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Bodega Bay Fishing Report

Updated Fri, Oct 23, 2026 from live gauge and weather data

Sonoma's salty harbor: crab-and-salmon culture, rock cod grounds past the head and the wind-carved coast Hitchcock made famous.

4/5
Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.
Next tide
High 9:59 PM
Air / High
65 / 65 F
Wind
W 6 mph

Sources: NOAA tides 9415625, Open-Meteo, solunar calculated for these coordinates.

Satellite view
Friday
23
October 2026

Today's Fishing Report

Generated this morning from live readings: gauge, weather model, sun and moon. A fresh report is published here every morning.

4/5Good. Solid day ahead.Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Bodega Bay rewards those who follow the bait as the water cools. Today brings clear skies, wind W around 6 mph, falling pressure near 1019 hPa and a high of 65. Tides: high 9:34 AM and 9:59 PM, low 3:18 AM and 4:02 PM: the moving water either side of each change is when this place feeds. Water sits around 65 F for the season (estimated). With the waxing gibbous, the solunar majors run 9:52 AM-11:52 AM and 10:21 PM-12:21 AM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rockfish (Pacific)Excellent

Much of the open season along the coast falls in this band. Fish through suspended schools of black, blue and other midwater rockfish, and closer to the rocks for vermilion, copper and China rockfish.

SurfperchGood

Fall through spring is the peak on both the central (October to June) and southern (September to May) California coasts, per the state beach guides. Fish sand crabs, worms or Carolina-rigged grubs near crab beds and bar edges.

California halibutGood

The catch drops after October as halibut move to deeper water (CDFW). Fish deeper channels and nearshore sand and slow the drift.

Tomorrow: Warmer at 70 F. The solunar majors shift about 50 minutes later.Next report: Sat, Oct 24, 6:30 AMHow this report is made β†’

Before you go

California requires a fishing licence from age 16, from $64.54 for residents. What a California licence costs and where to buy it β†’

Chasing surfperch here? Check the size and bag limits with CDFW before you keep anything. The season dates for California, read off the agency, are on the California seasons page.

Water and weather

Live readings.

Tides

NOAA station 9415625 (Bodega Harbor Entrance). Fish the moving water either side of each change.

Fri
LOW3:18 AM1.0 ft
HIGH9:34 AM5.4 ft
LOW4:02 PM1.0 ft
HIGH9:59 PM4.7 ft
Sat
LOW3:53 AM1.4 ft
HIGH10:01 AM5.7 ft
LOW4:39 PM0.3 ft
HIGH10:53 PM4.8 ft

Bodega Bay tide chart: the week and the month β†’

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp65 F
High / Low65 / 51 F
WindW 6-8 mph
Pressure1018.8 hPa, falling
Sky / Rain0% cloud, 1%
Sunrise / Sunset07:29 / 18:23
MoonWaxing Gibbous, 91%
Water temp (seasonal)~65 F est.

Bite planner

Hour-by-hour bite forecast for today. Tap a bar to see why.

5 AM8 AM11 AM2 PM5 PM8 PMsunrisesunsetPRIMEPRIME

Which day to fish Bodega Bay this week

Today is the pick of the week on Bodega Bay, at 4 out of 5.

Best day this week: today, Oct 23 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Good

Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Solunar majors
9:52 AM-11:52 AM and 10:21 PM-12:21 AM
Minor period
4:16 AM-5:16 AM
Sun
07:29 to 18:23
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 12 mph
Rain chance
1%

Forecast-based scores, less reliable further out: how the score is built.

Species guide

The species that matter on Bodega Bay: seasons, structure and how to fish each one. Today's ratings live in the report above.

Surfperch illustration

Surfperch

Best: Oct-Jun central CA, Sep-May southern CA

Barred and redtail surfperch are the large perches of Pacific sandy beaches: barred from northern California into Baja, redtail from Vancouver Island to San Luis Obispo County, overlapping along central California. Fall through spring is the peak on both the central (October to June) and southern (September to May) California coasts, per the state beach guides. Fish sand crabs, worms or Carolina-rigged grubs near crab beds and bar edges.

California halibut illustration

California halibut

Best: Apr-Oct, peaking in summer (CDFW)

California halibut (Paralichthys californicus) is a large flatfish of sand and mud bottoms in bays, estuaries and shallow coastal water, an ambush predator that lifts off the bottom to take anchovies and squid. The catch drops after October as halibut move to deeper water (CDFW). Fish deeper channels and nearshore sand and slow the drift.

Rockfish (Pacific) illustration

Rockfish (Pacific)

Seasons and depth limits vary by state and zone

Pacific rockfish are about 60 Sebastes species managed under the federal groundfish plan, from black and blue rockfish schooling over shallow reefs to yelloweye that live more than a century in deep water. Much of the open season along the coast falls in this band. Fish through suspended schools of black, blue and other midwater rockfish, and closer to the rocks for vermilion, copper and China rockfish.

