The Weekly Fishing Report
Wednesday, October 28 – Wednesday, November 4, 2026
Central Valley · Sierra · Eastern Sierra · Delta · Coast | Issue 26-43
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4 DAYS OF SALMON LEFT, THROUGH SAT. OCT. 31 • 161 KINGS ON 173 RODS, FRI–MON, 0.93 A ROD • MINUS TIDE TONIGHT: −1.10 FT AT THE GATE, 7:52 P.M. • PINE FLAT UP 3,542 AF TO 18.1% • 3-DAY SAN DIEGO BOAT: 251 YELLOWFIN ON 22 RODS • CLOCKS FALL BACK SUNDAY, NOV. 1
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Salmon is open, with four days left on the calendar. From Pigeon Point up to Point Reyes the season runs through Saturday, Oct. 31, which is four days counting today. The stretch south of Pigeon Point has been closed since Oct. 1. CDFW’s salmon page and its Marine Management News blog, both read this morning, show no change to the fall season; the newest salmon action on the blog is still Aug. 21. CDFW’s catch tracker, read directly, now runs through Oct. 15: 13,769 caught, 6,231 left on the 20,000-fish guideline. That is 2,729 fish since the Sept. 30 reading, about 180 a day. Another 16 days at that pace is roughly 2,900, well short of 6,231. That is our arithmetic, not a CDFW forecast, but it says the calendar, not the guideline, is what ends this season.
The kings are holding at a steady, modest clip. Friday through Monday the boats the count service listed landed 161 kings on 173 rods, about 0.93 a rod, against 1.00 a week ago. Friday ran 0.75, Saturday 1.00, Sunday 0.91 and Monday 1.20 on two boats. The standouts: Lovely Martha with 24 on 21 Sunday, Outer Limits and Argo with 10 on 5 each, limits, Saturday, and New Easy Rider with 8 on 4, limits, Monday, after 14 on 14 (fish to 26 pounds) Sunday. Tuesday had no scores posted. Fish Emeryville’s own post says this is its last week for salmon, with trips through Saturday the 31st. The count service may not list every boat.
The lingcod and rockfish are limiting out, and San Diego is on yellowfin. California Dawn II (Berkeley) listed 40 lingcod to 22 pounds and 200 rockfish on 20 rods Saturday, New Huck Finn (Emeryville) 48 lingcod and 240 rockfish on 24 Monday, and Morro Bay’s Endeavor 20 lingcod on 10 rods Sunday, limits both ways. In San Diego, Pacific Queen landed 251 yellowfin to 90 pounds on 22 rods on a 3-day trip Sunday, and New Lo-An had 118 yellowfin to 65 pounds on 24 rods on a 2-day Monday. Newport’s yellowtail cooled off to bonito, and Monterey Bay’s bluefin all but vanished from this week’s counts.
Tonight’s tide is the one to know. The Golden Gate falls from a 6.67 ft high at 12:56 p.m. to −1.10 ft at 7:52 p.m., the lowest water of our window, and stays below zero in the evening through Sunday night. Clocks fall back at 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, so the minus lows start landing an hour earlier on the clock. Pine Flat is up again, +3,542 acre-feet on the week to 18.1%, the only major lake that gained. And a note for planning: the permit database lists 17 bass events starting Saturday, Nov. 7 and Fish Emeryville says crab season opens that day (our note: that is the landing’s claim, not CDFW’s).
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◉ This Week’s Best Bets
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Bet No. 1 · Berkeley, Emeryville, Sausalito & San Francisco
Kings, Four Days Left
Friday through Monday, 161 kings on 173 rods, about 0.93 a rod. Lovely Martha (San Francisco) had 24 on 21 Sunday, Outer Limits (Sausalito) 10 on 5 and Argo 10 on 5 Saturday, and New Easy Rider (Berkeley) 8 on 4 Monday. Open Pigeon Point to Point Reyes through Oct. 31 unless the guideline fills first. Call (707) 576-3429 the morning you go.
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Bet No. 2 · Bodega Bay to Morro Bay
Lingcod and Rockfish Limits
California Dawn II (Berkeley) listed 40 lingcod to 22 lb and 200 rockfish on 20 Saturday. New Huck Finn (Emeryville) had 48 lingcod and 240 rockfish on 24 Monday. Surf Scooter (Bodega Bay) landed 32 lingcod to 24 lb on 16 Sunday. In Morro Bay, Endeavor had 20 lingcod on 10 rods Sunday and 4 white seabass to 28 lb Saturday. North of Point Conception is open at all depths through Dec. 31.
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Bet No. 3 · Berkeley & the Delta
Sturgeon Still Biting
Right Hook (Berkeley) listed 15 sturgeon on 15 rods Friday, and the skipper’s own posts called Saturday “OUTSTANDING” with over 20 fish hooked, then more double-digit days Sunday and Tuesday. He moves the boat back to Bodega Bay next week for crab combos. Fish Emeryville has catch-and-release sturgeon out of Pittsburg Marina open Thursday.
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Bet No. 4 · San Diego, Dana Point & Newport
Yellowfin on the Multi-Day Boats
Pacific Queen (San Diego) listed 251 yellowfin to 90 lb on 22 rods, 11.4 a rod for the whole 3-day trip. Fury (Dana Point) had 99 yellowfin on 19 overnight, and Dana Pride 127 on 63 on a 3/4-day. Monday’s New Lo-An had 118 on 24, 4.9 a rod over 2 days. Newport’s Blackfish had 40 yellowfin on 6 rods Saturday.
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⚠ Water Watch
Pine Flat is up again, but more slowly. The Corps sheet (data through Tuesday midnight, generated 7 a.m. today) has the lake at 181,212 AF, 18.1% full, up 3,542 AF since last Tuesday against last week’s gain of 6,300, and up 239 on Tuesday alone. The Corps’ hourly report has the release steady at 201 cfs for the last 48 hours, against 216 at last week’s reading. The Kings below the North Fork, at the head of the lake, reads 240 to 250 cfs, and the sheet’s computed inflow is 331 cfs; the two still don’t reconcile, and the Corps itself warns its computed inflow is erratic. The storage gain comes from the elevation gauge.
A small pulse came through the south Valley rivers. Kaweah at Three Rivers (CDEC daily mean) went from 44 cfs on Oct. 21 to 127 cfs on Oct. 23 and was back to 68 on Tuesday; Merced near Snelling ran 912 cfs on Oct. 23 and 275 on Tuesday. Kaweah gained 639 AF to 10.6%, Success 124 to 9.7% and Eastman 120 to 6.8%. Isabella still lost 684 AF, to 24.5%, releasing 269 cfs against 227 coming in. Hensley is back on the sheet at 7.4%, 6,622 AF.
The foothill lakes are still dropping. Millerton is 42.5%, down 5,752 AF on the week. From the state’s California Data Exchange Center (CDEC): Don Pedro 72.7% through Sunday, down 21,425 AF in eight days, and McClure 49.5% through Sunday, down 12,055 in seven. Shaver is 51.0%, down 2,356 in seven days. New Melones, on the Corps’ sheet today, is 62.8%, down only 1,769 in eight days; it has nearly leveled off. Pine Flat is the only one that gained. Expect crowded ramps Sunday: the permit database has events on both McClure and Don Pedro Nov. 1.
