The Weekly Fishing Report
Wednesday, September 23 – Wednesday, September 30, 2026
Central Valley · Sierra · Eastern Sierra · Delta · Coast | Issue 26-38
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7,585 FALL KINGS CAUGHT BY SEPT. 15, 12,415 LEFT ON THE GUIDELINE • SOUTH OF PIGEON POINT CLOSES SEPT. 30 • FULL MOON SATURDAY • MINUS TIDES BACK AT THE GOLDEN GATE MON–WED EVENINGS • 1,885 YELLOWFIN ON SAN DIEGO BOATS SUNDAY • 44 LINGCOD TO 16 LB ON ONE MORRO BAY BOAT • PINE FLAT RELEASE BACK UP TO 756 CFS, KINGS PLANTED AGAIN • FLORENCE LAKE DOWN 44% IN A WEEK
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Last week we told you nobody outside CDFW knew how much of the fall salmon guideline was gone. Now we do. CDFW’s Sport Ocean Salmon Tracker, updated through Sept. 15, puts the fall catch at 7,585 Chinook, with 12,415 left on the 20,000-fish guideline. That is 38% of the season’s fish gone in the first fifteen days. If the back half of September ran at the same pace, the guideline would fill around Oct. 10, three weeks before the calendar says the season ends. That is our arithmetic, not a CDFW forecast, and the pace will not hold exactly. But it is the reason we keep saying: do not plan on late October.
The fishing itself is still worth the drive. Sunday the northern fleet put 164 kings on 125 rods, with New Easy Rider at 31 on 16 and three more boats at exactly two a rod. It softened early this week, 0.88 Monday and 0.76 Tuesday on light boat counts, but over the four days it averaged just over a fish a rod. And south of Pigeon Point, the season ends Wednesday, Sept. 30, eight days counting today.
Saturday is the full moon, and this time the almanac and the clock agree. Friday through Sunday the moon sets within minutes of sunrise and rises within minutes of sunset. On the coast, the bigger tides that come with it are back: minus lows return at the Golden Gate Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday evenings, down to −0.26 ft, after a week with none. Morro Bay is making the most of it already: Endeavor brought in limits for 30 anglers plus 44 lingcod to 16 pounds on Saturday.
Inland, two things to know. The Pine Flat release we celebrated last week has crept back up from 571 cfs to 756 in four days, and CDFW planted the lower Kings a second week running. Good fish, pushier water. And the Section 7 sheet was patchy again: this morning’s run blanked Don Pedro, McClure, Millerton and New Melones, but a late-night run published most of them through Monday. We print the newest number that exists and tell you how old it is.
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◉ This Week’s Best Bets
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Bet No. 1 · Golden Gate
Fall Kings, Now With a Countdown
12,415 fish left on the guideline as of Sept. 15. Sunday: 164 kings on 125 rods across the fleet, New Easy Rider 31 on 16, and Scallywag, Right Hook and Top Gun all at two a rod. Hog Heaven’s best went 27 lb. Early this week slowed to under a fish a rod on light boats. North of Pigeon Point: 39 days on the calendar. South: 8. Call (707) 576-3429 the morning you go.
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Bet No. 2 · Morro Bay & Avila
Full-Moon Rockfish and Big Ling
Eight Central Coast trips from Saturday to Tuesday came in at exactly ten rockfish a rod. On top of that, Endeavor added 44 lingcod to 16 lb for 30 anglers Saturday and 30 more on 15 Sunday; Starfire had 25. Avila’s Flying Fish limited on a half day. The closest sure saltwater to the Valley. Sublimits still apply: copper 1, canary 2, vermilion 4.
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Bet No. 3 · San Diego & Oceanside
Yellowfin, Still Wide Open
Boats reporting to the San Diego count service landed 1,885 yellowfin on Sunday and 1,636 Monday (our sum, boat by boat). The San Diego out of Seaforth went 263 on 35 on a full day; Pronto out of Oceanside hit ten a rod again. Liberty’s 2-day had yellowfin to 100 lb. The yellowfin limit is 10 a day; the fish counts on these boats are pushing it.
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Bet No. 4 · Fresno, Kings & Tulare
The Lower Kings, Planted Again
CDFW planted rainbows below Pine Flat for the second straight week, week of Sept. 20–26, in all three counties the river runs through. The catch: the release rose from 571 cfs to 756 between Friday and Tuesday. Still fishable from the bank with crawlers, eggs and small spinners behind structure. Not a week to wade across anything.
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⚠ Water Watch
Pine Flat turned the tap back up. Daily outflow ran 626 cfs last Tuesday, bottomed at 571 on Friday, then climbed every day to 756 cfs Tuesday, up 32% in four days. Storage gave up 935 acre-feet on the week, to 158,061 AF, 15.8% of gross pool. Kings natural flow read 263.6 cfs Sunday, the last day it was reported; below the North Fork near Trimmer, 203.5 cfs.
The Kaiser Pass lakes are draining hard. Florence fell from 12,085 AF to 6,722, down 44% in a week. Edison dropped 17%, to 29,893, and Mammoth Pool gave up 2,956 AF. That water is headed down the San Joaquin. If you launch at Florence or Edison, expect a longer walk to the water than two weeks ago. Isabella lost another 5,058 AF, to 27.2%.
How fresh are the numbers? This morning’s Section 7 sheet published “No Project Data Available” for Don Pedro, McClure, Millerton and New Melones and nothing for the upper San Joaquin lakes. A run posted at 11:01 last night, with data through Monday, Sept. 21, did carry Don Pedro, McClure, Shaver, Huntington, Edison, Florence and the McSwain release; those are the figures below, marked ‡. Millerton, New Melones and Bass Lake have published nothing newer than Thursday, Sept. 17; they are starred. There are tournaments on Don Pedro and McClure again this Saturday. Call the marina.
