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Chinook salmonRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 5 PM · Chinook salmon
- Now
- 494 PM PDT
- Best window
- 5-7 PMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Flooding3.0 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
Monday, Oct 5 · 9 PM
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
100Tide: EbbingWind & pressure
ECMWF
78Wind: 0 kt NNWPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
26Water temp: 62°F, hotLight: NightSolunar: Major periodSeason & habitat · Chinook salmon
Species seasonality
44Off season · capped at 35Closed season · capped at 20Season: Off seasonHabitat: Usable 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
Mitchell Cove
- Depth
- Up to 30 ftSlope
- Structure
- Bay · Outer · ExposedBay · slope
- Season
- Shoulder seasonChinook salmon
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, surfperch and cabezon. It is peak season now for striped bass, surfperch, cabezon and rockfish, and shoulder season for kelp greenling, lingcod, white seabass and Pacific halibut. Striped bass peak from June through July and from September through October. Surfperch peak in May and from July through September. Cabezon peak from May through September.
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.
- 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.
- Surfperch
- Surfperch feed in the troughs and holes within about 30 feet of the waterline, just outside the first set of breakers. Cast a two-hook high-low or Carolina rig with size 4 to 2 hooks and a 1 to 6 ounce pyramid sinker and let the surge work it through the trough. Fish the incoming tide on beaches with a steep drop, and switch to jetties, pilings and bays when the surf is too big.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Santa Cruz Anchorage64
Bay · 1.6 mi
Top: RockfishPeak season- Rockfish 64
- Cabezon 62
- Striped bass 62
6 kt WSWH 8:09 PM · 4.9 ftL 3:01 AM · 0.3 ft
- Black Point64
Cape · 2.7 mi
Top: RockfishPeak season- Rockfish 64
- Striped bass 63
- Cabezon 61
6 kt WSWH 8:09 PM · 4.9 ftL 3:01 AM · 0.3 ft
- Soquel Point64
Cape · 3.6 mi
Top: RockfishPeak season- Rockfish 64
- Striped bass 63
- Cabezon 61
6 kt WSWH 8:09 PM · 4.9 ftL 3:01 AM · 0.3 ft
- Steamer Lane62
Channel · 0.9 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 62
- Rockfish 59
- Lingcod 57
6 kt WSWH 8:09 PM · 4.9 ftL 3:01 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.