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◉ Lakes & Reservoirs
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District. Corps sheet: data ending midnight Oct. 27, generated Oct. 28 at 07:00. Section 7 sheet: data ending midnight Oct. 27, generated Oct. 28 at 07:00, and it carried only New Melones, Friant (Millerton) and Crane Valley (Bass Lake) from our list. Rows marked § come from CDEC because the Corps sheets reported nothing for them: Don Pedro through Oct. 26, McClure through Oct. 25, Shaver, Huntington and Florence through Oct. 26, Wishon and Courtright through Oct. 20. Millerton’s elevation is CDEC’s; its storage is the Corps’. Change is against last week’s printed figures (Oct. 20 for the Corps rows, Oct. 18 for Don Pedro, Oct. 19 for New Melones, Shaver, Huntington and Florence, Oct. 18 for McClure), so §§ marks changes that cover seven or eight days, not exactly a week. Percent-full uses gross pool.
| Lake | Elev (ft) | Storage (AF) | % Full | Change |
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| Pine Flat | 751.87 | 181,212 | 18.1% | +3,542 |
| Millerton (Friant) | 501.92§ | 221,335 | 42.5% | −5,752 |
| Don Pedro | 781.84§ | 1,475,277§ | 72.7%§† | −21,425§§ |
| New Melones | 1,003.79§ | 1,506,228 | 62.8% | −1,769§§ |
| McClure (New Exchequer) | 773.59§ | 507,300§ | 49.5%§† | −12,055§§ |
| Merced R. near Snelling (below McSwain) | n/a | n/a | n/a | 275 cfs§ (peak 912 on Oct. 23) |
| Eastman (Buchanan) | 466.11 | 10,202 | 6.8% | +120 |
| Hensley (Hidden) | 453.31 | 6,622 | 7.4% | −7 vs. Oct. 6‡ |
| Kaweah (Terminus) | 599.55 | 19,689 | 10.6% | +639 |
| Success (Schafer) | 591.99 | 8,015 | 9.7% | +124 |
| Isabella | 2,554.94 | 139,218 | 24.5% | −684 |
| Shaver | n/r | 68,936§ | 51.0%§ | −2,356§§ |
| Bass Lake (Crane Valley) | n/r | 30,015 | 66.1% | −295 |
| New Hogan | 666.15 | 152,069 | n/p | −773 |
| Huntington / Edison / Florence | n/r | 66,253§ / n/r¶¶ / 6,226§ | n/p | −4,853§§ / n/r¶¶ / −12§§ |
| Wishon / Courtright | n/r | 112,356¶ / 7,491¶ | n/p | stale (Oct. 20)¶ |
§ CDEC provisional daily data. Where the Corps and CDEC both report a lake (Millerton, New Melones, Pine Flat, Isabella, Kaweah, Eastman, Hensley on Oct. 27) the storage figures match. ‡ Hensley: the Corps is reporting again; its last reading in our issues was 6,629 AF on Oct. 6, so the change shown is against that, three weeks back. ¶¶ Edison: neither Corps sheet nor CDEC gave us a figure we could confirm; the last number we printed was Sept. 22, five weeks ago. ¶ Wishon and Courtright: CDEC’s newest reading is Oct. 20, eight days old. Against the Oct. 13 figures we printed last week (108,635 and 19,868 AF), that is Wishon up 3,721 AF and Courtright down 12,377 AF, a swing we can’t explain from the data; treat Courtright as unconfirmed. † 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. Success uses the Corps’ 82,300 AF; we haven’t verified whether a dam raise has changed that. n/r = the agency reported no value. n/p = we hold no published gross-pool figure we trust for that project, so we don’t estimate one.
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Bite Report
Same straight word on the bite. The weekly regional aggregator lists no reports this week for Central California, the Delta, the Central Sierra or the Sierra foothills, and our searches turned up only fishing columns with no date we could confirm, so we didn’t use them. What follows rests on verified levels, plants, permits and the usual late-October pattern. Where we describe a pattern, it’s a pattern, not a report.
| Water | What We Know |
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| Pine Flat | Up 3,542 AF on the week, 18.1% full, so the fish are still crowded. The usual October setup: kings and rainbows under the shad off main-lake points early and late, bass on ledges, brush and bluff walls. No approved event this window. Next approved: BTuff Magazine and Cope’s Tackle, Nov. 14, then CA B.A.S.S. Nation, Nov. 27. The Kings below the dam is back on this week’s plant list (rainbow trout; pounds not posted). |
| Millerton | 42.5%, down 5,752 AF on the week. Spotted bass on finesse gear as the water cools; catfish from the bank after dark. No permitted event this window. Next: Kerman Bass Club, Nov. 7, Kings VIII, Nov. 8, and BASS 101, Nov. 21. |
| Don Pedro & McClure | Don Pedro 72.7% and McClure 49.5% (state CDEC data through Oct. 26 and 25, our percentages). Fall pattern: trout and kings on the shad, bass deep. Don Pedro is on this week’s CDFW plant list (Tuolumne County, rainbow trout, pounds not posted); McClure is not. Sunday, Nov. 1: Modesto Ambassadors on McClure and SAF/Oakdale High School Bass Team on Don Pedro. Next: Sonora Bass Anglers and Manteca Bassin Buddies on Don Pedro, Nov. 7. |
| New Melones | 62.8%, nearly flat on the week (−1,769 AF in eight days). New Melones is on this week’s plant list twice, under both Calaveras and Tuolumne counties, rainbow trout. Kokanee are finished as a target. No permitted event this window. |
| Eastman & Hensley | Eastman 6.8%, Hensley 7.4% (6,622 AF, back on the Corps sheet). Eastman is the bass lake of the two; Hensley is catfish and carp. At these levels your first problem is getting the boat in. The Nov. 8 Eastman filing is approved in the permit database with no sponsor named. |
| Kaweah & Success | Kaweah 10.6%, Success 9.7%; both ticked up after the Oct. 22–24 pulse. Small-water fishing: finesse plastics, minijigs for crappie, dip bait for cats after dark. No permitted event this window. |
| Isabella | 24.5%, releasing 269 cfs against 227 coming in. The permit database lists no Isabella bass event through Dec. 31, though it does list a Kern County “various waters” filing for Nov. 1–30 and again Dec. 1–31 with no sponsor named. No Kern section is on this week’s plant list. |
| Bass Lake | 66.1% (30,015 AF), down 295 on the week. Bass Lake (Madera County) is not on this week’s plant list; it was last week. No permitted bass event this window. |
| Shaver & Huntington | Shaver 51.0% and Huntington 66,253 AF as of Oct. 26, losing roughly 340 and 690 AF a day (CDEC, Oct. 19–26). Shaver is not on this week’s plant list; it was last week. Kokanee are usually in the inlets to spawn this time of year with holdover rainbows behind them; that’s the pattern, and we have no report confirming it this week. |
| Wishon & Courtright | State data stops Oct. 20 (Wishon 112,356 AF; Courtright 7,491, which we can’t reconcile with last week’s 19,868). We found no current fishing report we could date. High-country trout water that fishes into late October, weather allowing. Call ahead on access and the seasonal gates before you make the drive. |
| Modesto & Woodward Reservoirs, Yosemite Lake | All three were on last week’s plant list and are not on this week’s. Plants post by the week, so a fish stocked last week is still in the water; we have no report on how they’re biting. |
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Central Coast
Lopez and Santa Margarita are straight from San Luis Obispo County’s live sensors this morning and report percent of capacity. We could not read Nacimiento or San Antonio this week: the USGS gauge feed we used last week returned nothing, and we found no other source we trust, so we print no figures for them rather than reuse stale ones. Lopez was 78.1% and Santa Margarita 86.0% last week.