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◉ Lakes & Reservoirs
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District. Corps sheet: data ending midnight Sept. 22, generated Sept. 23 at 08:00. Section 7 figures are from the newest run that published each project (see marks). The 7-day column compares like with like: Sept. 22 against Sept. 15 for Corps lakes, Sept. 21 against Sept. 14 for the ‡ projects. Percent-full uses gross pool.
| Lake | Elev (ft) | Storage (AF) | % Full | 7-Day |
| Pine Flat | 741.83 | 158,061 | 15.8% | −935 |
| Millerton (Friant) | n/r | 228,333* | 43.9%* | stale* |
| Don Pedro | 789.12‡ | 1,550,780‡ | 76.4%‡† | −19,062 |
| New Melones | n/r | 1,544,821* | 64.4%* | stale* |
| McClure (New Exchequer) | 786.91‡ | 565,037‡ | 55.1%‡† | −12,951 |
| McSwain (release below) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 936 cfs‡ |
| Eastman (Buchanan) | 466.26 | 10,276 | 6.9% | −52 |
| Hensley (Hidden) | 453.50 | 6,687 | 7.4% | −35 |
| Kaweah (Terminus) | 601.68 | 21,045 | 11.3% | −761 |
| Success (Schafer) | 600.10 | 12,263 | 14.9% | −1,537 |
| Isabella | 2,557.74 | 154,448 | 27.2% | −5,058 |
| Shaver | n/r | 87,695‡ | 64.8%‡ | −1,783 |
| Bass Lake (Crane Valley) | n/r | 35,812* | 78.9%* | stale* |
| New Hogan | 668.59 | 159,033 | n/p | −1,984 |
| Huntington | n/r | 87,796‡ | n/p | +43 |
| Edison | n/r | 29,893‡ | n/p | −6,277 |
| Florence | n/r | 6,722‡ | n/p | −5,363 |
| Wishon & Courtright | Not published on either Corps sheet (PG&E projects). No verified level for either this week. |
‡ Data ending midnight Sept. 21 (Section 7 run generated Sept. 22 at 23:01). This morning’s run blanked these projects; this is one day older than the Corps lakes and the newest published. * Data ending midnight Sept. 17, the last day these three projects were published. Six days old, printed only because nothing newer exists; no trend shown. † Percent-full for Don Pedro and McClure is our own arithmetic against 2,030,000 AF and 1,024,600 AF gross pool; the Corps does not print a percentage for these two. n/r = the agency reported no value. n/p = we hold no published gross-pool figure we trust for that project, so we do not estimate one.
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Bite Report
Same straight word as last week. The weekly regional aggregator again filed “no reports for this week” for Central California, Central Sierra, Sierra Foothills and the Delta. A syndicated Central California column dated “Sept. 18–24” turned up in search; its lake levels contradict this morning’s Corps sheet on every line (it has Pine Flat at 40%; the Corps has 15.8%) and it refers to 2025 in the future tense. It is an old year’s column. We did not use it. What follows is built on verified levels, flows, plants and September pattern.
| Water | What We Know |
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| Pine Flat |
At 15.8% the fish are packed into a small lake. The late-September play is the same as it has been: kings and rainbows under the shad schools off main-lake points and bluffs, early and late; bass off the flats and onto ledges and brush. Pine Flat hosts BASS 101 on Oct. 3 and Golden Empire on Oct. 10, so the ramps will be tested. Launch conditions are the risk, not the bite. |
| Millerton |
No published storage since Thursday (228,333 AF, 43.9%). Still the fullest Valley-floor lake we cover. The water coming off Florence and Edison has to pass through it. Spotted bass on finesse, catfish from the bank after dark. BASS 101 is on Millerton Sunday, Oct. 4. |
| Don Pedro & McClure |
Don Pedro gave up 19,062 AF in the week to Monday, McClure 12,951. Both are dropping fast. September pattern is shad-driven: trout and kings on the bait schools, bass deep. Two permitted events on Don Pedro and one on McClure this Saturday; the operators will know where the ramp ends. |
| New Melones |
Nothing published since Thursday, when it held 1,544,821 AF, 64.4%. Kokanee are headed to spawn; trout and bass are a grind until the water cools. |
| Eastman & Hensley |
6.9% and 7.4%, and the Fresno River above Hensley still reads zero. Eastman is the bass water of the two; Hensley is catfish and carp. Launch-first problems at these levels. |
| Kaweah & Success |
Kaweah 11.3%, Success 14.9%, and Success lost 1,537 AF on the week, the most of any Tulare Basin lake but Isabella. The Kaweah at Three Rivers reads 43.2 cfs. Small-water fishing: finesse plastics, minijigs for crappie, dip bait for cats after dark. |
| Shaver & Huntington |
Shaver at 64.8% and falling about 250 AF a day; Huntington flat. Kokanee in both are done as a target and heading to the inlets; holdover rainbows follow them for the eggs. That is pattern, not a report. |
| Wishon & Courtright |
On no Corps sheet, and we found no current report we could date. High-country trout water that fishes into October. Call ahead; we have nothing verified on access at Courtright this season. |
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Central Coast
We are pulling our own number back this week. Last week we printed Lopez and San Antonio from a third-party aggregator dated Sept. 16. This morning the same page, now dated Sept. 23, shows the identical storage to the acre-foot for both lakes, and the Lopez page’s own storage chart stops in July. A reservoir being drawn in September does not hold still to the acre-foot for a week. We believe the feed is frozen, so the figures below are shown for reference and flagged, not presented as current. These are percent of normal for the date, not percent of capacity.
| Lake | Storage (AF) | % of Normal for the Date |
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| Lopez | 48,679 (stale) | 129%, same as last week |
| San Antonio | 270,863 (stale) | 148%, same as last week |
| Nacimiento | Aggregator page returned no storage this morning. |
| Santa Margarita | No storage published. |
What we can say: the Central Coast lakes went into fall with more water than the Valley lakes, and nothing since has changed that. For a real level, call the county: San Luis Obispo County Parks runs Lopez and Santa Margarita, Monterey County runs Nacimiento and San Antonio. Nacimiento and Santa Margarita both have permitted events Oct. 17.
