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RockfishRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 7 PM · Rockfish
- Now
- 677 AM PDT
- Best window
- 6-9 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Flooding2.7 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Lopez 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 · rolling from now
Conditions · 7 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
81Tide: FloodingCurrent: 0.4 knWind & pressure
ECMWF
84Wind: 1 kt NPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
68Water temp: 63°F, warmLight: DawnSolunar: Major periodSeas: 4.0 ftSeason & habitat · Rockfish
Species seasonality
87Season: PeakHabitat: Usable structureDepth: In rangeRegulations: Retention open
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Central Groundfish Management Area
Rockfish
Retention open- Daily limit
- 10 per day (10 rockfish, cabezon and greenlings combined)
- Possession
- Not published
- Size
- No minimum size limit.
- Season
- Apr 1 to Dec 31, 2026
- Annual quota
- Not published
- Other
- Shore-based anglers and spear divers are exempt from groundfish seasons and depth limits. Within the 10-fish RCG limit: no more than 1 copper rockfish, 2 canary rockfish, and 2 vermilion/sunset rockfish. RCG complex: all rockfish, cabezon, and kelp and rock greenlings combined. A descending device must be aboard when fishing from a boat. Yelloweye, cowcod, bronzespotted and quillback rockfish may not be kept.
From CDFW Summary of Recreational Groundfish Fishing Regulations (updated June 23, 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)
- 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 Rockfish is best here
Peak season for Rockfish · 1 more week at peak
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Lopez Point
- Depth
- 8-35 ft
- Structure
- Point · Outer · Exposed
- Season
- Peak seasonRockfish
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 Lopez Point
Lopez Point is a cape in Monterey Bay, California. Depth is 8-35 ft. Its profile reads point, outer water and exposed.
Waterlands scores 11 species here; the best right now are rockfish, striped bass and cabezon. It is peak season now for rockfish, striped bass, cabezon and surfperch, and shoulder season for Chinook salmon, white seabass, lingcod and kelp greenling. Rockfish peak from May through September. Striped bass peak from June through July and from September through October. Cabezon peak from May through September.
Tackle & technique
- 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.
- 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
- Tide Rock71
Bar · 6.3 mi
Top: RockfishPeak season- Rockfish 71
- Cabezon 65
- Lingcod 63
1 kt NH 3:43 PM · 4.6 ftL 12:10 AM · 0.8 ft
- McWay Cove69
Bay · 11 mi
Top: RockfishPeak season- Rockfish 69
- Surfperch 66
- Lingcod 61
2 kt NEH 3:43 PM · 4.6 ftL 12:10 AM · 0.8 ft
- Grimes Point69
Cape · 16 mi
Top: RockfishPeak season- Rockfish 69
- Striped bass 68
- Cabezon 64
2 kt NEH 3:43 PM · 4.6 ftL 12:10 AM · 0.8 ft
- Jade Cove66
Bay · 9.9 mi
Top: SurfperchPeak season- Surfperch 66
- Striped bass 63
- Rockfish 61
1 kt NH 3:43 PM · 4.6 ftL 12:10 AM · 0.8 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.