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RockfishRetention openSpecies here · tap to switch
Best score today · 9 AM · Cabezon
- Now
- 6512 AM PDT
- Best window
- 6-11 AMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Ebbing1.1 ft ▼
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Sur Rock 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 · 12 AM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
100Tide: EbbingCurrent: 0.3 knWind & pressure
ECMWF
76Wind: 13 kt NNWPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
33Water temp: 61°F, warmLight: NightSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 4.5 ftSeason & habitat · Rockfish
Species seasonality
94Season: PeakHabitat: Prime structureDepth: In rangeRegulations: Retention open
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Central Groundfish Management Area
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)
Source: CDFW · synced yesterday
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Rockfish is best here
Peak season for Rockfish · 1 more week at peak
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- This week
Spot profile
Sur Rock
- Depth
- 45-80 ft
- Structure
- Ledge · Outer · Exposed
- Season
- Peak seasonRockfish
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 Sur Rock
Sur Rock is a bar in Monterey Bay, California. Depth is 45-80 ft. Its profile reads ledge, outer water and exposed.
Waterlands scores 11 species here; the best right now are rockfish, white seabass and striped bass. It is peak season now for rockfish, striped bass, cabezon and surfperch, and shoulder season for white seabass, lingcod, Pacific halibut and Chinook salmon. Rockfish peak from May through September. Striped bass peak from June through July and from September through October.
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.
- 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.
- 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.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Kasler Point71
Cape · 9.0 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 71
- Rockfish 65
- White seabass 63
6 kt NWL 1:59 AM · 0.5 ftH 9:03 AM · 3.8 ft
- Molera Point68
Cape · 1.6 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 68
- Rockfish 64
- White seabass 61
2 kt NNWL 1:59 AM · 0.5 ftH 9:03 AM · 3.8 ft
- Cooper Point68
Cape · 3.6 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 68
- Rockfish 64
- White seabass 62
2 kt NNWL 1:59 AM · 0.5 ftH 9:03 AM · 3.8 ft
- Point Sur66
Cape · 1.7 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 66
- Rockfish 62
- White seabass 59
13 kt NNWL 1:59 AM · 0.5 ftH 9:03 AM · 3.8 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.