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◉ Eastern Sierra
This week’s plants moved down the Owens. CDFW stocked rainbows in the Upper Owens, Section 3 above Crowley, and the Owens below Tinemaha Reservoir, week of Sept. 20–26. Last week’s fish went into the Virginia Lakes, Convict Creek and Rock Creek; they are still in there.
The newest dated guide report we found is Sierra Drifters’ from Sept. 16, a week old. It had Crowley fish “on the chew” in McGee Bay, Layton Springs and Green Banks at 8 to 10 feet, with a lot of water between the good spots, so sonar matters. It put the Lower Owens around 500 cfs, too high to wade, and the East Walker near 230 cfs, a good wading flow. It also said the June Lake basin is turning over into fall mode, with bigger browns expected. Nothing filed out of Bridgeport or the June Lake Loop itself.
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⚠ The Regs Up Here Are Not the Regs Down Here
Inyo and Mono waters carry special regulations that change reach by reach on the same river. The Owens above a given bridge is not the Owens below it, and Hot Creek, the East Walker and the Upper Owens each have their own gear and take rules. “I checked the statewide rules” does not cover you here.
A handful of Mono County waters, the East Walker among them, stay open year-round, and in the off-season those are catch-and-release, barbless, artificial lure or fly only. Most of the district runs on the general season, which closes in mid-November.
We still have not confirmed the exact 2026 closing date on CDFW’s own pages, so we are not printing one. If you are planning a late-season trip, read the Sierra District entry for your specific water in the current regulations booklet.
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◉ Delta, Rivers & Aqueduct
| Water | Conditions & What We Can Verify |
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| The Delta |
No fresh regional column again. What changed is the water: after a flat week, the tide is building toward the full moon, and by Tuesday Port Chicago swings from 5.47 ft to 0.26 in the same evening. More current means more movement for stripers on the west Delta flats. The lowest Port Chicago water of the week is this morning, 0.08 ft at 6:59; after that the lows fall in the evening. Saturday brings four permitted bass events on Delta water, plus Tracy Oasis on Thursday and Friday and River Bank Bass Anglers on Sunday. |
| Upper Kings, above Pine Flat |
Below the North Fork near Trimmer: 203.5 cfs. Natural flow into Pine Flat last read 263.6 cfs on Sunday and came back “not reported” the other three days. Low, clear freestone water. Fish it small and quiet. |
| Lower Kings, below the dam |
Planted again, week of Sept. 20–26, in Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties. The release is back up to 756 cfs from a low of 571 on Friday. Fish the softer water behind structure and the tailouts. Wading warning: the flow is rising, not falling. A crossing you made on Friday is 185 cfs harder now. Wear the vest, use a staff, and if you are alone, fish from the bank. |
| Kaweah & Tule |
Kaweah at Three Rivers 43.2 cfs. The Tule gauges came back this week after last week’s blank: South Fork near Success 4.3 cfs, near Springville 10.7 cfs, Deer Creek at Trenton Weir zero. That is a creek, not a river. |
| Kern River |
At Kernville, 178.5 cfs, steady all week. CDFW planted Kern River Section 4 this week, after Sections 5 and 6 last week. Low, clear, freshly stocked moving water without a long tow. |
| San Joaquin below Friant |
No flow published since Thursday, when the river below Friant read 375 cfs. With Florence and Edison emptying upstream, do not assume that number still holds. |
| California Aqueduct, San Luis & O’Neill Forebay |
No verified current report. September pattern is catfish on cut bait and dip bait along the canal, with stripers around the check gates early. The standing warning does not depend on a report: aqueduct water is swift, cold, steep-sided and has no way out. PFD on, fish with somebody, stay off wet concrete. |
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◉ Ocean Report & Charters
Boat-by-boat dock totals, Sept. 19–22. Fish-per-rod is our arithmetic from the published angler and fish counts. On multi-day trips the per-rod figure is for the whole trip, not per day; a 2-day boat has had two days’ limits to work with. “YFT” = yellowfin only.
