Tackle Shops in San Francisco

San Francisco's old tackle trade has thinned to a handful of shops, and the ones that remain each fill a distinct niche. Gus' Discount Fishing Tackle, on Balboa Street in the Outer Richmond, is described by local press (SF Senior Beat, February 2026) as the city's last general tackle shop — a family-run store that has stayed in the same family for more than 60 years, stocking rods, reels, bait, and the crab traps and nets that San Francisco anglers lean on through the winter Dungeness season. It is open Monday through Saturday, 8 AM to 5 PM, and closed Sundays. Down at Fisherman's Wharf, Frank's Fisherman has run as a chandlery and maritime store since 1946, carrying recreational fishing tackle, lures, terminal gear, and frozen bait alongside its marine supplies and nautical goods; it keeps weekday hours, 7 AM to 3 PM. A short walk away at Pier 47, J & P Bait is the wharf's live-bait dock, putting out live anchovies for the bay and nearshore fleet through the warmer months.

The fishing splits between the bay and the ocean outside the Golden Gate. Inside San Francisco Bay, anglers work striped bass, California halibut, white sturgeon, and leopard shark, with halibut and stripers best from spring through fall and sturgeon a winter-into-spring target. Outside the Gate and out toward the Farallon Islands, the boats chase Chinook salmon when the season is open, plus rockfish and lingcod under California's groundfish rules, and Dungeness crab through the winter. San Francisco's party and charter boats run from the Fisherman's Wharf landings.

Select a shop or scroll the map to find the one closest to where you'll fish.

Shops in San Francisco

San Francisco on the map