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Chinook salmonClosed

Cape · California

Sharp Point

41.24°N · 124.11°W · Cape · Humboldt Bay

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Best score today · 6 PM · Chinook salmon

75/100Great
Now
208 PM PDT
Best window
8-11 PMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing3.1 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions

Saturday, Sep 19 · 7 AM

Time7A
Score20Poor
Tide4.3 ft ▲Flooding
Current0.2 knmodeled · toward N
Wind2 kn Egusts 5 · steady
Sea stateModerate3.2 ft · 7 s
Air temp53°Cool
WeatherMostly cloudy65% cloud
Water56°FBias corrected

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Northern 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
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)

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

Sharp Point

Depth
15-40 ft
Structure
Point · Outer · 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 Sharp Point

Sharp Point is a cape in Humboldt Bay, California. Depth is 15-40 ft. Its profile reads point, outer water and exposed.

Waterlands scores 11 species here; the best right now are rockfish, striped bass and lingcod. It is peak season now for rockfish, striped bass, cabezon and surfperch, and shoulder season for lingcod, white seabass, kelp greenling and Pacific halibut. Rockfish peak from May through September. Striped bass peak from June through July and from September through October. Lingcod peak from April through May and from October through November.

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.
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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Lookout Point

    Cape · 3.1 mi

    72
    Top: RockfishPeak season
    • Rockfish 72
    • Striped bass 70
    • Lingcod 63

    1 kt NNEL 11:26 PM · 0.9 ftH 6:38 AM · 4.4 ft

  • Mussel Point

    Cape · 6.1 mi

    72
    Top: RockfishPeak season
    • Rockfish 72
    • Striped bass 70
    • Lingcod 63

    1 kt NNEL 11:26 PM · 0.9 ftH 6:38 AM · 4.4 ft

  • Rocky Point

    Cape · 7.3 mi

    72
    Top: RockfishPeak season
    • Rockfish 72
    • Striped bass 69
    • Lingcod 63

    4 kt SSEL 11:26 PM · 0.9 ftH 6:38 AM · 4.4 ft

  • Abalone Point

    Cape · 7.5 mi

    72
    Top: RockfishPeak season
    • Rockfish 72
    • Striped bass 69
    • Lingcod 63

    4 kt SSEL 11:26 PM · 0.9 ftH 6:38 AM · 4.4 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.