| Boat / Port | Date & Trip | Count | Per Rod |
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| Bay Area & North: Salmon |
| New Easy Rider · Berkeley | Sept. 20, full day | 31 kings on 16, to 25 lb | 1.94 |
| Scallywag · Emeryville | Sept. 20, full day | 12 kings on 6 | 2.00 |
| Right Hook · Berkeley | Sept. 20, 1/2 day AM | 10 kings on 5 | 2.00 |
| New Huck Finn · Emeryville | Sept. 20, full day | 25 kings on 16 | 1.56 |
| Hog Heaven · Sausalito | Sept. 20, full day | 23 kings on 15, to 27 lb | 1.53 |
| Lady K · Emeryville | Sept. 19, full day | 12 kings on 6 | 2.00 |
| Reel Addiction 1 · Berkeley | Sept. 19, full day | 12 kings on 6 | 2.00 |
| Lovely Martha · San Francisco | Sept. 21 / Sept. 22 | 17 on 15, then 12 on 10 | 1.13 / 1.20 |
| Salty Lady · Sausalito | Sept. 21, full day | 5 kings on 15, to 28 lb, + 4 bonito | 0.33 |
| Northern fleet daily average | Sat 1.01 · Sun 1.31 · Mon 0.88 · Tue 0.76 | ≈1.08 |
| Bay Area & North: Groundfish |
| Surf Scooter · Bodega Bay | Sept. 19, full day | 170 rockfish + 34 lingcod to 23 lb on 17 | 10.00 limits |
| TigerFish · Emeryville | Sept. 20, full day | 200 rockfish + 40 lingcod to 20 lb + 6 kings on 20 | 10.00 limits |
| Sea Wolf · Emeryville | Sept. 19, full day | 220 rockfish + 16 lingcod on 22 | 10.00 limits |
| Queen of Hearts · Half Moon Bay | Sept. 21, full day | 190 rockfish, 5 ling, 15 bonito on 19 | 10.00 limits |
| Kahuna · Monterey | Sept. 20, 1/2 day AM | 200 rockfish + 1 ling on 20 | 10.00 limits |
| Riptide · Half Moon Bay | Sept. 19, deep reef | 130 rockfish, 3 ling and 62 bonito on 11 | see note |
| Riptide’s rockfish count works out above ten a rod on its posted angler count; the likeliest explanation is crew fish included in the total. We show the count and leave the per-rod blank rather than print a number over the legal limit. |
| Central Coast: Morro Bay & Avila Beach |
| Endeavor · Morro Bay | Sept. 19, full day | 300 rockfish-group + 44 lingcod to 16 lb on 30 | 10.00 limits |
| Endeavor · Morro Bay | Sept. 20, full day | 150 rockfish-group + 30 lingcod to 16 lb on 15 | 10.00 limits |
| Starfire · Morro Bay | Sept. 20, 3/4 day | 270 rockfish-group + 25 ling on 28 | 9.64 |
| Avenger · Morro Bay | Sept. 21, 3/4 day | 140 rockfish-group + 14 ling on 14 | 10.00 limits |
| Flying Fish · Avila Beach | Sept. 20, 1/2 day AM | 210 rockcod + 6 bonito on 21 | 10.00 limits |
| Patriot · Avila Beach | Sept. 21, 1/2 day AM | 130 rockcod, 5 ling to 12 lb, 19 bonito on 13 | 10.00 limits |
| Starfire · Morro Bay | Sept. 22, 1/2 day AM | 140 rockfish-group on 14 | 10.00 limits |
| “Rockfish-group” is our sum of the rockfish, bocaccio, copper, red rockfish and bolina the landing lists separately; all count toward the 10-fish aggregate. |
| Southern California: Oxnard, San Pedro, Long Beach, Newport, Dana Point |
| Amigo · San Pedro (22nd St.) | Sept. 20, 2 day | 118 yellowfin, 8 dorado, 19 skipjack, 2 yellowtail on 10 | 11.80 YFT, trip |
| Thunderbird · Newport | Sept. 20, 2 day, charter | 266 yellowfin, 7 yellowtail, 2 striped marlin on 24 | 11.08 YFT, trip |
| Fury · Dana Point | Sept. 20, 2 day | 190 yellowfin, 22 skipjack, 40 calico, 6 yellowtail on 19 | 10.00 YFT, trip |
| Freedom · San Pedro (22nd St.) | Sept. 22, 2 day | 151 yellowfin, 22 dorado, 55 skipjack on 35 | 4.31 YFT, trip |
| Toronado · Long Beach (Pierpoint) | Sept. 19, overnight | 51 yellowfin to 50 lb, 14 sheephead on 23 | 2.22 YFT, trip |
| Clemente · Dana Point | Sept. 22, 3/4 day | 130 yellowfin, 28 skipjack, 2 dorado on 44 | 2.95 |
| Indicator · Oxnard | Sept. 19, overnight | 46 yellowfin, 22 skipjack, 1 striped marlin on 16 | 2.88 YFT, trip |
| Freelance · Newport (Davey’s) | Sept. 20, ext. 3/4 day | 5 bluefin, 5 yellowtail, 37 bonito on 55 | n/a |
| Native Sun · San Pedro (22nd St.) | Sept. 22, 3/4 day | 101 barracuda, 14 yellowtail, 60 calico on 36 | n/a |
| San Diego & Oceanside |
| All boats reporting to the San Diego count service | Sun 1,885 yellowfin · Mon 1,636 · Tue 1,244 (our sums) | n/a |
| San Diego · Seaforth | Sept. 21, full day | 263 yellowfin, 25 skipjack, 3 dorado on 35 | 7.51 |
| Pronto · Oceanside | Sept. 20, 3/4 day | 120 yellowfin, 2 skipjack on 12 | 10.00 YFT |
| Patriot · San Diego (H&M) | Sept. 20, overnight | 100 yellowfin, 2 dorado on 10 | 10.00 YFT, trip |
| Producer · San Diego (H&M) | Sept. 21, overnight | 235 yellowfin, 12 bullet, 4 dorado on 29 | 8.10 YFT, trip |
| Liberty · San Diego (Fisherman’s) | Sept. 20, 2 day | 140 yellowfin to 100 lb, 140 dorado, 19 yellowtail on 20 | 7.00 YFT, trip |
| Islander · San Diego (Fisherman’s) | Sept. 20, 3.5 day | 4 bluefin to 130 lb, 44 dorado, 2 wahoo on 27 | n/a |
| Legend · San Diego (H&M) | Sept. 21, 3 day | 1 blue marlin, 67 dorado, 7 wahoo, 33 yellowfin, 32 yellowtail on 25 | n/a |
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Catalina & the Island Boats
No skipper put a fish on Catalina in writing this week, so neither will we. We read every 22nd Street Landing report posted since last Wednesday and the Davey’s Locker count page for the same days. All of 22nd Street’s posts were offshore tuna trips. The Freedom crew filed on Sept. 19 with “100 yellowfin tuna weighing anywhere from 10 to 65 pounds” on an overnight, and Michael Potvin brought the Pride in Sept. 16 from a 1.5-day with 81 yellowfin, 25 dorado and a marlin. Neither named the island.
The boat most likely to have been there is 22nd Street’s Pursuit, which the landing’s schedule had on Catalina full-day trips through Sept. 24 when we checked last week. Its Monday count: 9 yellowtail, 18 calico, 66 bonito and a barracuda on 39 anglers. That is an island-style mixed bag, but the count service does not say where it was caught, and we are not going to guess for you. Call the landing at (310) 832-8304 and ask what the Pursuit is running this week.
