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Striped bassRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 6 PM · Striped bass
- Now
- 727 PM PDT
- Best window
- 7-10 PMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing2.7 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Mitchell 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
Saturday, Sep 26 · 6 PM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
98Tide: FloodingWind & pressure
ECMWF
90Wind: 4 kt SWPressure: FallingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
86Water temp: 64°F, primeLight: DuskSolunar: Between periodsSeason & habitat · Striped bass
Species seasonality
88Season: PeakHabitat: Structure unmappedDepth: In range
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 · 6 more weeks at peak
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Mitchell Cove
- Depth
- Up to 30 ftSlope
- Structure
- Bay · Outer · ExposedBay · slope
- 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 Mitchell Cove
Mitchell Cove is a bay in Monterey Bay, California. Depth is up to 30 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads bay, outer water and exposed.
Waterlands scores 11 species here; the best right now are striped bass, rockfish and white seabass. It is peak season now for striped bass, rockfish, cabezon and surfperch, and shoulder season for white seabass, Chinook salmon, lingcod and California halibut. Striped bass peak from June through July and from September through October. Rockfish 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.
- 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.
- White seabass
- White seabass hold along kelp bed edges and over nearby sand where market squid gather, usually in 20 to 80 feet of water and shallower as the water warms. Fish a live squid on a dropper loop or fly-line a sardine near the kelp at dawn, dusk and after dark, especially around the spring full moon. Tagged fish spend most of their time in 52 to 66 degree water.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Santa Cruz Anchorage76
Bay · 1.6 mi
Top: RockfishPeak season- Rockfish 76
- Striped bass 74
- Lingcod 67
6 kt WL 10:56 PM · 0.9 ftH 7:11 AM · 3.4 ft
- Black Point76
Cape · 2.7 mi
Top: RockfishPeak season- Rockfish 76
- Striped bass 75
- White seabass 68
6 kt WL 10:56 PM · 0.9 ftH 7:11 AM · 3.4 ft
- Soquel Point76
Cape · 3.6 mi
Top: RockfishPeak season- Rockfish 76
- Striped bass 75
- White seabass 68
6 kt WL 10:56 PM · 0.9 ftH 7:11 AM · 3.4 ft
- Steamer Lane73
Channel · 0.9 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 73
- Rockfish 71
- Lingcod 67
6 kt WL 10:56 PM · 0.9 ftH 7:11 AM · 3.4 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.