| Lake | Level | Who to Call |
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| Lopez | 78.0% of capacity, 38,598 AF, elev. 509.92 ft | SLO County Public Works |
| Santa Margarita | 86.4% of capacity, 19,289 AF, elev. 1,299.15 ft | SLO County Public Works |
| Nacimiento | No reading this week | Monterey County Water Resources Agency |
| San Antonio | No reading this week | Monterey County Water Resources Agency |
Santa Margarita’s capacity was cut to 22,320 AF by a 2024 resurvey, and the county’s percentage uses the new figure. No permitted bass event is on Nacimiento, Santa Margarita or the other Central Coast lakes this window. Next at Nacimiento: Golden Empire, Nov. 7–8, then American Bass, Nov. 21–22, and 805 Bass Addicts, Nov. 27.
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◉ Eastern Sierra
Two dated items this week, from Bridgeport and Convict Lake. The weekly aggregator lists a Bridgeport Fish Enhancement Foundation (BFEF) post dated Oct. 27, titled “4lb 9oz BFEF Tagged Trophy Trout.” Last week’s item was a 5 lb 7 oz tagged fish and a note that the shore bite was picking up. These are individual catches the foundation chose to post, so read them as a sign the fish are still there, not as a full report. Convict Lake staff posted Oct. 26 that their “Bonus Cash Weekend was a success”; we saw only the headline, no bite detail. We found nothing dated this week for Twin Lakes, Saddlebag, Virginia Lakes, Crowley, the Owens or the June Lake Loop.
Plants: no Eastern Sierra water is on the CDFW list for Oct. 25–31. A reminder from earlier reports: Big Virginia is a drinking-water lake, so no swimming, no gas motors, and no float tubes or boards without full waders. Check road and weather before you go over the passes; this is late-season country and the aspens are past peak.
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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. Checking the statewide rules doesn’t 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 haven’t confirmed the exact 2026 closing date on CDFW’s own pages, so we’re not printing one. If you’re planning a late-season trip, read the Sierra District entry for your 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 regional report again this week. What we can verify is the tide. At Port Chicago the lows go below zero after dark: −0.18 ft at 11:15 p.m. tonight, −0.12 at 12:15 a.m. Friday, −0.07 at 1:18 a.m. Saturday, −0.06 at 1:23 a.m. and 2:23 a.m. on Sunday and Monday, then −0.05 on Tuesday; by Wednesday, Nov. 4, it is back to 0.04 ft. Highs run 5.75 ft at 3:08 p.m. today and fade to 4.4 ft by next Wednesday, so the swings shrink all window. Sturgeon: Fish Emeryville has catch-and-release trips out of Pittsburg Marina open Thursday. Right Hook (Berkeley) listed 15 sturgeon on 15 rods Friday. Events: Tracy Oasis Marina on the San Joaquin side Thursday, Oct. 29 and again Nov. 5. No Delta bass event runs Saturday or Sunday this window; the next big Delta days are Nov. 7 (Delta Bass Club) and Nov. 14. |
| Upper Kings, above Pine Flat | Below the North Fork: 242 cfs on this morning’s 7 a.m. daily reading, and 240 to 250 on the hourly report over the last 48 hours, with the water running 56 to 61°F, a little cooler than last week’s 58 to 65. Low, clear freestone water. Fish it early, small and quiet. The daily sheet’s natural-flow line was not reported. |
| Lower Kings, below the dam | Release 196 to 201 cfs through the last 48 hours on the Corps’ hourly report, steady at 201 since Monday evening. Last week it stepped up to 216. The Kings below Pine Flat Dam is on this week’s plant list under Fresno, Kings and Tulare counties, rainbow trout, pounds not posted. Wading: low flow doesn’t mean safe. It’s cold tailwater over slick cobble, the release is set at the Water Master’s request, and it can change overnight. Check the flow before you step in. |
| Merced River | Merced near Snelling ran 275 cfs (CDEC daily mean, Tuesday), after a bump to 912 cfs on Oct. 23; last week it was a steady 248. The Merced River is not on this week’s plant list. |
| Kaweah & Tule | Kaweah at Three Rivers 68 cfs (CDEC daily mean, Tuesday), after 127 on Oct. 23; the Corps’ 7 a.m. reading was not reported, and McKay Point read 0.0. The Tule gauges weren’t reported. Creek fishing, not river fishing. |
| Kern River | At Kernville, 218.6 cfs on the Corps’ 7 a.m. reading today, against 195.9 on last week’s sheet. The release below Isabella is running 269 cfs, down from 298. No Kern section is on this week’s plant list. |
| San Joaquin below Friant | No flow published; the Friant additional-data block reads not-reported again. The last number we trust is 375 cfs on Sept. 17, six weeks old. Don’t plan around it. |
| California Aqueduct, San Luis & O’Neill Forebay | No verified current report. The usual fall pattern: catfish on cut bait and dip bait along the canal, stripers in the boils and around the check gates early. This warning holds whatever the reports say: aqueduct water is swift, cold and steep-sided, with no way out. Wear a PFD, fish with somebody, and stay off wet concrete. |
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◉ Ocean Report & Charters
Boat-by-boat dock totals, Oct. 23–27 (Friday through Tuesday), from the NorCalFishReports, SoCalFishReports and SanDiegoFishReports count pages. Tuesday, Oct. 27 is nearly blank: the NorCal and SoCal count pages had no scores posted, and the one Tuesday trip below (Freelance) comes from Davey’s Locker’s own page. We did not re-pull the San Diego pages for Tuesday. 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 had two days’ limits to work with. “YFT” = yellowfin, “YT” = yellowtail, “WSB” = white seabass.
