I've never fished pacifica pier....or any CA coastal piers before actually. What kind of rig do I want and what bait do I use? Which end of the pier?!

I'm interested in: Stripers, Halibut, Surf Perch, Salmon, Lingcod(very), and anything else tasty. I will be fishing from about 10 til 4.




Also! I would like to try crabbing for the first time. I read the regs and I get the basics of it. I've seen these crab nets around and I can't see how they would work.



It seems like when you pull the net up, the crabs would just scurry off the net. What do you guys think about these nets? I've heard of people using those cubed crab snares/rod combos. Which do you think is better for this pier? Looking for some DUNGIES! Thanks.

IMHO, you can bring the crab net in case catching some big fish but not for crabbing.
The undercurrent at Pacifica Pier is so strong that it is easy to make your net tangled with the pillars.
If you want to do some crabbing, go crab snare/rod combo.

crabbing season is going on right now...hit the end of the peir with a surf rod and a snair you will catch....I heard they caught a striper there a few weeks ago. So if you are going to do that...go on the beginning of the peir (where the 3rd breaking water of the waves)..cast out a spider weight and ancor it, then clip on a bobber with atleast 10-15ft leader with an 1oz. egg singer, swivel, and a 4ft leader for your 2/0 hook. If you get your hands on some shiners, or any type of saltwater live bait..your chances are greater. If not, Frozen trey anchovies. Then clip and slide the bobber down your main line. Another way...3 way rig, and dig up some sand crabs and fish the begining of the peir on the first breakin water.....striper or perch will eat it...... GOOD LUCK! confused? go to either rusty hook or coastside tackle, they are literally walkin distance from the peir.

What do I use for crab bait? Will frozen shrimps work okay?

Go with squid & sardines. works great.

squid and sardines really do work great....if you use shrimp, you will reel in empty snairs everytime

Surf was outrageous at Pacifica on friday. They didn't let anyone on the pier. Went to HMB instead and tried Squid and Anchovies (together)


Didn't catch a thing. Guys using crab nets caught some decent red rock crabs. I don't know how much faith I have in these snares. I'll bring them to pacifica on sunday in case they work there and not HMB for some reason but I'm bringing a net too.

is it your first time using the snares? not doubting you or anything, but it may have been possible you weren't using it properly perhaps. the first time i used snares, I didn't pull in much, because I wasn't reeling in enough slack before giving the rod a good hookset (though there is no hook in this case), so more often than not, I did not snag a crab on the snare. also, if the rod your using doesn't have enough backbone, that could also contribute to that. I figure if people were pulling in at least rock crabs on the nets, you should have been able to get something on that snare, but who knows. maybe next time, keep at it.

Maybe it was the snare I was using. The snares themselves were made of "weed eater" line. I just bought a crabnet and another snare but this one has snares that are made of monofilament line and I can feel that these are much more sensitive and more likely to snare a crab than the previous snare.

Hahahha I was at Pacifica this Saturday and I was snaring for crab. Didn't catch anything but that wasn't the funny part. I had my box of frozen squid on the floor next to my lunch box and tacklebox and I turned around to fish the other side of the pier. Looked around 10 minutes later and my squidbox was gone.


I can't believe some pathetic loser stole my squid. It wasn't a gull because the box was too heavy for a bird to have taken it. Careful with your stuff guys. There are some pathetic sketchy people out there.

sucks man...it is pathetic that someone would steal your bait. i usually try to keep my personal belongings hidden/tucked away or with me at all times. never really worried about leaving my box of bait around as everyone else does as well.

dude/s! i'd say it was a 'gull! or possibly a pelican.

i've had my lunch and bait taken from my tackle duffle bag! on one occassion, i noticed it in time and i tried to shoo the 'gull away, but it had my entire bait bag (frozen squid, shrimp, pile worms, etc.) in its beak already and flew away. luckily another 'gull came and tried to swoop on it and it dropped the bag in mid air! haha

Didn't see any pelicans that day.

Going to hit up pacifica again this weekend and use the trout guts/heads that I got and chicken. Hopefully the waves aren't too high this time.

Good luck ender ! Post yer report!