Emeryville fishes two programs out of one marina on the east shore of San Francisco Bay. Inside the Gate: striped bass, California halibut, and seasonal sturgeon up at San Pablo Bay. Outside, 30 miles west: rockfish, lingcod, and salmon at the Farallon Islands. The fleet runs out of Fish Emeryville, the operator that has worked the Emeryville Marina for decades.
The harbor
Emeryville Marina sits on filled land jutting into the Bay; the breakwater pier opened in 1979. Safe Harbor Emeryville operates the public marina with wet slips for vessels 25 to 80 feet, a 24-hour fuel dock, and a launch ramp. Fish Emeryville's sportfishing dock sits on the south side, with quick access to both the Bay-mouth halibut/striper grounds and the Farallon Islands offshore run.
Grounds
The grounds split inside-Bay and outside-Gate. Inside, the Berkeley Flats sit minutes from the marina for halibut and striped bass; the Bar Channel between Oakland and San Francisco produces halibut, striped bass, rockfish, and cabezon; and San Pablo Bay to the north is the sturgeon ground. Outside, the Farallon Islands lie 30 miles past the Golden Gate, inside the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary — the long local rockfish and lingcod run. The route crosses the Potato Patch, a several-square-mile shallow reef at the northern edge of the San Francisco Bar where depths run 23–36 feet and a west wind turns the sea state nasty in a hurry.
Regulations
The Farallons sit inside the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary, which covers 3,295 square miles around the islands. Sport fishing under California Department of Fish and Wildlife rules is permitted in most of the sanctuary; specific year-round closures protect seabird and pinniped colonies on Southeast Farallon Island.
Getting there
Access is straightforward. Interstate 80 runs through Emeryville and feeds the MacArthur Maze, where I-880 and I-580 split off. The climate is Mediterranean and fog-influenced, comparable to Oakland — mild summers, mild winters, minimal weather closure on the calendar.