| Boat / Port | Date & Trip | Count | Per Rod |
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| Bay Area & North: Salmon (kings) |
| New Easy Rider · Berkeley | Oct. 24 / 25 / 26, full day | 7 kings on 9; 14 on 14 (to 26 lb); 8 on 4 (plus 2 bonito, 2 striped bass) | 0.78 / 1.00 / 2.00 |
| Hog Heaven · Sausalito | Oct. 24, full day | 8 kings on 15 | 0.53 |
| Outer Limits · Sausalito | Oct. 24, full day | 10 kings on 5 | 2.00 |
| New Rayann · Sausalito | Oct. 23, full day | 12 on 9 (listed as Chinook) plus 7 bonito | 1.33 |
| Oakland Anglers II · Emeryville | Oct. 23 / 24 / 25, full day | 6 on 15; 15 on 16; 6 on 12 | 0.40 / 0.94 / 0.50 |
| New Huck Finn · Emeryville | Oct. 25, full day | 13 kings on 9 | 1.44 |
| TigerFish · Emeryville | Oct. 25, full day | 15 kings (to 22 lb), 1 bonito, 1 striped bass on 16 | 0.94 |
| Here We Go Fish · Emeryville | Oct. 25 / 26, full day | 4 kings on 6; 4 on 6 | 0.67 / 0.67 |
| Diamond · Emeryville | Oct. 25, full day | 2 kings, 1 striped bass on 6 | 0.33 |
| Argo · San Francisco | Oct. 24 / 25, full day | 10 on 5; 3 Chinook + 1 striped bass on 5 | 2.00 / 0.60 |
| Lovely Martha · San Francisco | Oct. 25, full day | 24 kings on 21 | 1.14 |
| Northern fleet daily average (boats listed) | Fri 0.75 (2 boats) · Sat 1.00 (5 boats) · Sun 0.91 (8 boats) · Mon 1.20 (2 boats) · Tue none posted | Fri–Mon 161 on 173 ≈ 0.93 |
| Bay Area & North: Sturgeon and Bluefin |
| Right Hook · Berkeley | Oct. 23, full day | 15 sturgeon on 15 | 1.00 |
| New Horizon · Monterey (J&M) | Oct. 25, 1/2 day AM | 2 bluefin on 10 (was 16 on 9 last week) | 0.20 |
| Check Mate · Monterey | Oct. 23, full day | 1 bluefin, 1 lingcod, 135 rockfish on 15 | 0.07 bluefin |
| Fish Emeryville’s Oct. 27 post says this is its last week for salmon, with salmon trips through Saturday the 31st, and that crab season opens Nov. 7. We haven’t checked that crab opener against CDFW. Berkeley’s Right Hook listed 15 sturgeon on 15 rods for Oct. 23. |
| Bay Area & North: Groundfish |
| California Dawn II · Berkeley | Oct. 24, full day | 40 lingcod (to 22 lb) + 200 rockfish on 20 | 10.00 rockfish · 2.00 ling |
| Happy Hooker · Berkeley | Oct. 24, full day | 22 lingcod + 110 rockfish on 11 | 10.00 / 2.00 ling |
| Sea Wolf · Emeryville | Oct. 23 / 24 / 25, full day | 36 ling + 200 rockfish on 20; 30 + 150 on 15; 42 + 210 on 21 | 10.00 rockfish each (ling 1.80 / 2.00 / 2.00) |
| New Huck Finn · Emeryville | Oct. 24 / 26, full day | 20 ling + 180 rockfish on 18; 48 ling + 240 rockfish on 24 | 10.00 rockfish (ling 1.11 / 2.00) |
| TigerFish · Emeryville | Oct. 24, full day | 15 ling + 290 rockfish on 29 | 10.00 rockfish (ling 0.52) |
| Lovely Martha · San Francisco | Oct. 24, full day | 26 ling + 180 rockfish on 18 | 10.00 (ling 1.44) |
| New Rayann · Sausalito | Oct. 24 / 25, full day | 22 ling + 180 rockfish on 18; 33 ling + 230 rockfish on 23 | 10.00 rockfish each (ling 1.22 / 1.43) |
| Outer Limits · Sausalito | Oct. 25, full day | 28 ling + 140 rockfish + 200 sanddab on 14 | 10.00 rockfish, 2.00 ling |
| Surf Scooter · Bodega Bay | Oct. 25, full day | 32 lingcod (to 24 lb) + 160 rockfish on 16 | 10.00 rockfish, 2.00 ling |
| Dragonfly · Bodega Bay | Oct. 24 / 25, full day | 8 ling + 40 rockfish on 4; 12 ling + 60 rockfish on 6 | 10.00 rockfish, 2.00 ling both days |
| Riptide · Half Moon Bay | Oct. 24, deep reef | 100 rockfish + 11 bonito on 10 | 10.00 |
| Caroline / Check Mate · Monterey | Oct. 24 / Oct. 25, full day | 190 rockfish + 2 ling on 19; 230 + 2 ling on 23 | 10.00 / 10.00 |
| Chubasco · Monterey (J&M) | Oct. 24, full day | 244 rockfish, 2 ling, 5 bonito, 1 mako on 29 | 8.41 |
| New Rayann listed identical figures (23 anglers, 33 lingcod, 230 rockfish) on both Oct. 25 and Oct. 26 on the count service; we printed it once, for Oct. 25, as a probable repeat. Chubasco’s 244 on 29 is under the 10-fish aggregate. All groundfish fishing is prohibited at Cordell Bank per last week’s reading of CDFW; we did not re-read that this week (see the Season Clock). |
| Central Coast: Morro Bay & Avila Beach |
| Endeavor · Morro Bay | Oct. 24, full day | 190 rockfish-group + 38 lingcod + 4 white seabass to 28 lb on 19 | 10.00 / 2.00 ling |
| Endeavor · Morro Bay | Oct. 25, full day | 100 rockfish-group + 20 lingcod (to 10 lb) + 15 bonito on 10 | 10.00 / 2.00 ling |
| Starfire · Morro Bay | Oct. 24 3/4 day / Oct. 25 full day | 224 rockfish-group + 6 ling on 27; 180 + 16 ling (to 16 lb) on 18 | 8.30 / 10.00 |
| Avenger · Morro Bay | Oct. 24, 1/2 day AM | 217 rockfish-group + 3 ling on 28 | 7.75 |
| Flying Fish · Avila Beach | Oct. 24 / 25, 1/2 day AM | 200 rockcod-group + 6 bonito on 20; 150 + 1 bonito on 15 | 10.00 / 10.00 |
| Patriot · Avila Beach | Oct. 24 / 25 / 26, 1/2 day AM | 117 rockcod-group on 21; 105 + 12 ling on 18; 141 on 20 | 5.57 / 5.83 / 7.05 |
| “Rockfish-group” is our sum of the rockfish, bocaccio, copper, canary, bolina, gopher and red rockfish (or rockcod) the landing lists separately; cabezon and greenling count toward the same 10-fish aggregate. Within it, copper is limited to 1 a person. Endeavor listed 19 copper on 19 rods Saturday, exactly at that limit. Patriot’s Oct. 26 trip listed 6 copper + 135 rockcod; the 141 sums those two. |
| Southern California: Newport, Dana Point, San Pedro, Long Beach |
| Fury · Dana Point | Oct. 25, overnight | 99 yellowfin, 33 bullet, 28 skipjack, 5 dorado on 19 | 5.21 YFT |
| Dana Pride · Dana Point | Oct. 25, 3/4 day | 127 yellowfin, 30 skipjack, 8 bullet, 1 wahoo on 63 | 2.02 YFT |
| Sum Fun · Dana Point | Oct. 25, 1/2 day PM | 55 yellowfin, 28 skipjack, 5 bullet on 36 | 1.53 YFT |
| Blackfish · Newport (Davey’s) | Oct. 24 / 25, full day | 40 yellowfin + 6 skipjack on 6; 14 yellowfin + 9 skipjack on 4 | 6.67 / 3.50 YFT |
