Storm weekend: Bay fishing Nov 14-15

Storm weekend: Bay fishing Nov 14-15

No crustacean is worth your life.

Dungeness season opened Saturday, November 7, and boats posted strong catches through Tuesday (details below). This weekend the weather turns dangerous: a storm arrives Friday, and a very large, long-period west swell peaks Saturday. The National Weather Service is forecasting offshore seas of 25 to 30 feet on Saturday and warns that small craft could sustain heavy damage or worse. A High Surf Warning covers our coast from 6 pm Friday through 4 am Sunday.

Stay off the rocks and jetties, well back from the surf, and never turn your back on the ocean. Long-period swells bring deceptive lulls, then rollers that surge much farther up the beach than expected.

The forecast, day by day

Thursday night - Friday, Nov 13: the stormSouth to southwest gale offshore, 25 to 30 knots gusting to 40, with rain. Seas building from 10 to 16 feet. Small Craft Advisories include San Francisco and San Pablo bays Thursday night into Friday morning, south winds 15 to 25 gusting 30 to 34. A Gale Warning upgrade is possible.

Friday night - Saturday, Nov 14: peak swellA very long-period west swell (18 seconds) moves in behind the front. Offshore seas 18 to 26 feet, with the NWS synopsis calling for significant wave heights of 25 to 30 feet across the outer waters Saturday. NWS: 'Small crafts will sustain heavy damage and may not survive in these conditions.'

Sunday, Nov 15: still roughSeas ease only to 10 to 16 feet, with more rain and south winds 15 to 20 knots. Another swell train builds Sunday night (14 to 20 feet). Conditions remain hazardous well beyond the weekend.

On shore: high surf

High Surf Warning6 pm Friday through 4 am Sunday, San Francisco, San Mateo and Santa Cruz county coasts.
Beach Hazards Statement9 pm Wednesday through 6 pm Friday. West-facing surf already 9 to 13 feet Thursday and building.
Why it is dangerousLong-period swell arrives in lulls and sets. Rollers can sweep beaches, rocks and jetties without warning, and big surf on a rising midday tide pushes water higher up the beach than the tide tables suggest.


Tides, Alameda (NOAA station 9414750)

Saturday, Nov 14High 4:08 am (5.0 ft), low 8:46 am (3.6 ft), high 2:03 pm (5.8 ft), low 9:22 pm (0.2 ft).
Sunday, Nov 15High 4:57 am (5.0 ft), low 9:49 am (3.5 ft), high 2:56 pm (5.5 ft), low 10:13 pm (0.4 ft).

Forecasts and catch reports checked Wednesday, November 11, 2026, 9:29-9:33 am PT. Forecasts are predictions, not guarantees, and advisories can be upgraded - recheck before making any plan.

Note on sea heights: NWS offshore zones cover broad areas 10 to 60 nautical miles out; the nearshore point model peaks lower, around 17 feet Saturday - same swell, smaller at that point.

What the boats caught

Lovely Martha, San Francisco
Limits of crab and rockfish on every trip since the Nov 7 opener: Nov 7, 270 crab and 270 rockfish (27 anglers); Nov 8, 250 and 250 (25 anglers); Nov 10, 150 and 150 plus 1 lingcod and 4 bonito (15 anglers).

Sea Wolf, Emeryville
Nov 7 opener: 172 Dungeness crab and limits of 200 rockfish for 20 anglers.

California Dawn, Berkeley
Nov 10: 190 rockfish, 157 Dungeness crab, 1 lingcod and 1 bonito for 19 anglers.

Right Hook
Wrapped its sturgeon season Nov 1 (15 sturgeon on the delta) and moved the boat to Bodega Bay for crab combos.
Happy Hooker, Berkeley
Nov 11 & Nov 10 trip finished with 240 rockfish and 240 Dungeness crab for 24 anglers, with rockfish at the islands 'biting wide open every trip so far,' in their words. Their own site also reports limits of crab for 25 anglers plus crew on the Nov 8 opener weekend.

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