Waterlands

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Chinook salmonRetention open

Cape · California

Little Coyote Point

37.57°N · 122.26°W · Cape · San Francisco Bay South of the Bay Bridge

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Best score today · 7 PM · Chinook salmon

84/100Great
Now
582 AM PDT
Best window
7-10 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Ebbing3.2 ft ▼

Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine

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24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 2 AM · now

Time2ANOW
Score58Good
Tide3.2 ft ▼Ebbing
CurrentEbb1.4 kn · toward WNW
Wind3 kn SWgusts 6 · steady
Sea stateLight chop1.7 ft · 7 s
Air temp56°Mild
WeatherMostly cloudy66% cloud
Water66°FObserved

Current regulations

What you can keep here today

San Francisco Groundfish Management Area

IN EFFECT NOW

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 Oct 31, 2026
Annual quota
Not published
Changes
Closed from Nov 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 south of 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 (2 per day)
  • 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 yesterday

Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed

When Chinook salmon is best here

Shoulder season for Chinook salmon · 1 more week at shoulder

Chinook salmon season by week of the year. Shoulder season for Chinook salmon · 1 more week at shoulder.
  • Peak
  • Shoulder
  • Off
  • Not here
  • This week

Chinook salmon in California

Spot profile

Little Coyote Point

Depth
1-3 ftNearest water
Structure
Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · flat bottom
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 Little Coyote Point

Little Coyote Point is a cape in San Francisco Bay South of the Bay Bridge, California. Depth in the nearest water is 1-3 ft, with a flat bottom. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

Waterlands scores 11 species here; the best right now are striped bass, white seabass and rockfish. It is peak season now for striped bass, rockfish, surfperch and cabezon, and shoulder season for white seabass, Chinook salmon, lingcod and leopard shark. Striped bass peak from June through July and from September through October. Rockfish 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.
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

  • Coyote Point

    Cape · 3.4 mi

    80
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 80
    • White seabass 71
    • Rockfish 61

    3 kt SWL 5:02 AM · 0.3 ftH 11:31 AM · 6.4 ft

  • Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 79
    • White seabass 69
    • Rockfish 61

    3 kt SWL 5:02 AM · 0.3 ftH 11:31 AM · 6.4 ft

  • Seal Slough

    Gut · 1.7 mi

    78
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 78
    • White seabass 64
    • Lingcod 57

    3 kt SWL 5:02 AM · 0.3 ftH 11:31 AM · 6.4 ft

  • Steinberger Slough

    Gut · 3.3 mi

    74
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 74
    • White seabass 60
    • Lingcod 58

    3 kt SWL 5:46 AM · 0.2 ftH 11:38 AM · 6.3 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.