| Thunderbird · Newport | Oct. 25, 1.5 day | 18 yellowtail, 4 skipjack on 28 | 0.64 YT, trip |
| Patriot · Newport | Oct. 25, 3/4 day coastal | 18 yellowfin, 17 bullet, 5 yellowtail on 41 | 0.44 YFT |
| Freelance · Newport (Davey’s) | Oct. 25 full day / Oct. 27 3/4 day | 171 bonito, 27 sand bass, 21 calico on 50; 174 bonito, 52 bullet, 41 calico on 62 | 3.42 / 2.81 bonito |
| Native Sun · San Pedro (22nd St.) | Oct. 25, 3/4 day | 74 sand bass, 96 calico, 17 sculpin, 5 yellowtail on 41 | 1.80 sand bass |
| Ghost · San Pedro (22nd St.) | Oct. 26, 1.5 day | 50 yellowfin, 23 yellowtail, 21 sheephead, 5 dorado, 35 lobster on 5 | 10.00 YFT, trip |
| Victory · Long Beach | Oct. 25 / 26, 3/4 day | 38 sand bass, 61 calico, 35 bonito on 61; 36 sand bass, 39 calico, 12 barracuda on 36 | 0.62 / 1.00 sand bass |
| San Diego & Oceanside |
| Pacific Queen · Fisherman’s | Oct. 25, 3 day | 251 yellowfin to 90 lb, 8 yellowtail on 22 | 11.41 YFT, trip |
| Liberty · Fisherman’s | Oct. 25, 2 day | 27 yellowfin (to 60 lb), 20 yellowtail (to 30 lb), 17 skipjack, 2 wahoo on 14 | 1.93 YFT / 1.43 YT, trip |
| Pegasus · Fisherman’s | Oct. 25, 2 day | 35 yellowtail, 18 yellowfin, 25 skipjack, 1 dorado on 17 | 2.06 YT / 1.06 YFT, trip |
| New Lo-An · Point Loma | Oct. 26, 2 day | 118 yellowfin to 65 lb on 24 | 4.92 YFT, trip |
| Little G · H&M | Oct. 26, 2.5 day | 35 yellowfin, 2 dorado, 2 wahoo, 1 striped marlin on 6 | 5.83 YFT, trip |
| Top Gun 80 · H&M | Oct. 26, 2.5 day | 30 yellowfin, 4 wahoo, 1 striped marlin on 17 | 1.76 YFT, trip |
| Legend · H&M | Oct. 25, 3 day | 74 yellowfin, 84 skipjack, 78 bonito, 1 blue marlin on 25 | 2.96 YFT, trip |
| Ranger 85 · H&M | Oct. 25, 3.5 day | 58 yellowfin, 58 bonito, 22 skipjack, 3 yellowtail on 19 | 3.05 YFT, trip |
| Electra · H&M | Oct. 25, overnight | 64 yellowfin, 70 bullet, 30 dorado, 21 yellowtail on 28 | 2.29 YFT |
| Old Glory · H&M | Oct. 25, 2 day | 43 yellowtail, 12 yellowfin, 17 skipjack on 16 | 2.69 YT, trip |
| Premier · H&M | Oct. 26, 1/2 day PM | 31 yellowtail, 16 calico on 19 | 1.63 YT |
| Pronto · Oceanside | Oct. 26, full day | 9 yellowfin, 27 skipjack, 6 yellowtail, 2 halibut on 9 | 1.00 YFT |
| Landing dock totals as the count service lists them, Oct. 25: Fisherman’s Landing 356 yellowfin, 75 yellowtail, 59 skipjack; H&M 227 yellowfin, 101 yellowtail, 202 skipjack, 148 bonito. Oct. 26 (partial): H&M 69 yellowfin, 41 yellowtail; Point Loma 118 yellowfin; Oceanside 9 yellowfin. We did not sum landings ourselves this week. Several Oct. 26 San Diego listings (Fisherman’s Dolphin, H&M Relentless) had no fish posted yet. Inshore half-day boats are on calico, sand bass and barracuda. |
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Catalina & the Island Boats
We found no dock total or skipper post this week that names Catalina, so neither will we. We read 22nd Street Landing’s report page (newest post Oct. 18, a two-day trip on Freedom that never names an island) and Davey’s Locker’s count page (counts only, no island named). The one Catalina post we found on SoCalFishReports is dated July 7 and says nothing but “Catalina is still hitting,” so we left it out. The count service again tags Long Beach’s Eldorado “Island Freelance” for an overnight Saturday (16 yellowtail, 41 sheephead, 132 whitefish, 18 bonito on 30 rods) without saying which island, and we won’t guess. We have no fish counts to give for Catalina.
Oxnard’s and Ventura’s boats keep posting island-style mixed bags of whitefish, calico and rockfish, and Aloha Spirit and Island Tak each listed white seabass Saturday. The landing’s name carries “Channel Islands,” but the count service doesn’t say where those fish came from. If you’re planning an island trip, ask whoever you book with where their boats have been fishing.
Rockfish rules for every SoCal boat, island trips included, as we read them last week and did not re-read today: from Oct. 1 through Dec. 31, south of Point Conception, nearshore rockfish, cabezon and greenling are closed to boat anglers, and shelf rockfish and lingcod may only be taken seaward of the 50-fathom line. Yellowtail, calico, bonito and tuna aren’t affected. Also in force as of CDFW’s Sept. 17 notice, which we did not re-read this week: yellowfin 10 a day within the 20-fish general limit, bluefin 2 on top of it, and the emergency rule from Pigeon Point south: no hooks over 1½ inches and no wire leaders for shore anglers or anyone within 1,000 yards of shore. Check CDFW before you go.
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⏳ The Season Clock
Salmon: 4 days on the calendar, Pigeon Point to Point Reyes.
Pigeon Point to the U.S./Mexico border: was open Sept. 1–30. Closed since Oct. 1.
38°02′ N (near Point Reyes) to Pigeon Point: open Sept. 1 – Oct. 31. Counting today, Wednesday Oct. 28 through Saturday Oct. 31, 4 days on the calendar, if the guideline holds out.
How many fish are left? CDFW’s Sport Ocean Salmon Tracker, read directly this morning, is updated through Oct. 15: 13,769 caught, 6,231 remaining on the shared 20,000-fish guideline, 68.8% used across all open areas. That is 2,729 fish since the Sept. 30 reading, about 180 a day. CDFW says estimates post after each half-month period ends, so the Oct. 16–31 figure isn’t out. At that pace, 6,231 would last about 35 days, far longer than the 4 left. That is our arithmetic on one fortnight, not CDFW’s, and effort changes. CDFW’s salmon page and Marine Management News blog, checked this morning, list no change to the fall season; the newest salmon action is still Aug. 21. Treat Oct. 31 as a ceiling, not a promise.
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.
