Waterlands

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Striped bassRetention open

Bar · California

Aumentos Rock

36.63°N · 121.92°W · Bar · Monterey Bay

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Best score today · 7 AM · Striped bass

73/100Great
Now
481 PM PDT
Best window
4 PM-12 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing3.0 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 1 PM · now

Time1PNOW
Score48Good
Tide3.0 ft ▼Ebbing
Current0.1 knmodeled · toward W
Wind6 kn Wgusts 16 · steady
Sea stateRough4.1 ft · 9 s
Air temp65°Mild
WeatherPartly cloudy48% cloud
Water61°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Central 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
  • Chinook salmon Retention open (2 per day (2 salmon combined))
  • 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)

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Striped bass is best here

Peak season for Striped bass · 5 more weeks at peak

Striped bass season by week of the year. Peak season for Striped bass · 5 more weeks at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Striped bass in California

Spot profile

Aumentos Rock

Depth
20-80 ftDrop-off
Structure
Ledge · Outer · ExposedLedge · drop-off
Season
Peak seasonStriped bass

NOAA NCEI DEM, sampled Sep 14 on a 3.4 m grid. Depths are feet below NAVD 88, not chart datum (MLLW), so they can differ from a chart by a few feet. Not for navigation.

About this spot

Fishing Aumentos Rock

Aumentos Rock is a bar in Monterey Bay, California. Depth is 20-80 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads ledge, outer water and exposed.

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

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.
Pacific halibut
Halibut sit on sand and gravel bottoms near drop-offs, bars and pinnacles, most often in 90 to 500 feet in Alaska and on the shelf off Washington, Oregon and far northern California. Anchor up-current of a likely edge and fish herring, squid, octopus or a salmon head on a circle hook with 24 to 32 ounces of weight, or bounce a large jig on the bottom. The best bite usually comes in the hour around slack 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

  • Lucas Point

    Cape · 0.3 mi

    60
    Top: Pacific halibutShoulder season
    • Pacific halibut 60
    • Rockfish 56
    • Striped bass 55

    6 kt WL 1:42 PM · 3.0 ftH 7:27 PM · 4.9 ft

  • Lovers Point

    Cape · 0.6 mi

    60
    Top: Pacific halibutShoulder season
    • Pacific halibut 60
    • Rockfish 56
    • Striped bass 55

    6 kt WL 1:42 PM · 3.0 ftH 7:27 PM · 4.9 ft

  • Point Pinos

    Cape · 0.7 mi

    60
    Top: Pacific halibutShoulder season
    • Pacific halibut 60
    • Rockfish 56
    • Striped bass 55

    6 kt WL 1:42 PM · 3.0 ftH 7:27 PM · 4.9 ft

  • Point Alones

    Cape · 1.5 mi

    60
    Top: Pacific halibutShoulder season
    • Pacific halibut 60
    • Rockfish 56
    • Striped bass 54

    5 kt WNWL 1:42 PM · 3.0 ftH 7:27 PM · 4.9 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.