Waterlands

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Chinook salmonRetention open

Cape · California

Vista Point

37.83°N · 122.48°W · Cape · San Pablo Bay, Suisun Bay, the West Delta and the San Francisco Bay north of the Bay Bridge

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Best score today · 7 PM · Chinook salmon

80/100Great
Now
609 AM PDT
Best window
6-9 PMFlood tide
Tide now
Flooding3.9 ft ▲

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

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14-day forecast

Best days to fish

Best: Fri · 85

24-hour conditions · rolling from now

Conditions · 9 AM · now

Time9ANOW
Score60Good
Tide3.9 ft ▲Flooding
CurrentFlood2.3 kn · toward ENE
Wind1 kn SWgusts 4 · building
Sea stateRough4.8 ft · 9 s
Air temp58°Mild
WeatherMostly cloudy71% 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

Vista Point

Depth
5-100 ftDrop-off
Structure
Point · Inner · Semi-exposedPoint · drop-off
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 Vista Point

Vista Point is a cape in San Pablo Bay, Suisun Bay, the West Delta and the San Francisco Bay north of the Bay Bridge, California. Depth is 5-100 ft, with a drop-off. Its profile reads point, inner water and semi-exposed.

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

View all on map →
  • Golden Gate

    Channel · 1.1 mi

    71
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 71
    • Rockfish 62
    • Chinook salmon 60

    1 kt SWH 10:49 AM · 4.9 ftL 4:06 PM · 2.2 ft

  • Point Cavallo

    Cape · 0.2 mi

    69
    Top: Striped bassPeak season
    • Striped bass 69
    • White seabass 62
    • Surfperch 60

    1 kt SWH 10:59 AM · 4.8 ftL 4:20 PM · 2.2 ft

  • Kirby Cove

    Bay · 0.8 mi

    68
    Top: SurfperchPeak season
    • Surfperch 68
    • Striped bass 66
    • Rockfish 61

    1 kt SWH 10:59 AM · 4.8 ftL 4:20 PM · 2.2 ft

  • Horseshoe Bay

    Bay · 0.1 mi

    65
    Top: SurfperchPeak season
    • Surfperch 65
    • Striped bass 62
    • Rockfish 58

    1 kt SWH 10:59 AM · 4.8 ftL 4:20 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.