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Striped bassRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 7 AM · Striped bass
- Now
- 452 PM PDT
- Best window
- 3-8 PMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Flooding2.9 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when McWay Cove 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 · 2 PM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
29Tide: FloodingCurrent: 0.3 knWind & pressure
ECMWF
67Wind: 6 kt WPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
43Water temp: 59°F, primeLight: Bright sunSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 4.1 ftSeason & habitat · Striped bass
Species seasonality
75Season: PeakHabitat: Poor fitDepth: In rangeRegulations: Retention open
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Central Groundfish Management Area
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)
Source: CDFW · synced today
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Striped bass is best here
Peak season for Striped bass · 5 more weeks at peak
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
McWay Cove
- Depth
- 35-60 ftNearest water
- Structure
- Bay · Outer · ExposedBay · drop-off
- Season
- Peak seasonStriped bass
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 McWay Cove
McWay Cove is a bay in Monterey Bay, California. Depth in the nearest water is 35-60 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads bay, outer water and exposed.
Waterlands scores 11 species here; the best right now are rockfish, Pacific halibut and lingcod. It is peak season now for rockfish, surfperch, cabezon and striped bass, and shoulder season for Pacific halibut, lingcod, kelp greenling and Chinook salmon. Rockfish peak from May through September. Pacific halibut peak from May through July. Lingcod peak from April through May and from October through November.
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.
- 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.
- 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
- Grimes Point63
Cape · 4.9 mi
Top: RockfishPeak season- Rockfish 63
- Cabezon 61
- Pacific halibut 60
6 kt WH 7:15 PM · 4.9 ftL 2:27 AM · 0.3 ft
- Lopez Point59
Cape · 11 mi
Top: RockfishPeak season- Rockfish 59
- Cabezon 54
- Striped bass 54
5 kt WH 7:15 PM · 4.9 ftL 2:27 AM · 0.3 ft
- Cooper Point58
Cape · 11 mi
Top: RockfishPeak season- Rockfish 58
- Cabezon 57
- Pacific halibut 52
6 kt WH 7:24 PM · 4.8 ftL 2:36 AM · 0.3 ft
- Molera Point57
Cape · 13 mi
Top: CabezonPeak season- Cabezon 57
- Rockfish 57
- Pacific halibut 51
6 kt WH 7:24 PM · 4.8 ftL 2:36 AM · 0.3 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.