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Chinook salmonClosedSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 12 AM · Chinook salmon
- Now
- 205 AM PDT
- Best window
- 5-10 AMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Flooding1.7 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Hookton Channel scores 75+
Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.
14-day forecast
Best days to fish
24-hour conditions · rolling from now
Conditions · 5 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
71Tide: FloodingCurrent: 0.2 kn floodWind & pressure
ECMWF
100Wind: 5 kt NNEPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
29Water temp: 60°F, warmLight: NightSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 4.5 ftSeason & habitat · Chinook salmon
Species seasonality
59Closed season · capped at 20Season: ShoulderHabitat: Usable structureDepth: In rangeRegulations: Closed
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Northern Groundfish Management Area
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
- Salmon may not be possessed on a vessel in this area while it is closed. CDFW expects 2027 season dates in April 2027.
From CDFW Current Ocean Recreational Fishing Regulations, Northern Region (updated August 31, 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)
Source: CDFW · synced yesterday
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Chinook salmon is best here
Shoulder season for Chinook salmon · 1 more week at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Hookton Channel
- Depth
- 5-35 ft
- Structure
- Channel · Inner · Semi-exposed
- 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 Hookton Channel
Hookton Channel is a channel in Humboldt Bay, California. Depth is 5-35 ft. Its profile reads channel, inner water and semi-exposed.
Waterlands scores 11 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 lingcod, white seabass, Pacific halibut and kelp greenling. 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
- Buhne Point66
Cape · 0.7 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 66
- Rockfish 64
- Cabezon 63
5 kt NNEH 10:11 AM · 5.0 ftL 2:40 PM · 3.6 ft
- North Bay Channel66
Channel · 1.7 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 66
- Rockfish 60
- Cabezon 57
5 kt NNEH 10:01 AM · 5.0 ftL 2:50 PM · 3.5 ft
- Humboldt Bay56
Bay · 0.8 mi
Top: CabezonPeak season- Cabezon 56
- Striped bass 56
- Surfperch 56
5 kt NNEH 10:20 AM · 3.5 ftL 4:22 PM · 1.1 ft
- Buhne Spit Shoal54
Bar · 0.6 mi
Top: Pacific halibutShoulder season- Pacific halibut 54
- Rockfish 54
- Striped bass 53
5 kt NNEH 10:20 AM · 3.5 ftL 4:22 PM · 1.1 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.