Welcome to Half Moon BaySportfishing
Join us for world class sportfishing and nature trips
January Shop Update
ROCKFISH: The recreational rockfishing season for boats is now closed through the end of March. We expect the 2025 season to be similar to what we had in 2024 but we'll get confirmation at the next federal/state fishery meeting in March.
SALMON: There was no ocean salmon fishing anywhere in California in 2023 and 2024 as the seasons were closed for two years in a row as not enough spawners were able to get to the spawning grounds. As long as all goes as planned, salmon fishing will hopefully open on Saturday, April 5, 2025 with a 24" minimum two fish limit off our coastline. We should find out whether this will happen or not after the federal/state fishery meeting in March. It all depends on the number of salmon that are counted returning up the rivers to spawn. Fingers crossed!
AROUND THE HARBOR: Perch have shown up along the coastline, and there's still some bait around the harbor at times. Lots of folks are enjoying catching both rock and dungeness crab off the fishing pier inside the harbor as well as on the jetty. If you're interested in monkeyface eel, there's loads of them available hidden in the jetty rocks for poke-pole anglers.
QUEEN OF HEARTS TRIPS: The Queen of Hearts is off for annual maintenance and to give the crew a break until the fishing seasons reopen in April. They may offer non-fishing trips by mid-February.
CRAB: The commercial dungeness crab season finally opened and the sales off the docks are in full swing. Last I heard it was around $12 a pound. Don't forget to bring a bucket or ice chest to put them in your vehicle...and we have 7 lb. bags of ice for sale here at our shop for $3.00 a bag. We also sell an absolutely awesome tool here at our shop that makes quick and easy work of cleaning your crab...the "Crack'n Crab Cleaner." I know it sounds like a sales pitch, but it really is fantastic and worth every penny.
SHOP SCHEDULE: We will be open Wednesdays through Sundays from 8am to 4pm and closed on Mondays and Tuesdays through March. However, there is an exception...if there's a holiday that falls on a Monday, we're usually open. In addition, we have a few medical issues we can finally take care of during the off season as well, so there will be a few additional days we'll be closed here and there. We always post a sign on our front door with our schedule for at least a week or two. First closure will be closed Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, January 15, 16 and 17, and reopen on Saturday, January 18 at 8am.
Welcome to Half Moon Bay Sportfishing and Tackle, located on the coast about 20 miles south of San Francisco, the only stop you have to make for the fishing adventure of a lifetime! We have the supplies you need for a fantastic day on the water onboard the charterboats that book through our shop as well as all the basic gear, bait, and tackle you need for a great trip on your own boat or from the shore. You can also purchase day and annual fishing licenses as well as commercial fishing and hunting licenses at our shop. Our staff has unsurpased knowledge of gear and techniques for salmon, rockfishing, surf fishing, Dungeness crab and other various species of ocean dwellers that live in our part of the ocean.
Got Bait?
We've always had a complete array of the best bait that's available for sale in our shop that is constantly rotated to be as fresh as possible. But now we've gone one step further...Half Moon Bay Sportfishing is one of the first bait and tackle shops in California to own its own frozen bait vending machine available outside our front door 24 hours a day 7 days a week. Even when the shop is closed or we're crazy busy getting our charterboat customers out first thing in the morning, you can purchase your frozen bait from the machine using either cash or credit cards and get on out to the water quickly and easily.
Charterboat Trips
Half Moon Bay Sportfishing and Tackle is proud to be the booking agent for the vessel Queen of Hearts, which has taken more people fishing out of Half Moon Bay than any other boat, hands down, since 1990. The Queen of Hearts is Coast Guard licensed and inspected, insured, well maintained, and has an impeccable safety record. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, beginning in March 2020 when the stay at home orders were established, we discontinued booking any other vessels other than the Queen of Hearts through our shop.
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