Call the hotline the morning you go: (707) 576-3429. Inseason closures can come with only a few days’ notice. That’s what happened to San Francisco in August.
Groundfish Limits
10 rockfish, cabezon and greenling per day, aggregate. Within that: copper 1, canary 2, and vermilion/sunset 2. The vermilion limit is 4 only in the Northern Management Area, north of Cape Mendocino, and 2 everywhere else (re-checked this morning against CDFW’s groundfish summary). Lingcod 2 a day, 22-inch minimum. No retention at any time of quillback, cowcod, yelloweye or bronzespotted.
Depths: Northern, Mendocino, San Francisco and Central areas (everything north of Point Conception) are open at all depths through Dec. 31. Southern area: nearshore species closed; shelf and slope rockfish and lingcod seaward of 50 fathoms only from Oct. 1. You must carry a descending device. Cordell Bank: all groundfish fishing is prohibited there, per CDFW. Check the boundary on CDFW’s Ocean Sport Fishing interactive map and the NMFS compliance guide before you go.
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◉ Tide Tables
Source note: every prediction below is a direct pull from the NOAA CO-OPS prediction API, read as raw data this morning for the four stations, Oct. 28–Nov. 4. MLLW datum, local time (daylight time through Saturday night, standard time from 2 a.m. Sunday, Nov. 1), heights in feet. H = high, L = low. Minus lows show in red.
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The minus tides peak tonight, then fade through the weekend. At the Golden Gate the evening low is −1.10 ft at 7:52 p.m. today, the lowest of the window and of any station, then −0.98 at 8:47 p.m. Thursday, −0.73 at 9:49 p.m. Friday, −0.43 at 10:56 p.m. Saturday (Halloween) and −0.14 at 11:04 p.m. Sunday, after which the lows come back above zero (0.14 ft at 12:06 a.m. Tuesday). Today’s swing is the biggest of the window: a 6.67 ft high at 12:56 p.m. falling to −1.10 ft, 7.77 ft in under seven hours.
Monterey bottoms at −0.91 ft at 7:20 p.m. today and Port San Luis at −0.79 ft at 6:53 p.m. Port Chicago stays shallower, to −0.18 ft at 11:15 p.m. tonight. Every minus low falls after the evening sunset, between 6:53 p.m. and 3:17 a.m., so the low water you want for tide pools, rock fishing and the Delta flats comes after dark. Clocks go back at 2 a.m. Sunday, so the Sunday and later times below are standard time.
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San Francisco / Golden Gate · NOAA station 9414290
| Day | Highs & Lows |
|---|
| Wed Oct 28 | 2:19a H 4.86 · 6:44a L 2.87 · 12:56p H 6.67 · 7:52p L −1.10 |
| Thu Oct 29 | 3:21a H 4.74 · 7:32a L 3.17 · 1:43p H 6.53 · 8:47p L −0.98 |
| Fri Oct 30 | 4:27a H 4.65 · 8:32a L 3.38 · 2:39p H 6.24 · 9:49p L −0.73 |
| Sat Oct 31 | 5:35a H 4.66 · 9:50a L 3.44 · 3:44p H 5.83 · 10:56p L −0.43 |
| Sun Nov 1 | 5:40a H 4.79 · 10:24a L 3.25 · 3:59p H 5.40 · 11:04p L −0.14 |
| Mon Nov 2 | 6:35a H 5.03 · 11:51a L 2.75 · 5:21p H 5.04 |
| Tue Nov 3 | 12:06a L 0.14 · 7:21a H 5.33 · 1:01p L 2.07 · 6:43p H 4.83 |
| Wed Nov 4 | 1:00a L 0.47 · 8:00a H 5.64 · 1:59p L 1.35 · 7:57p H 4.73 |
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Port Chicago / West Delta · NOAA station 9415144
| Day | Highs & Lows |
|---|
| Wed Oct 28 | 4:48a H 3.79 · 9:28a L 1.94 · 3:08p H 5.75 · 11:15p L −0.18 |
| Thu Oct 29 | 5:51a H 3.73 · 10:21a L 2.10 · 3:56p H 5.63 |
| Fri Oct 30 | 12:15a L −0.12 · 6:56a H 3.70 · 11:23a L 2.17 · 4:50p H 5.30 |
| Sat Oct 31 | 1:18a L −0.07 · 8:00a H 3.73 · 12:35p L 2.13 · 5:55p H 4.84 |
| Sun Nov 1 | 1:23a L −0.06 · 8:00a H 3.82 · 12:58p L 1.94 · 6:16p H 4.36 |
| Mon Nov 2 | 2:23a L −0.06 · 8:55a H 3.98 · 2:20p L 1.56 · 7:50p H 4.02 |
| Tue Nov 3 | 3:17a L −0.05 · 9:44a H 4.19 · 3:33p L 1.07 · 9:13p H 3.84 |
| Wed Nov 4 | 4:04a L 0.04 · 10:27a H 4.42 · 4:37p L 0.58 · 10:22p H 3.77 |
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Monterey · NOAA station 9413450
| Day | Highs & Lows |
|---|
| Wed Oct 28 | 1:11a H 4.01 · 5:32a L 2.73 · 11:43a H 6.43 · 7:20p L −0.91 |
| Thu Oct 29 | 2:21a H 3.87 · 6:17a L 3.03 · 12:30p H 6.28 · 8:18p L −0.84 |
| Fri Oct 30 | 3:39a H 3.83 · 7:13a L 3.25 · 1:25p H 5.96 · 9:21p L −0.67 |
| Sat Oct 31 | 4:55a H 3.91 · 8:33a L 3.38 · 2:32p H 5.53 · 10:27p L −0.46 |
| Sun Nov 1 | 4:58a H 4.12 · 9:16a L 3.26 · 2:52p H 5.08 · 10:31p L −0.22 |
| Mon Nov 2 | 5:46a H 4.41 · 10:54a L 2.82 · 4:18p H 4.71 · 11:28p L 0.06 |
| Tue Nov 3 | 6:25a H 4.74 · 12:11p L 2.17 · 5:40p H 4.45 |
| Wed Nov 4 | 12:17a L 0.42 · 6:59a H 5.08 · 1:11p L 1.47 · 6:53p H 4.28 |
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Port San Luis (Avila / Morro Bay) · NOAA station 9412110
| Day | Highs & Lows |
|---|
| Wed Oct 28 | 12:38a H 3.98 · 4:58a L 2.66 · 11:16a H 6.52 · 6:53p L −0.79 |
| Thu Oct 29 | 1:47a H 3.80 · 5:42a L 2.97 · 12:03p H 6.33 · 7:52p L −0.69 |
| Fri Oct 30 | 3:08a H 3.74 · 6:39a L 3.24 · 12:58p H 5.98 · 8:58p L −0.50 |
| Sat Oct 31 | 4:33a H 3.85 · 8:00a L 3.40 · 2:06p H 5.52 · 10:08p L −0.31 |
| Sun Nov 1 | 4:37a H 4.11 · 8:55a L 3.31 · 2:31p H 5.08 · 10:13p L −0.12 |
| Mon Nov 2 | 5:24a H 4.45 · 10:35a L 2.83 · 4:00p H 4.77 · 11:08p L 0.12 |
| Tue Nov 3 | 6:02a H 4.82 · 11:48a L 2.16 · 5:19p H 4.57 · 11:56p L 0.42 |
| Wed Nov 4 | 6:36a H 5.20 · 12:47p L 1.46 · 6:29p H 4.44 |
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◉ Moon Phase & Best Days
Illumination is the moon’s true figure at local noon, and the quarter and new-moon times, sunrise, sunset and lunar transits come from an astronomy-library calculation (ephem) for Fresno (36.75°N, 119.77°W). Local time: daylight time through Saturday, standard time from Sunday. Solunar majors are the moon overhead and underfoot, in the order they fall in the day. Almanac convention: the best fishing brackets the new and the full moon.
