Summer Stripers and Halibut Heat Up the Bay: Your Early June Fishing Guide

Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your San Francisco Bay fishing report. We’re sitting on a mild early‑summer pattern around the Bay. National Weather Service marine forecasts call for morning low clouds, clearing to hazy sun mid‑day, with highs in the low 60s along the water and a west wind building to 10–20 knots by afternoon. According to NWS tide tables for the Golden Gate, we’ve got a decent mid‑morning incoming and a strong afternoon outgoing, which should light up the bite on the edges of the channels and current seams. Sunrise is right around 5:45 a.m., sunset near 8:30 p.m., giving you a long window to work those tides. Striped bass have been the headliner. Local party boats and pier regulars have been reporting solid schoolie action with a mix of keeper‑size fish. Most of the recent counts have been in the “steady pick” category—nothing insane, but plenty of bass if you move around and fish the current. South Bay shorelines, the Oakland side, and the flats around Alameda have all kicked out fish. Berkeley Flats and Crissy Field have also given up some nicer models for the folks who stick it out through the wind. Best producers for stripers have been **soft‑plastic swimbaits** in natural baitfish colors—think 4–5 inch paddle tails in sardine, anchovy, or smelt patterns—slow‑rolled just off the bottom on the incoming. Topwater has had its moments at first light: pencil poppers and walking baits in bone or chrome when the birds are working and bait is up. At night and in stained water, try darker plugs and 5–7 inch glide baits around lit structure, bridge pilings, and marina mouths. Live anchovies, bullheads, or mudsuckers under a sliding sinker rig are still money if you’re soaking bait from shore or anchored up. Halibut have been quietly consistent more than wide‑open. Recent private‑boat and charter chatter has put most of the better fish on the **drifted live bait**—anchovies and herring—along the shipping channel edges, from the Berkeley Pier line down toward the South Bay, and around Treasure Island and Angel Island. Drifting dead bait—tray herring or cured anchovies—still works if you keep it moving just off the bottom. For artificials, 3–4 ounce jigheads with 5–6 inch paddletails or hoochies in white, glow, or root beer are doing damage when worked slow and steady in 20–40 feet. Leopard sharks and bat rays are keeping things interesting in the back bays and mud flats. Use squid strips or oily baits like mackerel on simple fish‑finder rigs. Great option if you’ve got kids or just want steady action on a lazy tide. For you lure junkies, pack: - 4–5 inch paddle tails in sardine, anchovy, and dark shad - 1/2 to 1 ounce jigheads - A couple of pencil poppers and walking baits in bone/chrome - 5–6 inch white or glow swimbaits for halibut on the drift For bait anglers, best bets: - Live anchovies or shiners from the local bait receivers when available - Squid and mackerel strips for sharks and rays - Anchovies, sardines, or herring cut baits on hi‑low or sliding rigs A couple of current hot spots to aim at: - **Berkeley Flats / Shipping Channel Edge**: Drifting for halibut along the drop‑off has been steady, with bonus schoolie stripers on the same drifts when the tide is moving. - **Crissy Field to Fort Point**: Early‑morning and evening striper action on swimbaits and topwater when the birds are up and the current’s pushing bait along the beach and rock line. Fish the slower water pockets and seams rather than the full rip. As always, watch the wind forecast, keep an eye on that afternoon blow, and respect the currents around the Gate and bridge zones. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a Bay report. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai. Great deals on fishing gear https://amzn.to/44gt1Pn