masses from ~March–May) plus a secondary late-summer bump as young-of-year recruit and adults feed heavily; winter shows a mild dip during colder water and post-spawn dispersal.
Before you go
Water around San Francisco falls into 2 areas, and the rules can differ between them. California Department of Fish and Wildlife sets them.
- San Francisco
- SF Bay
Fishing San Francisco
San Francisco sits at the mouth of its namesake bay, where the Pacific meets a maze of channels, shoals, and rocky outcrops fanning out toward the Golden Gate. Chinook Salmon lead the fishery from April through September, with California Halibut running strong from April into August and Lingcod holding through late winter and again from August into fall. The 40 spots here range from sheltered inside waters around the bay's islands and points to more exposed rocks and shoals nearer the open coast. Anglers work the salmon primarily by trolling, following the fish as they move through the deeper channels during the warmer months. The heart of the season falls across spring and summer, though the rockfish and lingcod grounds extend productive fishing into the shoulder months on either side.