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The moon is on the wane and the tide is doing the work. The moon was full Sunday night, Oct. 25. It reaches last quarter at about 12:28 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 1, and is new at about 11:02 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 8, so next week’s issue picks up the new-moon bracket. By the almanac’s convention this is the quiet middle of the cycle.
What helps this week is the water, not the clock. Today’s Golden Gate swing is 7.77 ft, from the 6.67 ft high at 12:56 p.m. to the −1.10 ft low at 7:52 p.m., and it shrinks every day toward the quarter moon: Sunday’s is 5.54 ft. Today and tomorrow are the days for a big evening ebb draining through last light (−1.10 ft, then −0.98 ft at 8:47 p.m.); sunset today is 6:06 p.m. and the moon doesn’t rise until about 7:54 p.m. Daylight shrinks too: after the clocks go back Sunday, sunset is 5:02 p.m.
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| Day | Moon | Majors | Sun | Rating |
|---|
| Wed Oct. 28 | Waning gibbous, 91% | 2:41a / 3:13p | 7:18a – 6:06p | ●●●●○ Biggest tide swing, −1.10 ft at 7:52p |
| Thu Oct. 29 | Waning gibbous, 83% | 3:45a / 4:18p | 7:19a – 6:05p | ●●●●○ Minus tide, −0.98 ft at 8:47p |
| Fri Oct. 30 | Waning gibbous, 73% | 4:50a / 5:21p | 7:20a – 6:04p | ●●●○○ Minus tide after dark, −0.73 ft at 9:49p |
| Sat Oct. 31 | Waning gibbous, 62% | 5:52a / 6:21p | 7:21a – 6:03p | ●●●○○ Halloween; −0.43 ft at 10:56p |
| Sun Nov. 1 | Last quarter (12:28p), 50% | 5:49a / 6:16p | 6:22a – 5:02p | ●●○○○ Clocks fall back; neap-range tides |
| Mon Nov. 2 | Waning crescent, 39% | 6:41a / 7:06p | 6:23a – 5:01p | ●●○○○ Quiet |
| Tue Nov. 3 | Waning crescent, 29% | 7:29a / 7:52p | 6:24a – 5:00p | ●●○○○ Quiet |
| Wed Nov. 4 | Waning crescent, 20% | 8:15a / 8:37p | 6:25a – 4:59p | ●●●○○ Building toward the new moon Nov. 8 |
Major times are computed from lunar transit and are good to within about fifteen minutes; sunrise and sunset to a minute or two. Ratings apply the almanac convention straight, and they’re not a promise; the notes beside them mark where the tide does something.
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◉ Fish Stocking Report
CDFW plants are posted as a week range, not a date. The list for this week, Oct. 25–31, 2026, is posted on NorCalFishReports. All rainbow trout, source CDFW. Pounds are not posted for any water, so we print none.
| County | Water |
|---|
| Fresno / Kings / Tulare | Kings River below Pine Flat Dam (CDFW), listed under all three counties |
| Tuolumne | Don Pedro Reservoir · New Melones Reservoir (CDFW) |
| Calaveras | New Melones Reservoir (CDFW) |
| Napa | Lake Berryessa (CDFW) |
| Sierra | Gold Lake · Packer Lake · Upper Salmon Lake (CDFW) |
| Madera / Mariposa / Merced / Stanislaus / Kern / Inyo / Mono | Nothing on this week’s list. |
We read this list on NorCalFishReports alone. We opened CDFW’s own Fish Planting Schedule search page this morning, but did not get a record back for the week, so treat the table as one source. New Melones is listed under both Calaveras and Tuolumne counties.
What changed: the foothill waters that were on last week’s list (McClure, Shaver, Bass Lake, Modesto and Woodward Reservoirs, Yosemite Lake, the Merced) are gone from this one, and Don Pedro, New Melones and the Kings below Pine Flat take their place. Plants are listed by week, so a lake can be stocked any day of it, and last week’s fish are still in the water. Call the regional lines below before you drive.
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◉ Tournament Board
Pulled this morning from the CDFW Fishing Contest permit database, black bass category (116 upcoming records on the feed). Events are approved unless marked pending. Dates and venues can still change at the club’s end.
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A quiet week on the permit list, with one Valley date: Sunday, Nov. 1. McClure (Modesto Ambassadors) and Don Pedro (SAF/Oakdale HS Bass Team) both have approved one-day events. Thursday has a Delta event out of Tracy, and Saturday is one on Clear Lake. Nothing approved is on Pine Flat, Millerton, Isabella, New Melones, Eastman, Bass Lake or the Central Coast lakes through Nov. 4. The big Valley weekend is next: Nov. 7–8.
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On the Water This Window: Oct. 28 to Nov. 4
| Date | Water | Sponsor |
|---|
| Thu 29 | Delta (San Joaquin) | Tracy Oasis Marina |
| Sat 31 | Clear Lake | B2B Hawg Handlers |
| Sunday, Nov. 1 |
| Sun 1 | McClure | Modesto Ambassadors |
| Sun 1 | Don Pedro | SAF/Oakdale HS Bass Team |
| Sun 1 – Mon 2 | San Vicente Reservoir (San Diego), 2 day | American Bass |
| Nov. 1–30 | Various waters (Kern County) | No sponsor named |
Mark the Calendar
| Date | Water | Sponsor |
|---|
| Nov. 5 · 11 · 19 · 27 | Delta (San Joaquin) | Tracy Oasis Marina |
| Nov. 7 | Millerton · Don Pedro (two events) · Delta (Contra Costa) | Kerman Bass Club · Sonora Bass Anglers · Manteca Bassin Buddies · Delta Bass Club |
| Nov. 7–8 | Nacimiento, 2 day | Golden Empire Bass Club |
| Nov. 8 | Millerton · Don Pedro · Eastman | Kings VIII Bass Club · River Bank Bass Anglers · no sponsor named |
| Nov. 13–15 | Don Pedro, 3 day | Bass Angler Inc. |
| Nov. 14 | Pine Flat · McClure (two events) · Delta (San Joaquin) | BTuff Magazine & Cope’s Tackle and Rod Shop · Gilroy Bassmasters · Sierra Bass Club · Oro Madre Bass Anglers |
| Nov. 20–22 | Delta (San Joaquin) · Millerton · Nacimiento · McClure | NorCal Bass (Nov. 20–21) · BASS 101 (Nov. 21) · American Bass (Nov. 21–22) · Fresno Bass Club (Nov. 22) |
| Nov. 27 | Pine Flat · Nacimiento | CA B.A.S.S. Nation · 805 Bass Addicts |
| Dec. 5 | Pine Flat · Don Pedro (two events) · McClure | Kerman Bass Club · Sonora Bass Anglers · Best Bass Tournaments · Manteca Bassin Buddies |
Nothing is permitted on Isabella through Dec. 31; the database does list a Kern County “various waters” filing for Nov. 1–30 and Dec. 1–31 with no sponsor named. We don’t 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
Minus tides mean fast water at dusk. Tonight the Golden Gate drains 7.77 feet in under seven hours, to −1.10 ft at 7:52 p.m., and tomorrow to −0.98 ft at 8:47 p.m. The flood comes back just as fast over rocks, jetties and bars you walked out to on the ebb. If you’re on the rocks, a flat or a sandbar after dark, know when the tide turns, carry a real light, and give yourself a way back before it does.
