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Striped bassRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 8 PM · Striped bass
- Now
- 611 AM PDT
- Best window
- 7 PM-12 AMEbb tide
- Tide now
- Flooding0.8 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Pelican 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 · 1 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
26Tide: FloodingCurrent: 0.2 knWind & pressure
ECMWF
77Wind: 12 kt NNWPressure: FallingWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
68Water temp: 62°F, primeLight: NightSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 3.9 ftSeason & habitat · Striped bass
Species seasonality
95Season: PeakHabitat: Usable structureDepth: 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 yesterday
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
Pelican Point
- Depth
- 5-80 ftDrop-off
- Structure
- Point · Outer · ExposedPoint · drop-off
- 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 Pelican Point
Pelican Point is a cape in Monterey Bay, California. Depth is 5-80 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads point, outer water and 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
- 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
- Cannery Point61
Cape · 1.0 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 61
- Rockfish 57
- Pacific halibut 56
12 kt NNWH 8:13 AM · 3.6 ftL 11:22 AM · 3.5 ft
- Yankee Point59
Cape · 1.0 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 59
- Rockfish 56
- Cabezon 51
12 kt NNWH 8:13 AM · 3.6 ftL 11:22 AM · 3.5 ft
- Whalers Cove57
Bay · 0.9 mi
Top: RockfishPeak season- Rockfish 57
- Pacific halibut 56
- Striped bass 54
12 kt NNWH 8:13 AM · 3.6 ftL 11:22 AM · 3.5 ft
- Bluefish Cove57
Bay · 1.1 mi
Top: RockfishPeak season- Rockfish 57
- Pacific halibut 56
- Striped bass 54
12 kt NNWH 8:13 AM · 3.6 ftL 11:22 AM · 3.5 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.