California · Northern California
DUNGENESS CRAB FISHING
IN SAN FRANCISCO
San Francisco is an excellent destination for dungeness crab fishing, with peak season in January, February, December and good catches in March, April, November. Book a charter and target dungeness crab with local experts.
About Dungeness Crab Fishing in San Francisco
The Dungeness crab is the signature crustacean of the Pacific Northwest, found in bays and estuaries from Central California to Alaska. Named after Dungeness, Washington, these sweet-flavored crabs are the backbone of the West Coast crab fishery and are caught recreationally using ring nets and crab pots from shore and boat.
Dungeness Crab are the signature crustacean of the Pacific Northwest, named after the small fishing village of Dungeness on Washington's Olympic Peninsula. These sweet-flavored crabs are found in sandy bays, estuaries, and nearshore waters from Central California to Alaska, where they are caught commercially and recreationally in enormous numbers. Dungeness have a wide, fan-shaped carapace that is purplish-brown on top and cream-yellow underneath. They are considered the finest-eating crab species in North America, with sweet, tender white meat that requires minimal seasoning.
Scientific name: Metacarcinus magister
Dungeness Crab Seasonal Calendar — San Francisco
Month-by-month availability for dungeness crab in San Francisco, CA.
How to Catch Dungeness Crab in San Francisco
Techniques & Bait
Recreational crabbing with ring nets or collapsible crab pots baited with chicken, fish carcasses, or turkey legs is the most popular method. Deploy pots in sandy bays, eelgrass beds, and channels in 10-60 feet of water. Check pots every 20-30 minutes for ring nets or every few hours for enclosed pots. Pier and dock crabbing with hoop nets is accessible from shore in many bays. Some anglers catch Dungeness by hand while snorkeling or wading at low tide. Kayak crabbing is growing in popularity.
Recommended Tackle
Crab ring nets, hoop nets, or collapsible crab pots with proper state tags. Heavy line (80-200 lb) for retrieving pots from depth. Crab gauge for measuring legal-size crabs (minimum 5.75-6.25 inches across the carapace depending on state). Bait: chicken legs, fish carcasses, clams. Rubber bands for handling — Dungeness have powerful pinching claws.
Best Inshore Fishing Spots in San Francisco
Top spots where local captains target dungeness crab and other inshore species.
San Francisco Bay Flats
San Francisco Bay's expansive shallow flats along the south and central bay hold leopard shark, halibut, striped bass, and bat ray over sandy and muddy bottom. The bay's enormous tidal exchange creates productive current seams along channel edges where predators ambush baitfish swept by the flow.
Golden Gate Bridge Pilings
The massive pilings and underwater structure of the Golden Gate Bridge create current breaks in the powerful tidal flow, attracting striped bass, halibut, and rockfish to the deep channel beneath the span. Fishing the ebb tide as baitfish flush from the bay through the gate is a legendary San Francisco technique.
Crissy Field Beach
Crissy Field Beach inside the Golden Gate offers shore-casting for striped bass, surfperch, and jacksmelt from a sandy beach with the Golden Gate Bridge as a backdrop. The beach's position near the gate means strong tidal currents push baitfish along the shore, drawing in stripers during summer and fall.
Berkeley Flats
The Berkeley Flats along the East Bay shoreline are a renowned leopard shark and bat ray fishery where anglers wade or kayak the shallow mud and sand flats during summer months. Halibut patrol the slightly deeper channels adjacent to the flats, and the area is one of the most accessible inshore fisheries in the entire bay.
Other Species in San Francisco
More fish you can target while visiting San Francisco.
Dungeness Crab Fishing in San Francisco — FAQ
The peak months for Dungeness Crab fishing in San Francisco are January, February, December. During these months, Dungeness Crab are most active and abundant in the San Francisco area.
Dungeness Crab fishing charters in San Francisco are typically inshore trips. Prices vary by trip duration and group size. Most charters include all gear, bait, licenses, and fish cleaning.
Recreational crabbing with ring nets or collapsible crab pots baited with chicken, fish carcasses, or turkey legs is the most popular method. Deploy pots in sandy bays, eelgrass beds, and channels in 10-60 feet of water. Check pots every 20-30 minutes for ring nets or every few hours for enclosed pots. Pier and dock crabbing with hoop nets is accessible from shore in many bays. Some anglers catch Dungeness by hand while snorkeling or wading at low tide. Kayak crabbing is growing in popularity.
No — when you book a charter in San Francisco, your captain provides all required California fishing licenses as part of the trip.
Dungeness Crab regulations in California include minimum size limits and bag limits that vary by season. Your captain will know the current regulations and ensure compliance.
While targeting Dungeness Crab in San Francisco, you may also catch Rockfish, Chinook Salmon, Lingcod, Pacific Halibut, Albacore Tuna. Many charter trips target multiple species for the best action.
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