Waterlands

UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN

Striped bassRetention open

Bar · California

Blunts Reef

40.45°N · 124.47°W · Bar · Humboldt Bay

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 6 PM · Striped bass

70/100Great
Now
2811 AM PST
Best window
6-8 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Flooding3.7 ft ▲

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

Notify me when Blunts Reef scores 75+

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

Sign in to set an alert

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 11 AM · now

Time11ANOW
Score28Fair
Tide3.7 ft ▲Flooding
Current0.7 knmodeled · toward NW
Wind15 kn Ngusts 20 · steady
Sea stateRough5.2 ft · 11 s
Air temp56°Mild
WeatherClear9% cloud
Water60°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Northern Groundfish Management Area

IN EFFECT NOW

Striped bass

Retention open
Daily limit
2 per day
Possession
Not published
Size
Minimum 18 in, total length
Season
No closed season on file
Annual quota
Not published
Other
Angling, spearfishing or bow and arrow only. No sinker over 4 pounds, no power-driven gurdy or winch, no snagging. The CDFW San Francisco Bay District page states the same limits for the bay: two fish, 18 inches total length.

From CDFW 2026 California Ocean Sport Fishing Regulations booklet (last updated July 17, 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)
  • Chinook salmon Closed (No retention)
  • 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)
  • 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)

Source: CDFW · synced yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Striped bass is best here

Shoulder season for Striped bass · 4 more weeks at shoulder

Striped bass season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Striped bass · 4 more weeks at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Striped bass in California →

Spot profile

Blunts Reef

Depth
100-120 ft
Structure
Reef · Outer · Exposed
Season
Shoulder seasonStriped bass

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 Blunts Reef

Blunts Reef is a bar in Humboldt Bay, California. Depth is 100-120 ft. Its profile reads reef, outer water and exposed.

Waterlands scores 9 species here; the best right now are lingcod, rockfish and kelp greenling. It is peak season now for lingcod and kelp greenling, and shoulder season for rockfish, cabezon, surfperch and striped bass. Lingcod peak from April through May and from October through November. Rockfish peak from May through September. Kelp greenling peak from October through November.

Tackle & technique

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.
Lingcod
Lingcod ambush prey from rock outcrops, reef edges and kelp where current runs, most often in 30 to 300 feet, and males move shallow to guard nests in winter. Drift over the reef bouncing a lead-head swimbait or metal jig on the bottom, or fish herring or squid on a heavy leader, since their teeth cut light line. From jetties and rocky shore, work bait or jigs along the rocks on the incoming tide.
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

  • Punta Gorda

    Cape · 14 mi

    61
    Top: LingcodPeak season
    • Lingcod 61
    • Kelp greenling 56
    • Surfperch 55

    8 kt NH 3:23 PM · 5.7 ftL 10:58 PM · -0.1 ft

  • Cape Mendocino

    Cape · 3.2 mi

    54
    Top: LingcodPeak season
    • Lingcod 54
    • Kelp greenling 49
    • Rockfish 46

    15 kt NH 3:55 PM · 5.8 ftL 11:58 PM · -0.1 ft

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.