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Chinook salmonRetention openBay · California
Pirates Cove
35.17°N · 120.72°W · Bay · Waters from Pt. Sal to Santa Cruz Island CA and westward 60 nm including San Miguel and Santa Rosa Islands
Species here · tap to switch
Best score today · 12 AM · Chinook salmon
- Now
- 545 PM PDT
- Best window
- 5-8 PMFlood tide
- Tide now
- Flooding3.2 ft ▲
Data from: NOAA CO-OPS + NDBC + ECMWF + Open-Meteo Marine · Waterlands engine
Notify me when Pirates Cove 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 · 5 PM · now
Tide & current
NOAA CO-OPS + Open-Meteo Marine
74Tide: FloodingCurrent: WeakWind & pressure
ECMWF
100Wind: 3 kt WNWPressure: SteadyWater temp & sky
NDBC + Open-Meteo Marine
53Water temp: 66°F, hotLight: DuskSolunar: Between periodsSeas: 5.7 ftSeason & habitat · Chinook salmon
Species seasonality
55Season: ShoulderHabitat: Usable structureDepth: In rangeRegulations: Retention open
Current regulations
What you can keep here today
Central Groundfish Management Area
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 Sep 30, 2026
- Annual quota
- Not published
- Changes
- Closed from Oct 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 from 38°02' N. lat. to 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
- 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 today
Seasonality · 52-week view · this week ringed
When Chinook salmon is best here
Last week of shoulder season for Chinook salmon · the off season next
- Peak
- Shoulder
- Off
- Not here
- This week
Spot profile
Pirates Cove
- Depth
- 10-25 ft
- Structure
- Bay · Outer · Exposed
- Season
- Shoulder seasonChinook salmon
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 Pirates Cove
Pirates Cove is a bay in Waters from Pt. Sal to Santa Cruz Island CA and westward 60 nm including San Miguel and Santa Rosa Islands, California. Depth is 10-25 ft. Its profile reads bay, outer water and exposed.
Waterlands scores 11 species here; the best right now are striped bass, surfperch and rockfish. It is peak season now for striped bass, surfperch, rockfish and cabezon, and shoulder season for white seabass, lingcod, Chinook salmon and kelp greenling. Striped bass peak from June through July and from September through October. Surfperch peak in May and from July through September. 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.
- Surfperch
- Surfperch feed in the troughs and holes within about 30 feet of the waterline, just outside the first set of breakers. Cast a two-hook high-low or Carolina rig with size 4 to 2 hooks and a 1 to 6 ounce pyramid sinker and let the surge work it through the trough. Fish the incoming tide on beaches with a steep drop, and switch to jetties, pilings and bays when the surf is too big.
Nearby spots
Other spots within an easy run
- Fossil Point69
Cape · 0.6 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 69
- Rockfish 64
- Lingcod 60
3 kt WNWH 8:35 PM · 5.2 ftL 3:16 AM · 0.3 ft
- Lone Rock68
Bar · 0.3 mi
Top: RockfishPeak season- Rockfish 68
- Lingcod 63
- Striped bass 62
3 kt WNWH 8:35 PM · 5.2 ftL 3:16 AM · 0.3 ft
- Howell Rock68
Bar · 1.3 mi
Top: RockfishPeak season- Rockfish 68
- Lingcod 63
- Striped bass 62
3 kt WNWH 8:35 PM · 5.2 ftL 3:16 AM · 0.3 ft
- San Luis Obispo Bay66
Bay · 0.9 mi
Top: Striped bassPeak season- Striped bass 66
- Rockfish 59
- White seabass 58
3 kt WNWH 8:35 PM · 5.2 ftL 3:16 AM · 0.3 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.