Hey guys, new to the forum Ive been fishing a ton of times with my dad and uncles on piers way back in the day, and decided to pickup the hobby again. I remember we used to go out and fish all night so I invited a bunch of friends to come hang out and share the experience.

A night of fishing and crabbing turned into a night of driving up the coast -_- We started out at half moon bay but the pier/harbor had signs all over saying no fishing. We were there at 12am Friday night. So we headed up to pacifica to see if we can do some fishing off of the pier. Once we got there the gates were closed. To try and salvage the night we drove to SF pier. We got there around 2am and to no surprise the gates were also closed.

So a fun night down the drain. I wanted to redeem myself and ask you guys if there is anywhere we could go late at night to fish + crab in the bay area.

You can fish Pillar Point Pier in Half Moon Bay. From Highway 1 simply take the Pillar Point Harbor turnoff and follow the road down to the main parking lot. This pier is to the far right of the parking lot. You can also fish the HMB jetty at night but I personally wouldn't recommend it. It can get dangerous at night especially when the surf is up. By the way, there is no take on dungeness crab inside SF bay. Also, I would suggest that you obtain a crab guage if you are crabbing.

Thanks, we do have a crab gauge and found out about the no taking dungeness from the SF bay. Is this pillar point here off of princton ave? Do you know if they close at pier at all?

http://maps.google.com/maps?oe=utf-8&cl ... 10986&z=17

No crabbing i know of butttttttttt, you can go to Coyote Point in Redwood Shores area, an launch some squid into the water for leopard sharks and bat rays. The rays pull like hell fire! Also the by the San Mateo Bridge is good.

Moto-
When is a good time to fish Coyote point for rays and sharks? I'm new to the area and have been out there a few times trying for Dinos but to now avail. I just want to hook onto something. Thanks

To be honest i never really narrowed it down to tides or season. Some guys i used to work with, we'd go out after work during spring into summer when it was tolerable temperature i remember. We usually didn't get there until dusk and then fished a couple hours. It seemed coyote point was better for the Leopards and 3rd street which is the exit before was good for rays. There is a park type thing with a concrete path off of 3rd, with a nice little pull out leading to it. We would drive a mile or two but before the bridge turn around and the light and there was a pull out right there.

For the rig from top to bottom it was 20lb Fluorescent green line, with a slydo (that plastic tube you hook a weight to) with a 3oz pyramid weight on it tied to a leader rig with a barrel swivel, crimped onto steel braided leader, with two 6/0 octopus hooks crimped onto that and some thawed squid. Bring a six pack and just hang out. There bound to hit. If you want to meet up or head out together or somethin let me know. I haven't been out there in dayssssssssssss.

bat rays usually move from the bay and out to the coastal beaches during the winter. they don't like all the freshwater runoff from the rivers during this time, and make their return to the bay from spring through fall. you can fish for them on a sliding rig with 15-30 lb. mono, or with a steel leader if you wish. three way rigs and hi-lo rigs will also work. they will eat almost anything on the sea floor: squid, anchovies, sardines, mackerel, human corpses, tractor tires, etc. although you can catch them almost anytime and any tide, they will bite more readily during the slack period or smaller series of tides. i assume you will be practicing catch and release with these things because they are considered a trash fish. try fishing with a circle hook so that they are hooked in the corner of the mouth and don't swallow the hook, to ensure a good release. please don't cut off the stinger/tail (i hate it when people do that ). there is no need to do so if handed properly.

i'd be down for a trip for some leopard sharks or batrays. its been a long time since i've gone fishing for those. where exactly is coyote point?

Redwood city...just past the san mateo bridge.