Surf Fishing for Stripers off the California Coast

People flock to the California Coast in the summer. Some to escape the heat, some in search of good waves, some to fish in the surf and some to photograph any of the 1,200 miles of inspiring coastline. I happened to be doing the latter. The hour before sunset typically creates the most dramatic light along the Pacific Coast and draws photographers like myself to the shore in a mass migration.

Surf Fishing for Striper south of San Francisco California

Another migration was also taking place just off shore. Large numbers of striped bass were swimming out of the San Francisco Estuary into the Pacific Ocean in late spring. 2015 happened to a larger than average migration. Stripers, the common name for striped bass, migrate to the ocean for one main reason – to feed on the bounty of pelagic fish such as anchovies. When they start feeding on pelagics, fishing from the beaches of San Francisco all the way south to Half Moon Bay can be successful. News of good fishing travels fast in these days of digital media and it’s pretty easy to tell when the stripers are biting – fishing rods out number surfboards near the water.

Angler with Large Adult Striper caught in the surf south of San Francisco

The other clue that stripers might be feeding nearby is the sight of diving brown pelicans, gulls and terns. When pelicans and terns are crashing into the water, it’s easy to imagine stripers herding and chasing bait to the surface. The huge schools of anchovies look like a black blob stretching for hundreds of yards just beyond the shore break. I’ve witnessed porpoises and seals also join the feeding frenzy and the water just boils with activity.

The evening the photograph was taken, I shared the small beach with three fishermen, one surfer, and a dog. Setting up my tripod in the sand, I scouted the horizon. My focus was on the warm colors and diffused light and much less on signs of feeding marine life. But as a fisherman myself, I kept watching the guys fishing the surf in anticipation of a hook-up. As the sun started to set on the horizon I captured one of the guys casting out into the surf as the waves unfurled at his feet. I managed to get only a few more photographs as the sun dropped and the sky darkened.

Fishing for California Striper along the beaches south of San Francisco can be effective

It’s common these days for someone to say, You’re golden. I take that statement to mean – you have everything you need. That’s also the statement I would apply to that evening on the beach. Not only did I capture the color and light a photographer lives for, I witnessed a complex marine ecosystem providing for a variety of its members. Yes, even one of the guys on the beach scored dinner! Just as I was about to break down my tripod and pack up the camera, the angler in the photograph hooked into a nice striped bass (pictured above).

Now that’s my definition of surf fishing in a golden state!