Left Reno at 0130, picked up a friend in Sacramento, swung by Pier 45 for bait, and was fishing at Fort Baker pier by 0625. Set up shop on the west corner towards the gate with 3-way rigs and live anchovies. Tide was topping out and just starting to slack when we arrived. My friend Josh immediately had a suspected halibut nibble, but came up short and missed it. About 10 minutes later, I landed a short 16-18" halibut on the near side of the pier right after my bait hit the bottom and I was setting my clicker. After a quick photo, back into the drink. We watched a gentleman near the end of the pier hook into a salmon on a trolley rig, but he lost it quickly after it made a run down the pier. It looked as if he didn't keep the rod tip bent enough and his circle hook dislodged when the salmon changed directions. The fishing slowed to a crawl afterwards. Many people started showing up, crabbing and fishing for jacksmelt. The local sea lion made it a point to make a pass every 15 or 20 minutes which didn't seem to help the fishing. I got a couple more slow tugs on the anchovies but wasn't able to hook anything. I did however cast half a sardine out off the deep end of the pier and had something take it on a very slow run, not a quick and hard run like a ray. I believe it may have been a moderately sized shark, but the hook was fouled in the spine of my sardine somehow so I wasn't able to get a good hookset. The tourist activity and wind really picked up around noon, my friend and I helped over a dozen people get their pictures with the gate in the background. We decided to pack it up at 1500, but not before a nice 36lb ray took my sardine outfit for a ride. After a nice fight, and a brief information lesson to the spectators, I tossed him back into the water. Overall, very slow but it was fun getting out to a pier that I haven't fished since 1997.
