Waterlands

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RockfishRetention open

Cape · California

Lovers Point

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

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Best score today · 7 PM · Rockfish

81/100Great
Now
5811 PM PDT
Best window
11 PM-12 AMEbb tide
Tide now
Ebbing1.0 ft ▼

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

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24-hour conditions

Monday, Sep 21 · 9 PM

Time9P
Score70Great
Tide4.4 ft ▼Ebbing
Current0.2 knmodeled · toward S
Wind4 kn WSWgusts 8 · steady
Sea stateRough4.1 ft · 8 s
Air temp60°Mild
WeatherMostly cloudy55% cloud
Water61°FModel

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

Central Groundfish Management Area

IN EFFECT NOW

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)

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Rockfish is best here

Peak season for Rockfish · 1 more week at peak

Rockfish season by week of the year. Peak season for Rockfish · 1 more week at peak.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • This week

Rockfish in California

Spot profile

Lovers Point

Depth
15-60 ftNearest water
Structure
Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · drop-off
Season
Peak seasonRockfish

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 Lovers Point

Lovers Point is a cape in Monterey Bay, California. Depth in the nearest water is 15-60 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

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.
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.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

  • Lucas Point

    Cape · 0.8 mi

    70
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 70
    • Rockfish 58
    • Pacific halibut 56

    2 kt SL 12:19 AM · 0.8 ftH 8:16 AM · 3.7 ft

  • Point Pinos

    Cape · 1.2 mi

    70
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 70
    • Rockfish 58
    • Pacific halibut 56

    2 kt SL 12:19 AM · 0.8 ftH 8:16 AM · 3.7 ft

  • Point Alones

    Cape · 1.0 mi

    69
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 69
    • Rockfish 58
    • Pacific halibut 56

    12 kt NNWL 12:19 AM · 0.8 ftH 8:16 AM · 3.7 ft

  • Aumentos Rock

    Bar · 0.6 mi

    63
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 63
    • Rockfish 61
    • Pacific halibut 56

    2 kt SL 12:19 AM · 0.8 ftH 8:16 AM · 3.7 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.