If you’re looking for a new family friendly spot for crabbing in the bay area of northern California, then check out my Fort Baker Moore Road Pier Crabbing Review.
Below is a brief video of our crabbing visit:
Note, you’ll want to review the California Department of Fish & Wildlife regulations for all updated rules. If you plan to cook and eat crab you catch, you should first conduct your own research regarding crab consumption guidelines and advisories.
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Location
Moore Pier Rd, Sausalito, CA 94965
https://www.nps.gov/goga/planyourvisit/fort-baker.htm
Per the website above, Fort Baker is a 335 acre former 1905 U.S. Army post located immediately north of the Golden Gate Bridge. It consists of over 25 historic army buildings clustered around a main parade ground, a sheltered harbor protected by a jetty, a number of historic gun emplacements, and trails and forested areas climbing gently up from San Francisco Bay. It states you can go fishing/crabbing on the pier, launch a kayak/sailboat at the boat ramp, take sailing lessons, boat rentals, hiking loop, explore historic buildings, and more.
Admission, Parking & Bathrooms
Note, you’ll want to review the California Department of Fish & Wildlife regulations for all updated rules.
When I visited the pier, there was no admission fee for crabbing on the pier. Unknown if that will change in the future. You can visit the website above to check on status.
There are limited parking spaces at the pier entry point. I noticed people also parked their cars along the road too. Bathrooms consisted of some portable bathrooms, they were pretty bad. Be sure to bring toilet paper and lots of toilet seat covers. We brought toilet seat covers, our Reliance Products Fold-to-Go Collapsible Portable Toilet and Reliance Double Doodie Toilet Waste Bags. See links below:
Toilet Seat Covers Disposable – https://amzn.to/30jndCP
Reliance Products Fold-to-Go Collapsible Portable Toilet – https://amzn.to/30k9YBY
Reliance Double Doodie Toilet Waste Bag 6 Pack – https://amzn.to/3ceDsa6
WolfWise Pop Up Privacy Tent – https://amzn.to/3qp62KA
Bait & Equipment
We used a crab rings (aka crab net) and crab snares. We have young kids, so the crab snare rig (fishing pole and snare) is too complicated for them, but I think it is the most effective way to catch crabs. If you’d like to learn more about crab snares and which brand we use, click here.
The crab ring is much more kid friendly because all you do is toss the net into the water from the pier, wait, then pull it up. Kids were always asking me and my wife “Can I pull up the net?” Note, there is downtime between pulling up the crab ring. Our kids were either chasing the sea gulls that were on the pier, eating snacks, or looking at the crabs we caught. If you’d like to learn more about pier crabbing and which crab ring brand we used, click here.
As for crab bait, my wife likes to use many different types of bait at the same time. She likes the following types of bait:
-Chicken
-Fish heads from grocery store and/or sardines
-Chicken liver
-Squid
My Thoughts & Tips
I really like Fort Baker Moore Road Pier for crabbing because it isn’t too far from where I live and it was easy to catch crabs. It is a family friendly activity that both young and older kids will enjoy.
We arrived at 8 am on a Sunday and there were some people at the pier, but it wasn’t too crowded. But, when we left around 11 am, it was really busy. So, get there early. Note, the guard rail on the pier is wobbly in spots.
We caught mostly brown rock crabs. It was my first time catching and eating brown rock crabs, they were tasty and sweet. The crab shell was easy to remove, but the only drawback was there was not as much meat in the brown rock crab as compared to other types of crabs we’ve had. If you plan to cook and eat crab you catch, you should first conduct your own research regarding crab consumption guidelines and advisories.
I hope you enjoyed my real life Fort Baker Moore Road Pier Crabbing Review. Happy crabbing!