# Monday, October 5, 2026

© 2026 Morning Update · Pier Fishing: Marin County · Tue, 06 Oct 2026 01:14:34 GMT · 4:25

https://morningupdate.org/pier-fishing-marin-county/episodes/pier-fishing-marin-county-monday-october-5-2026-2026-10-05/

Maya: Good evening, and welcome to the very first edition of Pier Fishing: Mahrin County, for Monday, October fifth, twenty twenty-six. I'm Maya.
Devon: And I'm Devon. This is our new daily show for everybody who fishes the Mahrin County piers, and we are kicking it off in the best month of the year, because October is when the fall striper run turns these piers into some of the finest free fishing in California.
Maya: And we do mean free, but hold that thought, because we lead tonight with honest news. Pier-specific reports are thin this week, so we're going to tell you exactly what we know, what we don't, and where the smart money is fishing.
Devon: Let's start at McNears Beach Pier in San Rafael, the big one on San Pablo Bay. No confirmed bite report from this pier in the last week, and we're not going to invent one. But here's the context that matters. A fishing vlog from June showed stripers slapping at McNears on strong tides, and going back a bit further, anglers reported eight stripers in a day there plus a forty-two inch sturgeon released. December brought reports of multiple sturgeon and stripers from nineteen to thirty-three inches.
Maya: And October is historically prime time for fall stripers in San Pablo Bay. Party boats working the central bay have been taking limits of stripers drifting live bait, plus a handful of halibut. Those fish move through, and the piers get their shot. If you're heading to McNears, fish the moving water, and bring pile worms, blood worms, or cut anchovy.
Devon: Next, Paradise Park Pier in Tiburon. Quiet. No confirmed reports, and we'll say so plainly. Jacksmelt will probably provide most of the action there, on small pieces of pile worm or bits of shrimp fished near the surface.
Maya: And Fort Baker pier in Sausalito. The typical mix this time of year is bottom perch, small rockfish, jacksmelt up top, and the occasional bat ray to keep things interesting. A lot of folks at Fort Baker spend as much time crabbing as fishing, and that's fine, just remember it's rock crabs only inside the bay, no Dungeness retention.
Devon: Now the tides for tomorrow, Tuesday, because that's when you'll actually be out there. From Noah's San Francisco station, the central bay side: low tide at two thirty-eight A M, just below zero, then high tide at nine forty-four A M at five point two five feet, low again at three oh two P M at two point one one feet, and high tide at eight fifty-eight P M at five point five eight feet.
Maya: Up in San Pablo Bay, the Richmond station runs a touch later and a touch bigger: low at three fifteen A M, high at ten eleven A M at five point six two feet, low at three thirty-nine P M, and high at nine twenty-six P M at five point nine three feet. Nothing above normal in the next two days, so tides are sitting right in the normal range.
Devon: Wednesday looks like more of the same, with the morning high around ten nineteen A M at about five and a half feet. Fish the last two hours of the incoming tide into the slack whenever you can, that's when the piers tend to wake up.
Maya: Marine weather, and it's good news. Noah's marine forecast has no small craft advisory, no gale warning, nothing. Inside the bay tomorrow, southwest winds around five knots, building to five to ten in the afternoon. Calm, easy conditions.
Devon: One heads-up for the week. There's patchy dense fog possible Tuesday morning, and the weekend outlook deteriorates, with winds building to twenty to twenty-five knots or more across the outer waters by Saturday. So the early part of the week is your window.
Maya: Now the rule every pier angler in California should know by heart. You do not need a fishing license on California's public piers. McNears, Paradise Park, Fort Baker, all of them, just walk out with a rod and fish. It's one of the best deals in the state.
Devon: And for the folks fishing into the evening, look up. The moon is a waning crescent, only about twenty-seven percent lit, and it sets in the afternoon, so the entire evening is moonless. The Draconid meteor shower peaks Thursday night into Friday, and with a new moon on the tenth, those peak nights will be dark. Expect maybe five to ten meteors an hour under dark skies, best viewed in the evening looking northwest.
Maya: One honest caveat from Noah's forecast discussion. There's a shallow marine layer pinned right on the immediate coast tonight, so if you're on an exposed shoreline, the fog may eat the sky. Inland bay spots have the better shot at stars.
Devon: That's our first show. Tomorrow we'll be back with fresh reports, and if you fished a Mahrin pier this week, we want to hear about it.
Maya: Until then, tight lines, and we'll see you on the rail.