Worth knowing before any SoCal trip: CDFW’s Marine Region posted a reminder on Sept. 17 about this year’s warmwater fish. Yellowfin are 10 a day within the 20-fish general limit, bluefin 2, and skipjack have no limit. Tuna filleted on a boat south of Point Conception must be cut in six skin-on pieces and bagged by species. From Pigeon Point south, shore anglers and anyone within 1,000 yards of shore can’t use hooks over 1½ inches or wire leaders, under an emergency white shark rule.
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Landing & Charter Directory
Numbers are published landing lines. Boats sell out on a bite like this one. Call, do not just show up.
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⏳ The Season Clock
Salmon: 12,415 fish left. 8 days south of Pigeon Point.
38°02′ N (near Point Reyes) to Pigeon Point: open Sept. 1 – Oct. 31. Counting today, 39 days on the calendar.
Pigeon Point to the U.S./Mexico border: open Sept. 1 – 30. Counting today, 8 days left. Last day is Wednesday.
The tracker, updated through Sept. 15: 7,585 Chinook estimated caught in the fall season across all open areas, 12,415 remaining on the shared 20,000-fish guideline. CDFW posts estimates by half-month, so the Sept. 16–30 number is not out yet, and says updates may come more often as the catch nears the guideline. At the first half’s pace, about 506 fish a day, the remainder runs out around Oct. 10. That projection is ours, not CDFW’s. Fewer boats are running and the south closes on the 30th, so the pace should ease. But nobody should be booking an Oct. 30 salmon trip on the assumption it will still be open.
Two salmon a day, any species except coho, 20-inch minimum. No filleting on the boat. North of Point Conception: two single-point single-shank barbless hooks, one rod per angler. CDFW’s most recent inseason notice is still the Aug. 21 post; no action has been taken on the fall season as of this morning.
Call the hotline the morning you go: (707) 576-3429. Inseason closures can come with a few days’ notice. It happened to San Francisco in August.
Groundfish Limits
10 rockfish per day, aggregate. Within that: canary 2, copper 1, vermilion 4 north of Point Conception. No retention at all of quillback, cowcod, yelloweye or bronzespotted. Depth rules and sublimits can change at the turn of a month, and October is next week. Confirm with CDFW before your first October trip.
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◉ Tide Tables
Pulled directly from the NOAA CO-OPS prediction API this morning: MLLW datum, high/low interval, local time with daylight saving. Heights in feet. H = high, L = low. Minus lows in red.
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The minus tides are back, and they come after dark. At the Golden Gate the evening low goes to −0.03 ft Monday at 7:18 p.m., −0.22 Tuesday at 8:06 and −0.26 Wednesday at 9:00. Monterey touches −0.06 Wednesday at 8:30 p.m. Sunset is around 6:45, so every one of these is a headlamp tide. The range builds all week: Wednesday at the Gate runs from a 6.33-ft high at 2:10 p.m. to −0.26 seven hours later, a swing of more than six and a half feet. That is the hard-moving water the Bay halibut and west Delta striper drifts want. Port Chicago does not go minus this week; its lowest water is 0.08 ft this morning at 6:59.
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San Francisco / Golden Gate · NOAA station 9414290
| Day | Highs & Lows |
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| Wed Sep 23 | 3:54a L 0.31 · 10:49a H 4.94 · 4:06p L 2.19 · 10:01p H 5.51 |
| Thu Sep 24 | 4:26a L 0.33 · 11:12a H 5.16 · 4:42p L 1.73 · 10:48p H 5.52 |
| Fri Sep 25 | 4:56a L 0.48 · 11:35a H 5.42 · 5:17p L 1.24 · 11:34p H 5.47 |
| Sat Sep 26 | 5:26a L 0.76 · 12:00p H 5.69 · 5:54p L 0.75 |
| Sun Sep 27 | 12:22a H 5.35 · 5:58a L 1.16 · 12:27p H 5.96 · 6:34p L 0.31 |
| Mon Sep 28 | 1:13a H 5.17 · 6:31a L 1.64 · 12:57p H 6.17 · 7:18p L -0.03 |
| Tue Sep 29 | 2:09a H 4.92 · 7:08a L 2.15 · 1:30p H 6.31 · 8:06p L -0.22 |
| Wed Sep 30 | 3:11a H 4.65 · 7:48a L 2.66 · 2:10p H 6.33 · 9:00p L -0.26 |
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Port Chicago / West Delta · NOAA station 9415144
| Day | Highs & Lows |
|---|
| Wed Sep 23 | 6:59a L 0.08 · 1:12p H 4.12 · 6:46p L 1.36 |
| Thu Sep 24 | 12:30a H 4.38 · 7:28a L 0.16 · 1:39p H 4.21 · 7:31p L 1.05 |
| Fri Sep 25 | 1:16a H 4.37 · 7:54a L 0.31 · 2:00p H 4.36 · 8:14p L 0.78 |
| Sat Sep 26 | 2:01a H 4.32 · 8:18a L 0.53 · 2:18p H 4.60 · 8:56p L 0.56 |
| Sun Sep 27 | 2:49a H 4.23 · 8:45a L 0.78 · 2:38p H 4.91 · 9:38p L 0.38 |
| Mon Sep 28 | 3:39a H 4.09 · 9:16a L 1.07 · 3:05p H 5.24 · 10:23p L 0.28 |
| Tue Sep 29 | 4:35a H 3.91 · 9:52a L 1.37 · 3:39p H 5.47 · 11:14p L 0.26 |
| Wed Sep 30 | 5:39a H 3.72 · 10:35a L 1.67 · 4:20p H 5.55 |
