Waterlands

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Chinook salmonClosed

Bay · California

Rockport Bay

39.73°N · 123.83°W · Bay · Coastal waters from Cape Mendocino to Pt. Arena CA out 10 nm

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Best score today · 11 PM · Chinook salmon

72/100Great
Now
203 PM PDT
Best window
11 PM-12 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing2.3 ft ▼

Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine

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Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.

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14-day forecast

Best days to fish

Best: Fri · 80

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 3 PM · now

Time3PNOW
Score20Poor
Tide2.3 ft ▼Ebbing
Current0.2 knmodeled · toward SE
Wind6 kn NWgusts 16 · steady
Sea stateRough6.2 ft · 9 s
Air temp74°Warm
WeatherMostly cloudy76% cloud
Water57°FModel

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Mendocino Groundfish Management Area

IN EFFECT NOW

Chinook salmon

Closed
Daily limit
No retention
Possession
Not published
Size
Not published
Season
Sep 1 to Dec 31, 2026
Annual quota
Not published
Other
CDFW expects 2027 season dates in April 2027.

From CDFW Current Ocean Recreational Fishing Regulations, Mendocino Region (updated August 10, 2026), read Sep 13

Other species here

  • Albacore tuna Retention open (25 per day)
  • Barred sand bass Retention open (4 per day (5 kelp bass, barred sand bass and spotted sand bass combined))
  • Cabezon Retention open (10 per day (10 rockfish, cabezon and greenlings combined))
  • California halibut Retention open (2 per day)
  • Coho salmon Closed (No retention)
  • Kelp bass Retention open (5 per day (5 kelp bass, barred sand bass and spotted sand bass combined))
  • Kelp greenling Retention open (10 per day (10 rockfish, cabezon and greenlings combined))
  • Leopard shark Retention open (3 per day)
  • Lingcod Retention open (2 per day)
  • Mahi-mahi Retention open (10 per day)
  • Pacific bluefin tuna Retention open (2 per day)
  • Pacific halibut Retention open (1 per day)
  • Rockfish Retention open (10 per day (10 rockfish, cabezon and greenlings combined))
  • Sablefish Retention open (10 per day)
  • Striped bass Retention open (2 per day)
  • Surfperch Retention open (20 per day)
  • White seabass Retention open (3 per day)
  • Yellowfin tuna Retention open (10 per day)
  • Yellowtail Retention open (10 per day)
Always check with CDFW ↗Fishing license ↗

Source: CDFW · synced today

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Chinook salmon is best here

Shoulder season for Chinook salmon · 1 more week at shoulder

Chinook salmon season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Chinook salmon · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Chinook salmon in California →

Spot profile

Rockport Bay

Depth
40-45 ftNearest water
Structure
Bay · Inner · Protected
Season
Shoulder seasonChinook salmon

NOAA NCEI DEM, sampled Sep 14 on a 464 m grid. Depths are feet below mean sea level, not chart datum (MLLW), so they can differ from a chart by a few feet. Not for navigation.

About this spot

Fishing Rockport Bay

Rockport Bay is a bay in Coastal waters from Cape Mendocino to Pt. Arena CA out 10 nm, California. Depth in the nearest water is 40-45 ft. Its profile reads bay, inner water and protected.

Waterlands scores 12 species here; the best right now are striped bass, rockfish and cabezon. It is peak season now for striped bass, rockfish, cabezon and surfperch, and shoulder season for Pacific halibut, kelp greenling, white seabass and lingcod. Striped bass peak from June through July and from September through October. Rockfish peak from May through September. Cabezon peak from May through September.

Tackle & technique

Chinook salmon
Chinook hold near bait off points, kelp edges and tide rips, usually suspended 20 to 120 feet down and deeper as the sun gets higher. Troll slowly, under 2 mph, with a flasher and herring, hoochie or spoon on a downrigger, or mooch a plug-cut herring at the depth where the sounder shows bait. Winter blackmouth and feeder kings sit within 10 feet of the bottom in 60 to 200 feet.
Striped bass
Striped bass feed where moving tide pushes bait past structure: inlets, points, jetties, bridge pilings and rips in the surf, usually in 2 to 40 feet of water. Fish dawn, dusk and night hardest, casting plugs, bucktails and soft plastics or drifting live bunker and eels, and chunk bait on the bottom in current. In midsummer the larger fish drop deeper or feed mostly after dark.
Rockfish
Rockfish live on rocky reefs, pinnacles and kelp from the shoreline out past 300 feet, with black and blue rockfish schooling mid-water over shallow reefs and copper, quillback, yelloweye and vermilion sitting tight to deeper bottom. Drift over the structure with a shrimp fly above a lead-head grub or metal jig, or a squid strip, and reel up a few cranks after touching bottom to cut snags. Use a descending device to release any fish brought up from deep water.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

View all on map →
  • Cape Vizcaino

    Cape · 0.5 mi

    60
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 60
    • Rockfish 55
    • Cabezon 54

    6 kt NWH 9:46 PM · 5.4 ftL 4:11 AM · 0.5 ft

  • Williams Point

    Cape · 1.4 mi

    57
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 57
    • Rockfish 54
    • Cabezon 53

    6 kt NWH 9:46 PM · 5.4 ftL 4:11 AM · 0.5 ft

  • Bruhel Point

    Cape · 9.0 mi

    53
    Top: RockfishPeak season
    • Rockfish 53
    • Surfperch 50
    • Lingcod 48

    6 kt NWH 9:46 PM · 5.4 ftL 4:11 AM · 0.5 ft

  • Ten Mile River Bluff

    Cape · 12 mi

    53
    Top: RockfishPeak season
    • Rockfish 53
    • Surfperch 50
    • Lingcod 48

    6 kt NWH 9:46 PM · 5.4 ftL 4:11 AM · 0.5 ft

Open in the tide map

Scores and forecasts are for planning only and can be wrong. Conditions on the water change fast; check the marine forecast before you go. Regulations change during the season, so confirm limits and closures with CDFW before you keep a fish.