Bay Area Surf Fly Fishing Report

LCO Staff reports on May 31, 2026

Another successful surf clinic in the books! We had a gaggle of anglers out to Crissy Field last Sunday casting switch rods and shooting heads and finding fish hungry for flies. Doesn't hurt that it was the most beautiful weekend of the year, with just a light tailwind to add a few feet to our casts.

It's prime time for stripers everywhere from the Delta to the Bay to the ocean. Fish are still migrating through the Bay and filtering out on the ocean beaches. The conventional crowd are getting fish regularly now and the fly crew are beginning to pick up fish in the Marin Headlands and Ocean Beach. Monterrey Bay has been excellent too, with clear water and even some sight fishing to schools of stripers. 

All our favorite flies are working right now, as long as it's an Adachi Clouser. 

Surf perch are out there too, a bit hit or miss at the moment, but the summer spawn will be here anytime. Mole crabs are everywhere in the sand at all stages and the perch know what's up! Any mole crab pattern will work, and all the better if it has a splash of orange on it. We're partial to the LCO Mole Crab.

By the weekend, tides will be looking juicy! But, don't let that deter you from going out tomorrow. The fish are still there. We're entering our summer weather patterns, cool and foggy in the am with lighter winds, followed by sun and breeze later in the day, before Karl the fog sets back in. 

HOT TIP: You will learn more about a beach at low tide than high tide. At low tide, beach structure is exposed and you can see the contours of the beach that you're fishing over at higher parts of the tide. Fish don't stop eating at low tide either, just keep fishing, you'll run into them sooner or later.