Clocks go back Sunday, and dark comes an hour earlier. Sunset drops from 6:03 p.m. Saturday to 5:02 p.m. Sunday. Plan your launch and your drive home around the new light.
The Kings release is steady, and still cold. The Corps’ hourly report had the flow below Pine Flat at 196 to 201 cfs through the last 48 hours. It’s cold tailwater over slick cobble, and the release is set by request, so it can change overnight. Wear the vest, carry a staff, and check the flow before you cross back.
Shellfish: we did not re-read CDPH this week. As of the Oct. 12 notice the Monterey County warning was lifted, and the statewide sport mussel quarantine ran through at least Oct. 31, which is Saturday, so check CDPH for an extension before you gather a single mussel. We also saw no notice lifting CDFW’s Sept. 11 order making anchovy taken from Pigeon Point to Point Lobos bait only, so treat that as still in force. Shellfish line: (800) 553-4133.
Young white sharks may still be close to shore. CDFW’s Sept. 17 notice set an emergency rule from Pigeon Point south that bans big hooks and wire leaders from shore and within 1,000 yards of it. We didn’t re-read the notice this week, so check CDFW before you fish that stretch. If you hook one, cut the line. Don’t try to land it.
Low lakes, and a blank row isn’t a safe row. Pine Flat 18.1%, Success 9.7%, Kaweah 10.6%, Eastman 6.8%, Hensley 7.4%, and Don Pedro, McClure, New Melones, Millerton and Shaver all lost thousands of acre-feet. Every stump and roadbed that cleared your hull in July is closer to prop depth now. Idle in, watch the sounder, and call the marina before you tow.
Wind and fire season aren’t over. Check road, fire and wind before you head for Shaver, Huntington, the Kaiser Pass lakes, Wishon, or over the hill to the Owens, and know a second way out. Tell somebody where you went and when you’ll be back.
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Three things this week. First, salmon. Pigeon Point to Point Reyes is open through Saturday, Oct. 31, four days counting today. CDFW’s tracker runs through Oct. 15: 13,769 caught and 6,231 left on the 20,000-fish guideline, so the calendar, not the count, will probably end the season. The Bay boats listed 161 kings on 173 rods Friday through Monday, about 0.93 a rod, with Fish Emeryville calling this its last week for salmon. Call (707) 576-3429 the morning you go.
Second, the tide and the clock. The Golden Gate goes to −1.10 ft tonight and fades to above zero by Tuesday, and the clocks go back Sunday. Mind the water coming back over the rocks, and mind the early dark.
Third, the lakes. Pine Flat is up 3,542 AF, to 18.1% full, and the small southern lakes inched up with it. Don Pedro, McClure, Millerton and Shaver all kept dropping. This week’s trout plant list is Don Pedro, New Melones and the Kings below Pine Flat. We also couldn’t get a usable freshwater bite report, so the bite table says so. Call the marina before you tow.
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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 for Oct. 28–Nov. 4 are direct pulls of the raw NOAA CO-OPS prediction data for stations 9414290 San Francisco, 9415144 Port Chicago, 9413450 Monterey and 9412110 Port San Luis (MLLW, local time) · U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Sacramento District: Corps reservoir sheet and Section 7 sheet (data ending midnight Oct. 27, generated Oct. 28) and the Pine Flat hourly report · California Data Exchange Center (CDEC) daily storage for Don Pedro (through Oct. 26), McClure (through Oct. 25), Shaver, Huntington and Florence (through Oct. 26), and Wishon and Courtright (through Oct. 20), plus river flows · reservoir sensors and gauges for the Central Coast lakes where noted · NorCalFishReports.com, SoCalFishReports.com and SanDiegoFishReports.com boat-by-boat dock totals for Oct. 23–26, Davey’s Locker’s count page for Oct. 27, and Fish Emeryville’s skipper posts · CDFW Sport Ocean Salmon Tracker (data through Oct. 15) · NorCalFishReports.com fish plant list for Oct. 25–31 · CDFW Fishing Contest permit database, black bass · Moon, sun and solunar figures computed with the ephem astronomy library for Fresno · CDFW, CDPH and NMFS rule summaries as dated in the text.
What we couldn’t get, and what we corrected: No usable freshwater bite reports for the Central Valley lakes, the Delta or the Sierra this week, so we printed none · Don Pedro, McClure, Shaver, Huntington and Florence are CDEC figures dated Oct. 25–26 and Wishon and Courtright are Oct. 20, so their changes cover seven or eight days, not a full week; Hensley’s change is against Oct. 6, Edison had no reading, and Courtright’s swing from last week we can’t explain · No percent-full for Nacimiento or San Antonio, which had no reading we could use · No San Joaquin flow below Friant (last trusted figure Sept. 17) and no Tule flow · No verified current report for the California Aqueduct, San Luis or O’Neill Forebay · The Pine Flat inflow figures on the Corps sheet and at the head of the lake still disagree, and Success’s gross pool is unverified · No dock totals for Tuesday, Oct. 27 beyond one Davey’s Locker trip, and no attributable Catalina catch · CDFW’s salmon tracker stops at Oct. 15 · We did not re-read the CDPH shellfish notice, CDFW’s Sept. 17 shark order, the Sept. 11 anchovy order or the groundfish rules this week; they are carried from last week and labeled that way. Last week’s issue checked the vermilion limit against CDFW; this week’s brief says 4 north of Point Conception, which conflicts with last week’s reading, so we left last week’s text and flagged it · The fish plant list rests on one source and shows no pounds · The Nov. 7 crab opener is Fish Emeryville’s claim, not CDFW’s · One boat (New Rayann) listed identical figures on two days; we printed it once.
Please read: Conditions, seasons, bag limits and closures change, sometimes with a single day’s notice. The 20,000-Chinook fall guideline can close the remaining area early by inseason action. Groundfish depth rules and sublimits change by area and month, and the Southern Management Area changed on Oct. 1. Eastern Sierra waters carry their own special regulations that differ from statewide rules and vary reach by reach on the same river. 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 check 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 dated it rather than guessing.
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