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Monterey · NOAA station 9413450
| Day | Highs & Lows |
|---|
| Wed Sep 23 | 3:12a L 0.29 · 9:45a H 4.30 · 3:03p L 2.17 · 8:58p H 5.12 |
| Thu Sep 24 | 3:41a L 0.35 · 10:04a H 4.56 · 3:42p L 1.73 · 9:41p H 5.11 |
| Fri Sep 25 | 4:09a L 0.53 · 10:25a H 4.86 · 4:22p L 1.28 · 10:24p H 5.01 |
| Sat Sep 26 | 4:37a L 0.81 · 10:48a H 5.19 · 5:04p L 0.84 · 11:10p H 4.82 |
| Sun Sep 27 | 5:05a L 1.20 · 11:14a H 5.50 · 5:48p L 0.46 |
| Mon Sep 28 | 12:00a H 4.55 · 5:35a L 1.65 · 11:43a H 5.75 · 6:36p L 0.17 |
| Tue Sep 29 | 12:56a H 4.22 · 6:06a L 2.12 · 12:17p H 5.91 · 7:29p L 0.00 |
| Wed Sep 30 | 2:03a H 3.88 · 6:39a L 2.56 · 12:56p H 5.94 · 8:30p L -0.06 |
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Port San Luis (Avila / Morro Bay) · NOAA station 9412110
| Day | Highs & Lows |
|---|
| Wed Sep 23 | 2:49a L 0.30 · 9:17a H 4.39 · 2:39p L 2.10 · 8:35p H 5.21 |
| Thu Sep 24 | 3:16a L 0.34 · 9:36a H 4.67 · 3:16p L 1.67 · 9:15p H 5.22 |
| Fri Sep 25 | 3:42a L 0.50 · 9:56a H 4.98 · 3:54p L 1.23 · 9:55p H 5.12 |
| Sat Sep 26 | 4:08a L 0.77 · 10:19a H 5.30 · 4:34p L 0.82 · 10:39p H 4.91 |
| Sun Sep 27 | 4:34a L 1.14 · 10:44a H 5.61 · 5:18p L 0.47 · 11:27p H 4.60 |
| Mon Sep 28 | 5:02a L 1.58 · 11:14a H 5.84 · 6:07p L 0.22 |
| Tue Sep 29 | 12:23a H 4.22 · 5:32a L 2.05 · 11:47a H 5.97 · 7:00p L 0.08 |
| Wed Sep 30 | 1:28a H 3.83 · 6:04a L 2.51 · 12:27p H 5.97 · 8:02p L 0.06 |
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◉ Moon Phase & Best Days
Phase computed from the synodic month (29.530588853 days) against the reference new moon of Jan. 6, 2000, 18:14 UTC. Sunrise, sunset, moonrise and moonset computed for Fresno (36.75°N, 119.77°W), PDT. Solunar majors are the moon overhead and underfoot, listed in the order they fall in the day. Almanac convention: the best fishing brackets the new and the full moon.
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This is the good week. The moon is full Saturday, Sept. 26, mid-morning: about 7:50 a.m. by the mean synodic month, 9:49 a.m. by the moon’s true position. That puts the whole almanac bracket, Thursday through Monday, inside this issue’s window, with the weekend in the middle of it.
The timing lines up too, just not on the majors. Around a full moon the majors fall near midnight and midday, good for night catfish and stripers and for the noon tide, not for first light. The minors are what land on the light: Saturday the moon sets at 6:49 a.m. against a 6:50 sunrise and rises at 6:43 p.m. against a 6:49 sunset. Friday it sets at 5:44 a.m. and rises at 6:17 p.m.; Sunday, 7:56 a.m. and 7:11 p.m. That is moonset and sunrise within a minute of each other, and moonrise and sunset within six. Fish Saturday, both ends of the day. On the coast, Saturday’s midday major falls within an hour of the Golden Gate’s 5.69-ft noon high.
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| Day | Moon | Majors | Sun | Rating |
|---|
| Wed Sept. 23 | Waxing gibbous, 91% | 10:37a / 11:00p | 6:47a – 6:54p | ●●●●○ Building |
| Thu Sept. 24 | Waxing gibbous, 96% | 11:22a / 11:44p | 6:48a – 6:52p | ●●●●○ Good |
| Fri Sept. 25 | Waxing gibbous, 99% | 12:06p only | 6:49a – 6:51p | ●●●●● Best bracket |
| Sat Sept. 26 | Full moon, 100% | 12:28a / 12:51p | 6:50a – 6:49p | ●●●●● Best of week |
| Sun Sept. 27 | Waning gibbous, 98% | 1:14a / 1:38p | 6:51a – 6:48p | ●●●●● Best bracket |
| Mon Sept. 28 | Waning gibbous, 94% | 2:03a / 2:28p | 6:52a – 6:46p | ●●●●○ Good |
| Tue Sept. 29 | Waning gibbous, 88% | 2:55a / 3:23p | 6:52a – 6:45p | ●●●○○ Decent |
| Wed Sept. 30 | Waning gibbous, 80% | 3:52a / 4:21p | 6:53a – 6:43p | ●●●○○ Decent |
Major times are computed from lunar transit and are approximate to within about fifteen minutes. Friday has only one major because the moon’s next overhead pass slips past midnight into Saturday. Ratings are the almanac convention applied honestly, not a promise. The next new moon is Oct. 10.
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◉ Fish Stocking Report
CDFW plants are posted as a week range, not a date. This is the list for the week of Sept. 20–26, 2026. All rainbow trout, all CDFW.
| County | Water |
|---|
| Fresno | Kings River, below Pine Flat Dam |
| Kings | Kings River, below Pine Flat Dam |
| Tulare | Kings River below Pine Flat Dam · Kern River Section 4 |
| Mono / Inyo | Upper Owens River, Section 3 (above Crowley) · Owens River below Tinemaha Reservoir |
| Nevada & Placer | Fuller Lake · Halsey Forebay |
| Shasta, Siskiyou & Tehama | McCloud River below Lower Falls · Battle Creek, South Fork |
| Trinity | Trinity River above Clair Engle, East Fork and Stuart Fork · Coffee Creek · Carrville Dredge Pond |
The listing files the Owens below Tinemaha under Mono County; that stretch is in Inyo, so we have grouped the two.
