Event Description: Surf Fishing on Ocean Beach, San Francisco
Event Skill Levels:
- Wading: Moderate to difficult due to waves from the ocean
- Catch Success Rate: Varied
Fish from the beach to catch striped bass and surf perch using a 6-8 wt fly rod and shooting head, sinking lines. See more details below for other types of suggested equipment.
Saturday May 2, 2026.
Cost:
Price: $25.75 (includes 3% credit card fee)
Fishmeister: Jim Knecht
Accommodations and Food:
This is an up and back day trip. Each angler is responsible for their own lunch, snacks and water. The group can decide if they want to have dinner in the area before heading back. Carpooling is recommended.
Gear and Tackle Recommendations:
Suggested Equipment:
Rod: 6-8 weight are acceptable, but if you hook a striper, halibut or big piece of kelp with a 6 weight you could be unhappy. Recommend 9-foot 8 weight.
Line: Use a sinking line, either intermediate or fast sink. Shooting Head T8/11
Leader: Monofilament – 3 to 6 feet of 10 to 20 lb. Fluorocarbon is not needed. Fish in the surf zone are not leader shy.
Flies: Flies with red, orange, or root-beer colors in size 2, 4, 6, or 8 are fine. Orange color flies or Brown San Juan worm. For targeting Stripers, use a baitfish pattern. Evan Praskin Trench Bomb Surf fly.
Other Gear suggestions:
Stripping Basket: Highly recommended. This will help keep the flyline from tangling around your feet and kelp.
Waders with wading belt: I use boot-foot waders because the sand does not get into the boots.
Jacket: Highly recommend a light jacket outside of your waders and buttoned up to the chin, to keep the water from splashing over the top and down your waders. I wear a pull over kayak jacket.
Dress for weather: - could be cold, wet & foggy to warm and sunny and most likely will be windy
Glasses: Either sunglasses or shooting glasses (in low light conditions) to protect your eyes.
PFD – Personal Flotation Device: Required, a good safety feature because the surf will sometimes knock you down. I wear an SOS inflatable vest.
Casting: Cast over the oncoming wave so the line doesn’t hit the face of the wave and get pushed back towards you. Retrieve immediately, as the fish may already be biting and spitting. A good double haul cast will shoot your line 80 feet. To avoid tourists and dogs, check behind you before casting.
Retrieve: A key to catching surf perch is to maintain contact with your fly at all times. This means keeping a tight line with the fly during the retrieve. Get the rod tip down, pointed towards the fly, and either a slow or quick retrieve (experiment with the retrieve until success catching fish), stuffing the fly line into the stripping basket keeps the flyline from snagging on things in the water such as kelp or wading boots. Maintaining direct contact with the fly, allows the angler to feel bite. Set the hook by using a strip set not by raising the flyrod.
Time of day to fish the surf? Early mornings or late evenings, mornings normally are calm without on-shore winds from the ground warming up.
Where to Look: Your primary targets will be redtail, barred and rubber lip perch. Steeply-sloping beaches, particularly ones near stream or river mouths are best. The best perch fishing takes place on days when the surf is small and you should concentrate on the slots that run perpendicular to the beach and troughs and holes that are parallel to the beach.
Look for rips and cast inside the first line of breakers a lot of people make the mistake of casting too far. You may also find them in bays around docks, pilings and warm water outflows.
TVFF Outings protocols are as follows:
· If you are sick with cold/flu symptoms then we ask you to please stay home
· We believe in social distancing and require that all members keep a full fly rod distance of at least 6’ distance between parties
· Everyone will be responsible for making, bringing, and consuming their own separate food and drinks
· Please handle your own gear (and your own fish!) only. No sharing for doctored fish pictures.
TVFF Cancellation Policy:
To sign-up for a TVFF Event that is currently open for registration and chargeable (as set by the Fishmeister), you must both register and pay online within fifteen (15) minutes whatever fee is described for that particular Event (trip) at the time of registration. Cost includes a 3% credit card fee.
Once you are registered, there are no refunds for chargeable Events and trips. In the situation that a member is, for any reason unable to attend, they may resell their registration slot to another TVFF member (by first pulling from the waitlist if one exists). New participants must come first from the waitlist in the order they signed up. The member cancelling is fully and solely responsible for contacting potential members to replace them and notifying the appropriate Fishmeister.
If an event/trip is fully registered and closed to registration, you may still sign up on the Wait List to be notified if there are any cancellations. In such a case of registering provisionally on the Wait List, you do not have to pay until such time that you clear the Wait List and are confirmed for participation.
