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White seabassRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 6 PM · White seabass
- Now
- 558 PM PDT
- Best window
- 8-11 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing3.5 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Southport 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 · 8 PM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS
100Tide: EbbingCurrent: 1.1 kn ebbWind & pressure
ECMWF
93Wind: 2 kt WSWPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
55Water temp: 55°F, coolLight: DuskSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 4.7 ftSeason & habitat · White seabass
Species seasonality
48Season: ShoulderHabitat: Poor fitDepth: In rangeRegulations: Retention open
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Northern Groundfish Management Area
White seabass
Retention open- Daily limit
- 3 per day
- Possession
- Not published
- Size
- Minimum 28 in, total length. Or twenty and one-half inches alternate length (Section 28.35).
- Season
- No closed season on file
- Annual quota
- Not published
- Other
- CDFW pages disagree on the alternate length: the regulation text says 20.5 inches, the booklet summary table 21.5 inches, and the regional web pages 20 inches. Total length is 28 inches on all of them.
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)
- Striped bass Retention open (2 per day)
- Surfperch Retention open (20 per day)
- Yellowfin tuna Retention open (10 per day)
- Yellowtail Retention open (10 per day)
Source: CDFW · synced today
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When White seabass is best here
Shoulder season for White seabass · 6 more weeks at shoulder
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Southport Channel
- Depth
- 5-15 ft
- Structure
- Channel · Inner · Protected
- Season
- Shoulder seasonWhite seabass
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 Southport Channel
Southport Channel is a channel in Humboldt Bay, California. Depth is 5-15 ft. Its profile reads channel, inner water and protected.
Waterlands scores 11 species here; the best right now are striped bass, rockfish and lingcod. It is peak season now for striped bass, rockfish, surfperch and cabezon, and shoulder season for lingcod, white seabass, kelp greenling and Pacific halibut. Striped bass peak from June through July and from September through October. Rockfish peak from May through September. Lingcod peak from April through May and from October through November.
Tackle & technique
- White seabass
- White seabass hold along kelp bed edges and over nearby sand where market squid gather, usually in 20 to 80 feet of water and shallower as the water warms. Fish a live squid on a dropper loop or fly-line a sardine near the kelp at dawn, dusk and after dark, especially around the spring full moon. Tagged fish spend most of their time in 52 to 66 degree 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.
- 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 Point74
Cape · 1.9 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 74
- Rockfish 71
- Lingcod 63
2 kt WSWL 11:33 PM · 1.1 ftH 6:45 AM · 4.4 ft
- Hookton Channel72
Channel · 2.1 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 72
- Rockfish 65
- Lingcod 63
2 kt WSWL 11:36 PM · 0.9 ftH 6:42 AM · 4.5 ft
- South Bay71
Bay · 1.1 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 71
- Rockfish 66
- Surfperch 60
2 kt WSWL 11:33 PM · 1.1 ftH 6:45 AM · 4.4 ft
- Buhne Spit Shoal67
Bar · 2.0 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 67
- Rockfish 66
- Lingcod 58
2 kt WSWL 1:08 AM · 0.3 ftH 7:01 AM · 3.2 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.