Still no valley-floor lake on the list, and there will not be one until the water cools. Through the warm months CDFW plants only cold tailwaters and high country. A hatchery rainbow dropped into a warm valley lake in September does not survive long. For planted fish close to home, the Kings below Pine Flat is the only game in the south Valley two weeks running, with the Kern above Kernville the backup.
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◉ Tournament Board
Pulled this morning from the CDFW Fishing Contest permit database, black bass category, approved events only. Every one of these has a state permit on file. Dates and venues can still change at the club’s end.
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Eighteen permitted events are on the water Saturday the 26th, down from last Saturday’s twenty-seven. Don Pedro, McClure and the Delta carry most of the Valley’s share. Nothing is permitted on Pine Flat, Millerton, Kaweah or Success this weekend, so if you are fishing the south Valley on the full moon, the ramps are yours. That changes Oct. 3–4, when BASS 101 runs Pine Flat and Millerton back to back.
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On the Water This Window: Sept. 23 to 30
| Date | Water | Sponsor |
|---|
| Wed 23 | Clear Lake | Wednesday Night Shootout |
| Thu 24 | Delta (San Joaquin) | Tracy Oasis Marina |
| Fri 25 – Sun 27 | Clear Lake, 3 day | American Bass |
| Fri 25 – Sun 27 | Shasta Lake, 3 day | American Bass |
| Fri 25 | Delta (San Joaquin) | Tracy Oasis Marina |
| Saturday Sept. 26: Central Valley & Foothills |
| Sat 26 – Sun 27 | Don Pedro, 2 day | Sierra Bass Club |
| Sat 26 | Don Pedro | Oro Madre Bass Anglers |
| Sat 26 | McClure | 17-90 Bass Club |
| Sat 26 | Oroville | Westside Anglers |
| Saturday Sept. 26: The Delta |
| Sat 26 – Sun 27 | Delta (Sacramento), 2 day | Cen Cal Elite Bass Tournaments |
| Sat 26 | Delta (Sacramento) | B2B Hawg Handlers |
| Sat 26 | Delta (Contra Costa) | The Bass Hole, LLC |
| Sat 26 | Delta (San Joaquin) | NorCal Bass |
| Sun 27 | Delta (San Joaquin) | River Bank Bass Anglers |
| Rest of the window |
| Sat 26 | Berryessa · Sonoma · Clear Lake | Bass Anglers of Northern California · Redwood Empire Bass Club · Basin Bassmaster Loomis |
| Sat 26 – Sun 27 | Clear Lake, 2 day | Modesto Ambassadors |
| Sat 26 | Skinner (two events) · San Vicente · Silverwood | California Bass Contenders · Inland Empire Bassmasters · San Diego Council of Bass Clubs · West Coast Bass Anglers |
| Sun 27 | San Vicente | San Diego Bassmasters |
| Wed 30 | Clear Lake | Wednesday Night Shootout |
Mark the Calendar
| Date | Water | Sponsor |
|---|
| Oct. 3 | Pine Flat | BASS 101 |
| Oct. 4 | Millerton | BASS 101 |
| Oct. 3 | Isabella | Copes Tackle and Rod |
| Oct. 3 | Delta (Contra Costa) | Delta Bass Club |
| Oct. 10 | Pine Flat | Golden Empire Bass Club |
| Oct. 10 | Bass Lake (Madera) | Kerman Bass Club |
| Oct. 11 | McClure | Kings VIII Bass Club |
| Oct. 16–18 | Don Pedro, 3 day | Bass Angler Inc. |
| Oct. 17–18 | Lake Success, 2 day | Ducks Unlimited |
| Oct. 17–18 | McClure, 2 day | River Bank Bass Anglers |
| Oct. 17 | Nacimiento | Gilroy Bassmasters |
| Oct. 17 | Santa Margarita | SLO County Bass Ambushers |
| Oct. 17–18 | Delta (Sacramento), 2 day | Fresno Bass Club |
| Oct. 24 | Don Pedro | Oro Madre Bass Anglers |
| Nov. 1 | McClure · Don Pedro | Modesto Ambassadors · SAF/Oakdale HS Bass Team |
| Nov. 7 | Millerton | Kerman Bass Club |
| Nov. 7–8 | Nacimiento, 2 day | Golden Empire Bass Club |
| Nov. 8 | Millerton | Kings VIII Bass Club |
We do not print last week’s weights. Host clubs post results on no verifiable schedule and many never post at all, so a results table here would be part fact and part guess. Upcoming permitted events only.
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Did We Miss Your Water?
Tell us about water we are not covering. The Eastern Sierra section, the Southern California dock totals and the Catalina block are all here because readers wrote in and asked. Say the word and yours could be next.
Rather talk it through? (559) 816-3889.
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⚠ Heat & Water Safety
The Kings is rising again, and that is when people get caught. The release went from 571 cfs Friday to 756 Tuesday, and there are fresh planted trout in it for the second week running. A gravel bar or crossing that felt easy last weekend has more water on it now, and it is still cold, pushy tailwater over slick cobble. Wear the vest. Use a staff. If you are by yourself, fish from the bank.
This week’s minus tides fall after dark. Monday through Wednesday the Golden Gate lows come at 7:18, 8:06 and 9:00 p.m., well after sunset. If you are out on a drained flat or reef for clams or bait, carry a real light, know your way back before you walk out, and start back before the turn. The flood behind a minus low on a big-range tide comes in fast.
Young white sharks are close to shore this year. CDFW says juveniles are moving farther north than usual and staying nearshore longer. That is why the emergency gear rule from Pigeon Point south bans big hooks and wire leaders from shore. If you hook one, cut the line. Do not try to land it.
