New Year Brings Herring to the Bay

Hope everyone had a great New Years! We’re still looking at some rough conditions due to the rain and storms that have been passing through the area. This weekend is no exception.

On top of that, rockfish season is now closed in our area for the next few months. This is always tough news but there are plenty of ways to keep the bite alive fishing and crabbing. The Bay’s herring spawn is upon us too!

Let’s take a look at the reports and how you can catch your share of herring this season.

As we covered in the last email, crab combo season is now over. Rockfish are now off limits due to current CDFW regulations. Boat reports will pause

Bay Area Tides Social Media Report:

Lake Merced and Sandy Wool Lake were the most recently stocked. Looks like they’ve put a pause on this for now.

Every winter, the Bay gets hit with a highly anticipated event: the herring spawn! Schools of herring show up in numbers and (if we are lucky) stack up along the shoreline with a huge spawn.

If you have never seen it, it is one of the coolest things that happens around this time of year, and it has a massive effect on the Bay’s food chain.

For herring, knowledge is power. These spawns are highly localized and happen quick, with the herring disappearing in just a couple days.

The classic zone is the Central Bay Area. Think the shoreline and structure around Sausalito, Tiburon, Belvedere, and along the edges of Richardson Bay. Anywhere you have protected water, eelgrass, and hard structure that gives the eggs something to stick to is worth a shot.

Some other popular areas include the numbered piers in San Francisco and the Embarcadero. Candlestick and Hunters Point have been productive in past seasons. Anywhere with coves or protected water is going to be a great start.

If you’ve ever seen a bait ball, that’s what you are looking for. You’re going to see birds diving and heavy seal/sea lion activity. It’s definitely hard to miss. The birds are really hard to miss, they will be going crazy.

Unless you want to drive around the Bay looking for the spawns, your best resource is still going to be the human network of Bay Area Anglers. Your local tackle shop should have the scoop, but there are a couple resources online for you too.

Inevitably people will post on Facebook or Instagram when they see a spawn because of how crazy it looks on the surface, fisherman or not. There’s even a dedicated Facebook group for it although I’m not sure how active it is these days.

The Lost Anchovy has a good guide too that goes pretty in depth. I’m sure some updates will be shared here too:

You really only have two methods, sabiki rig or a cast net. Keep it simple: a small Sabiki rig with tiny pieces of shrimp or squid if you need bait, and light line. Fish it mid column, not necessarily pinned to the bottom.

Cast nets are a whole different story, but they are probably the most efficient way to catch herring. Here’s a good YouTube video to explain the technique:

Raining all weekend so be safe and look out for sewage outflow warnings. Conditions are on the rougher side due to the storm. Expect things to get better before next weekend.

These spots are better positioned to be less affected by the poor weather.

*Always check conditions before going out there, this data may no longer be up to date so please be safe

Good luck out there! Stay safe with the storms.