Waterlands

UPDATEDAUTO-REFRESH 5 MIN

Chinook salmonRetention open

Channel · California

Bonita Channel

37.83°N · 122.56°W · Channel · San Pablo Bay, Suisun Bay, the West Delta and the San Francisco Bay north of the Bay Bridge

LOADING MAP

Best score today · 7 PM · Chinook salmon

74/100Great
Now
567 AM PDT
Best window
6-9 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding2.6 ft ▲

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

Notify me when Bonita Channel scores 75+

Checked every morning against the 14-day forecast. Free by push and email.

Sign in to set an alert

14-day forecast

Best days to fish

Best: Fri · 83

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 7 AM · now

Time7ANOW
Score56Good
Tide2.6 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood0.6 kn · toward ESE
Wind1 kn SSEgusts 3 · steady
Sea stateRough5.6 ft · 9 s
Air temp55°Mild
WeatherOvercast86% cloud
Water65°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)
Always check with CDFW ↗Fishing license ↗

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

Bonita Channel

Depth
35-60 ftSlope
Structure
Channel · Outer · ExposedChannel · 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 Bonita Channel

Bonita Channel is a channel in San Pablo Bay, Suisun Bay, the West Delta and the San Francisco Bay north of the Bay Bridge, California. Depth is 35-60 ft, with a slope. Its profile reads channel, outer water and exposed.

Waterlands scores 11 species here; the best right now are striped bass, lingcod and rockfish. It is peak season now for striped bass, rockfish, surfperch and cabezon, and shoulder season for lingcod, Chinook salmon, white seabass and kelp greenling. Striped bass peak from June through July and from September through October. Lingcod peak from April through May and from October through November. 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.
Lingcod
Lingcod ambush prey from rock outcrops, reef edges and kelp where current runs, most often in 30 to 300 feet, and males move shallow to guard nests in winter. Drift over the reef bouncing a lead-head swimbait or metal jig on the bottom, or fish herring or squid on a heavy leader, since their teeth cut light line. From jetties and rocky shore, work bait or jigs along the rocks on the incoming tide.

Nearby spots

Other spots within an easy run

View all on map →
  • Centissima Reef

    Bar · 0.5 mi

    68
    Top: RockfishPeak season
    • Rockfish 68
    • Lingcod 64
    • Cabezon 62

    1 kt SSEH 10:32 AM · 5.2 ftL 3:56 PM · 2.2 ft

  • Sears Rock

    Bar · 0.6 mi

    68
    Top: RockfishPeak season
    • Rockfish 68
    • Lingcod 64
    • Cabezon 62

    1 kt SSEH 10:32 AM · 5.2 ftL 3:56 PM · 2.2 ft

  • Four Fathom Bank

    Bar · 0.7 mi

    63
    Top: RockfishPeak season
    • Rockfish 63
    • Striped bass 62
    • White seabass 61

    1 kt SSEH 10:32 AM · 5.2 ftL 3:56 PM · 2.2 ft

  • Potatopatch Shoal

    Bar · 1.2 mi

    63
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 63
    • Surfperch 60
    • Rockfish 58

    1 kt SSEH 10:32 AM · 5.2 ftL 3:56 PM · 2.2 ft

Open in the tide map

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.