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Chinook salmonRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 9 PM · Chinook salmon
- Now
- 534 PM PDT
- Best window
- 5 PM-12 AMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Flooding4.1 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Cooper Point 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
Wednesday, Sep 30 · 9 AM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
100Tide: FloodingWind & pressure
ECMWF
99Wind: 8 kt NNWPressure: RisingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
58Water temp: 66°F, hotLight: DawnSolunar: Between periodsSeason & habitat · Chinook salmon
Species seasonality
58Season: ShoulderHabitat: Prime structureDepth: In range
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Central Groundfish Management Area
Chinook salmon
Retention open- Daily limit
- 2 per day (2 salmon combined)
- Possession
- Not published
- Size
- Minimum 20 in, total length
- Season
- Sep 1 to Sep 30, 2026
- Annual quota
- Not published
- Changes
- Closed from Oct 1
- Other
- Coho may not be kept. Salmon may not be filleted on a boat. No more than two daily bag limits on land, and one daily bag limit on a vessel. NOAA Fisheries can close open days early when the harvest guideline is near. Any salmon except coho. North of Point Conception: no more than two single-point, single-shank barbless hooks and one rod. Between 40°10' N. lat. and Point Conception, when bait fishing by any means other than trolling, use no more than two barbless circle hooks, hard tied no more than 5 inches apart. The 20,000 Chinook fall harvest guideline is shared with the area from 38°02' N. lat. to Pigeon Point.
From CDFW 2026 Ocean Salmon Sport Regulations (updated August 19, 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
- 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 today
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
Cooper Point
- Depth
- 25-60 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 Cooper Point
Cooper Point is a cape in Monterey Bay, California. Depth is 25-60 ft. Its profile reads point, outer water and exposed.
Waterlands scores 11 species here; the best right now are rockfish, cabezon and striped bass. It is peak season now for rockfish, cabezon, striped bass and surfperch, and shoulder season for lingcod, Chinook salmon, white seabass and kelp greenling. Rockfish peak from May through September. Cabezon peak from May through September. Striped bass peak from June through July and from September through October.
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.
- Cabezon
- Cabezon sit in rock crevices, kelp beds and jetty boulders from the intertidal zone to about 100 feet and feed mostly on crabs and small fish. Fish a fish-finder rig with sand shrimp, squid or crab right on the bottom in the rocks, or drag a lead-head grub slowly through the kelp. Expect snags, and do not eat the roe, which is toxic.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Grimes Point65
Cape · 6.4 mi
Top: RockfishPeak season- Rockfish 65
- Cabezon 62
- Striped bass 60
6 kt WNWH 6:19 PM · 4.7 ftL 1:49 AM · 0.5 ft
- Molera Point63
Cape · 2.4 mi
Top: RockfishPeak season- Rockfish 63
- Cabezon 61
- Striped bass 58
6 kt WNWH 6:28 PM · 4.6 ftL 1:59 AM · 0.5 ft
- Sur Rock60
Bar · 3.6 mi
Top: RockfishPeak season- Rockfish 60
- Cabezon 55
- Lingcod 52
16 kt NNWH 6:28 PM · 4.6 ftL 1:59 AM · 0.5 ft
- Point Sur58
Cape · 5.1 mi
Top: RockfishPeak season- Rockfish 58
- Cabezon 53
- Striped bass 52
16 kt NNWH 6:28 PM · 4.6 ftL 1:59 AM · 0.5 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.