Torpedo Wharf — Attraction in San Francisco

I have just one thing that is always in my plans is the crabbing. And this pier is not forgiving for most people. Check the weather ahead of time. Otherwise, depending on your interests, there are fish to be had; some are elusive, some are annoying, and you must use the right gear for the fish you like, and that includes bait. The right technique is required reading material if your not saavy. I tried this a number of times with little success, but I took note of those who were crabbing. I got nets and bait and always fish an incoming 6+foot tide, about 2 hours beforehand. I tell you there are fewer fishing opportunities that are as brainless. Bait your net, toss it out there for 15-20min and haul it up. With a 6ft tide I've caught my limit every time. As much as 2 five gallon buckets in just 4 hours. And if you have never had fresh crab, in for a treat! At the supermarket you get what they call "fresh" is so loaded with salt that your not tasting anything else. And you may notice at Pier 39, I recall these huge boiling pots all steamy and always a thick grey foam on top. Crabs have what's called a beard that gets muddy, and they cook it off. They get that way if their home is in still bay waters without any circulation of water. The females get really muddy. My best suggestion is to keep them cold and damp till you get home. Put them in the sink with running water, get out your fingernail brush and scrub them down real good. They will be lethargic when you get them home but will "wake up" when there's cold water on them. If you're right-handed. Turn the bugger on its back, reach from behind with your left hand, and hold its bottom side with your thumb. This way it can't pinch you.(usually not) Scrub away. Bring at least 1 gal water to boil and add just 1 teaspoon of salt. Cook each for at least 10min. Take out and allow them to cool for 10min. You can skip that last tip if you want, just protect your hands because they have been boiling hot. Some people like to eat part of their guts but not me. It's like how the guts of a fish can taint the meat. Same is true for game. Hold the crab in your left hand, upside down, from its front this time, bring the rear up and towards you. It's disgusting but worth it. Discard all that taking the rest of the body and put under water for just 30sec, while gently rinsing away any guts left in it. The timing is important here because you don't want the meat in the abdominals to get water logged. Chill until needed within 2 days. You can eat it past 4 days-it won't be the same. Or freeze immediately. There are many "crab boil" seasonings out there, good ones, but they all have too much salt in my opinion. Season to taste at table. The crab should be split in half from left to right. It may require kitchen shears. 1 half per person, everything is complete. Twist off legs and choose the weakest part of each section to enjoy with relative ease. The claws are formidable and require some implement to crack them open. The remaining limbs make for tedious but rewarding finish for your meal. SPECIAL NOTE: For a really, really really good time, be out there during fleet week. The Blue Angels put on an awesome display! Nothing like any of those shows people go to on some airstrip. They use up huge amounts of airspace and go on for hours. Even flying under the Golden Gate bridge. Really burning it up. One jet flew just about 10ft above me, sounded like someone ripping a sheet next to my ear....

Fun. Its incredibly beautiful here. You can see the stars, the lights of the city, the lights of the GGB are just phenominal at night. If you want to see a very more closer view at the GGB, just go to the brick building at the end and see in clear detail of how the bridge looks from the bottom.

Everything is just fantastic. In the afternoon as well. You get a little bit of view of The Palace of Fine Arts. Even Alcatraz!

But there is a downside, you might need to get nice and cozy because it does get COLD! If your fishing, you definately need some extra layers. Sometimes people have gloves on when fishing because of it.

You do get crab here, but best time to go crab fishing here is around late September or in October. There is information on what or what not to catch.

Watch out for seals! They may be cute when you just go watch them, but they are a real challenge. You may be fishing one minute and then the next time you see your bait... the seal will be making fun of you by showing your bait to you in its mouth. Also seagulls... they are EVERYWHERE. You can have fun looking at them from the floor, if your looking up at them is awesome to. Just make sure there is no wet surprise in your face or hair after. It's tricky to know where its going to land with the wind blowing.

If you want to go to the GGB is just a short walk up some stairs and a path after leading you to the bridge.

There are public restrooms as well. There is a parking lot. There are bushes there. If your lucky, you may have a chance see some berries. Stay a bit later, you might just see...

Great place to fish and crab, but fishing is really only good during certain times of the year. Like Halibut season during the lare spring and summer months. Crabing is always a great time with the peir never closing so you can even do late night crabing and cook the crabs on the spot with friends and family. One thing very important to keep in mind there is the fish and Game rules when it comes to crabbing. Rules like Size and gender, but most importantly the type of crab yiu aee allowed to catch because Dungenuss are not permitted inside the bay. Which is anything inside the golden gate bridge. Reason being they are protect since the bay is a breeding ground for them. Makes sense if you ask me but at the same time sucks because you will definetly catch them. You better throw them back though! You dont want to get caught by the Rangers because if you do its around a rack ($1k) for each illegal crab and there arent no warnings . Ive warned people that the Rangers were here and been blown off just to watch them get taxed a lil under $10k for him and then his women another $6k.

Lastly, the veiw there is avsolutely amazing and something people from all over tge world travel here to see. From the Golden Gate bridge being litterally right there to the Downtown building sky line and lets not forget about the famous Alcatraz in between. I know this is one of my longer reveiws but i thought it was important to tell that information when it came to...