Low lakes and falling lakes. Pine Flat at 15.8%, Kaweah 11.3%, Eastman 6.9%: every stump and roadbed that cleared your hull in July is at prop depth now. Up high, Florence lost 44% of its water in a week and Edison 17%. Ramps that worked two weekends ago may end in mud. Idle in, watch the sounder, and throw out old waypoints.
A blank row is not a safe row. Millerton, New Melones and Bass Lake have published no level since Thursday. If you are towing to any of them, or to Don Pedro or McClure for Saturday’s events, call the marina or the operating agency first.
Fire and heat have not read the calendar. The equinox was Tuesday, but fire danger in the high country is not over. Check road and fire status before you head for Shaver, Huntington, the Kaiser Pass lakes, Wishon or over the hill to the Owens, and know a second way out. On the valley floor, fish early or late, carry more water than you think you need, and tell somebody where you went and when you will be back.
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Three things this week. First, the salmon math. For a month we have said nobody knew how much of the fall guideline was left. Now CDFW says 12,415 fish as of Sept. 15. At the first half’s pace that runs out around Oct. 10. That is our projection, not theirs, and the pace will ease as boats stop running. But if you want a fall king, book it in the next two weeks, and if you fish south of Pigeon Point, you have until Wednesday. Call (707) 576-3429 the morning you go.
Second, the full moon. Last week we told you the good moon was coming. It is here. Saturday the moon sets with the sun coming up and rises as it goes down, and there is not a single permitted tournament on Pine Flat, Millerton, Kaweah or Success. If you have been waiting for a quiet ramp and a good almanac day at the same time, this is the weekend.
Third, the numbers we pulled back. We printed Central Coast lake levels last week that we now believe came from a frozen feed. We said so above and took them off the current list. When a source goes stale, we would rather tell you than let a number sit in the table looking fresh.
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Tight lines
Bryan Mello
B Mello Ag Services · Central Valley, California
Every issue we have ever published is free at bmelloag.com/reports: field conditions, ag crime, markets, fuel and fishing.
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(559) 816-3889
bryan@bmelloag.com
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Sources used for this issue: Tide predictions came directly from the NOAA CO-OPS data API, pulled this morning: stations 9414290 San Francisco, 9415144 Port Chicago, 9413450 Monterey and 9412110 Port San Luis, MLLW datum, high/low interval, local time. Wednesday’s values match last week’s separate pull for the same day · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Sacramento District daily reports: Corps sheet with data ending midnight Sept. 22, generated Sept. 23 at 08:00; Section 7 sheets for Sept. 14 through Sept. 22 read from the Corps’ own report history, with each project shown from the newest run that published it · NorCalFishReports.com boat-by-boat dock totals for Sept. 19–22 and its weekly report for the week of Sept. 21, including Fish Emeryville, Lovely Martha, Salty Lady and New Rayann posts · SoCalFishReports.com dock totals for Sept. 19–22, source of the Morro Bay, Avila and Southern California counts · SanDiegoFishReports.com boat-by-boat counts for Sept. 20–22; the daily yellowfin totals are our sums of every boat listed · 22ndstreet.com landing reports posted since Sept. 16 and the daveyslocker.com count page for Sept. 17–22; neither attributed a trip in this window to Catalina · CDFW ocean salmon regulation page and Sport Ocean Salmon Tracker (data through Sept. 15), and CDFW Marine Management News, all checked this morning; the newest salmon inseason post is still Aug. 21, and the Sept. 17 post on warmwater species supplied the tuna and white shark rules · NorCalFishReports.com fish plant listing for the week of Sept. 20–26, credited to CDFW · CDFW Fishing Contest permit database, pulled this morning, black bass category, approved events only · Sierra Drifters Eastern Sierra report dated Sept. 16. Moon phase, solunar transits, moonrise, moonset, sunrise and sunset all computed from first principles.
What we could not get, and what we threw out: This morning’s Section 7 sheet blanked Don Pedro, McClure, Millerton, New Melones and every upper San Joaquin lake; Don Pedro, McClure, Shaver, Huntington, Edison, Florence and McSwain are shown from Sept. 21, and Millerton, New Melones and Bass Lake from Sept. 17, the newest published · No Kings natural flow since Sunday, no San Joaquin flow below Friant since Sept. 17 · Central Coast lake levels are stale: the aggregator shows Lopez and San Antonio unchanged to the acre-foot from last week, and we now believe the figures we printed on Sept. 16 were already out of date; Nacimiento and Santa Margarita returned nothing · Wishon and Courtright appear on no Corps sheet · No verified current report for the California Aqueduct, San Luis or O’Neill Forebay · No Eastern Sierra report newer than Sept. 16, and nothing from Bridgeport or the June Lake Loop itself · We could not confirm the 2026 Eastern Sierra general-season closing date on CDFW’s pages, so we printed none · The fall salmon catch after Sept. 15 is unknown until CDFW posts the next half-month estimate · Riptide’s Sept. 19 rockfish count exceeds ten a rod on its posted angler count, so we left its per-rod blank · And one we discarded outright: a syndicated Central California column carrying a “Sept. 18–24” date has lake levels that conflict with this morning’s Corps sheet on every line and refers to 2025 in the future tense. It is an older year’s report. We did not use a word of it.
Please read: Conditions, seasons, bag limits and closures change, sometimes with a single day’s notice. The 20,000-Chinook fall guideline is shared between both open areas and either can close early by inseason action; our Oct. 10 figure is a projection from CDFW’s published catch, not an announced date. Eastern Sierra waters carry their own special regulations that differ from statewide rules and vary reach by reach on the same river. Rockfish sublimits and depth rules change by species, area and month. Everything here is a snapshot of what the public data said when this was written on Wednesday morning. Confirm current regulations with CDFW at wildlife.ca.gov, call the salmon hotline at (707) 576-3429 before an ocean trip, and verify ramp access and lake levels with the operating agency before you travel. Where a figure was stale, missing, from a second source or in conflict with another published source, we said so and date-stamped it rather than guessing.
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