Halibut at Alameda.

Gah. I’m clueless.  Zero clue whatsoever.

I imagine you go up current and drop bait and drift down current bouncing the bottom with a jig or dropshot?   How much weight does that take?  My San Diego bud says he used a 1oz. 

Man I’m clueless.   Maybe I should hire a kayak guide.  Haha.   I imagine a good tidal current would suspend a fairly heavy weight right?

If you are just drifting, and using a jig or dropshot with artificial, like swimbait or grub, 1 oz should be ok. Most of the halibut grounds are less than 25ft, so not fishing super deep. Once you start trolling against the current, then you will need a lot more weight. Live or frozen bait will also need more weight. I usually use about 3 oz for drifting live bait, and maybe 6 or 8 if trolling. Really depends on the currents and where you are trying to go.

Join a hookup this season, you will likely learn everything you need to know. The bay is warming and the halibut will likely get hammered again this year, should be plenty of people hitting up Alameda eventually. Most early season efforts will be on the South SF side

As said above, it depends on depth, speed, and current.
I usually troll tray bait.
I’ll bring an assortment of 8oz, 10oz, 12oz cannonballs,
 and change it up as needed.

To add to what other guys have said, bring a few different weights with you in like a 12oz-24oz range. Find a speed that gives your bait optimal presentation (e.g., slow, looping roll with frozen herring), which will likely be somewhere in the 1-3 mph range. Then, finding the right size weight for the current conditions and direction: Start with one weight and drop it down. If the angle between your line and the water is less than 45, that means you've got too little weight and your rig will struggle to find bottom and/or will be way too far behind you. The ideal weight will have your line at more of a 50-60 degree angle and leave your rod tip fluidly bobbing.

In general but especially in the muddier parts of the bay, I aim for the depth at which my weight will only thump bottom in the deepest of wave troughs or if I slightly wobble my yak side to side, which I do once or twice a minute (also a good way of checking depth and learning if you need to let more line out).

Maybe I should hire a kayak guide.  Haha. 

Why speed up the process so much?   

Seriously, when you're starting out on bay halibut, it can be a steep learning curve.  I don't know of any guides in the SF Bay for kayak halibut, but there should be one.  Keith/Lost Anchovy would know.

I take people out in Humboldt Bay and at Shelter Cove for Californians, but our season is later to start up here due to temps and turbidity.  You want to learn how to troll with enough weight, like the guys are advising, but you should also be looking at jigging, drifting bait, live bait potentials, how to avoid crabs and sculpin, dangers of tides and opposing winds...etc.  There's so much that a good guide will show you - it's a springboard, or it should be.

Best of luck.