When to come: the Bodega Bay calendar

Activity by species and month, and how the water warms through the year. Tap any cell.

Species activity by month

1 = slow, 5 = peak. Current month highlighted.

J
F
M
A
M
J
J
A
S
O
N
D
Surfperch
California halibut
Rockfish (Pacific)
SlowPeak

Water temperature through the year

Typical surface temperature for this water type; today is around 65 F (estimated, not a reading).

506070JanMarMayJulSepNovOct, ~65 F now

Angler reports

Real reports from real anglers, reviewed before publishing. The water log below tracks each day automatically.

No angler reports yet this weekBe the first: your report helps every angler who checks Bodega Bay today, and we feature the best catch of the week.

Water log, last days

Auto-logged from live data
Thu, Oct 22

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rockfish (Pacific) led the card at good. High of 63 F, wind to 14 mph.

Wed, Oct 21

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rockfish (Pacific) led the card at good. High of 72 F, wind to 9 mph.

Tue, Oct 20

3/5 Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day. Rockfish (Pacific) led the card at good. High of 67 F, wind to 12 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
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Before you go

License

California requires a valid fishing license for adults. Buy online from the state agency; one-day options exist for visitors.

Regulations

California license. Rockfish zones/depths: crab seasons and gear rules: check CDFW current for both.

Access

Westside ramp, Doran launch, harbor party-boat docks; jetty and public-dock crabbing.

About this water

Sonoma's fishing harbor, Sonoma County, CA. Crab, cod and the wind-carved coast.

Fishing Bodega Bay: the full guide

The working harbor

Bodega Bay stays a fishing town first: crab pots stack the docks, the party-boat fleet runs the rock cod grounds off Bodega Head, and salmon seasons (when open) send the fleet to the Cordell Bank's edges. Hitchcock's birds made it famous: the fishing keeps it honest.

The boat calendar

Rockfish trips (May-December typical: sanctuary depth rules apply) work the reefs north and south: blacks and blues over the pinnacles, lings in the rocks: while Dungeness season (November's opener: a regional holiday) fills combo trips: pots pulled between rockfish drifts. Salmon's quota years add the king game: review current: the harbor holds its breath each April announcement.

Inside the head

The harbor and Bodega's protected flats run a quieter fishery: perch off the jetty, jacksmelt schools, crabbing from the public docks (snares and traps: no boat needed), and the occasional halibut in the channel's sand. Doran Beach's protected curve fishes surfperch when the outer coast blows: which is often: this is wind country.

Coast practicalities

Westside and Doran launches serve trailer boats (the bar at the head demands respect: check conditions religiously), the party boats book from the harbor docks, and the outer beaches (Salmon Creek south to the head) fish perch and stripers-strays in the troughs. Fog and wind write every schedule: mornings, layers, flexibility.

Common questions

When is crab season at Bodega Bay?

Recreational Dungeness typically opens in November (delays for whale-safety windows possible: check CDFW). The opener is Sonoma's unofficial holiday: pots, pull, feast.

Can you fish Bodega Bay without a boat?

The jetty's perch and rockfish, dock crabbing with snares, and Doran's protected surf: a real fishery on foot. The party boats handle the deep water for everyone else.

Is fishing good at Bodega Bay right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Good. Solid day ahead. Stable-to-falling pressure and workable wind line things up.

Nearby waters

Russian River11 miLake Sonoma28 miLake Berryessa48 miClear Lake52 miSan Pablo Reservoir52 miPacifica56 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Tide predictions
NOAA CO-OPS 9415625 β€” Bodega Harbor Entrance
Harmonic predictions, datum MLLW, local time. 12 high and low events returned for today and the next two days. A prediction, not a measured water level: wind and surge move the real thing.
Weather and pressure
Open-Meteo forecast model
Queried at 38.3100, -123.0500 in this water's own timezone. A model, not an observation.
Moon and solunar windows
Calculated on this site
Astronomical calculation from these coordinates and the date, not a third-party feed. How much weight it deserves.
The written guide on this page
Pablo Ruiz Quintero
How this page was made. The daily report is computed by our scoring engine from live readings; nobody types it. The written guide was drafted with AI assistance. Unlike our newer pages, it does not yet list the official pages its facts were checked against: that audit is under way, and anything it cannot verify will be taken out. Pablo Ruiz Quintero sets every guideline, the data-verification system and the minimum standards a page must meet to be published, reviews page structure and approves what goes live; the responsibility is his, and the AI carries out the work. We work this way because it is how one person can keep every page current with named sources. Errors are published in the verification log; the full policy is in the editorial policy.

Readings refresh on a 30-minute window. The full method, with every figure and its source, is on how our reports are made. Something wrong here? Tell us and it goes in the log with the date.