Share your catch
US

Newport Beach Fishing Report

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

Newport and Balboa piers and the harbor jetties, all on CDFW's list of places to fish without a license, with halibut, sand bass and surf corbina.

3/5
Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.
Next tide
High 8:12 PM
Air / High
68 / 71 F
Wind
S 7 mph

Sources: NOAA tides 9410580, 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.

3/5Fair. Fish the windows.A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Newport Beach rewards those who follow the bait as the water cools. Today brings a mixed sky, wind S around 7 mph, steady pressure near 1015 hPa and a high of 71. Tides: high 7:56 AM and 8:12 PM, low 1:38 AM and 2:12 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 9:31 AM-11:31 AM and 9:59 PM-11:59 PM: the windows to build the day around.

The plan, species by species

Rockfish (Pacific)Good

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.

SurfperchFair

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 halibutFair

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

Tomorrow: Similar at 75 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 9410580 (Newport Bay Entrance). Fish the moving water either side of each change.

Fri
LOW1:38 AM0.7 ft
HIGH7:56 AM5.4 ft
LOW2:12 PM0.7 ft
HIGH8:12 PM4.7 ft
Sat
LOW2:04 AM0.8 ft
HIGH8:19 AM5.8 ft
LOW2:49 PM0.1 ft
HIGH8:55 PM4.7 ft

Newport Beach tide chart: the week and the month β†’

Right now

Latest readings

Air temp68 F
High / Low71 / 60 F
WindS 7-8 mph
Pressure1015.3 hPa, steady
Sky / Rain35% cloud, 44%
Sunrise / Sunset07:02 / 18:08
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 Newport Beach this week

The best day on Newport Beach this week looks like Saturday Oct 24, at 4 out of 5, against 3 today.

Best day this week: Saturday, Oct 24 β€” good at 4/5, falling pressure, usually the best window of a week.

Today, Oct 23 β€” Fair

A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Solunar majors
9:31 AM-11:31 AM and 9:59 PM-11:59 PM
Minor period
3:54 AM-4:54 AM
Sun
07:02 to 18:08
Moon
Waxing Gibbous, 91% lit
Sky and wind
Showers, 9 mph
Rain chance
44%

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

Species guide

The species that matter on Newport Beach: 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 Newport Beach 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 Newport Beach 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 71 F, wind to 17 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 76 F, wind to 18 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 73 F, wind to 9 mph.

Where roughly, what depth, what bait. Skip anything you want to keep secret.
Only used if we need to ask you about your report. No mailing list, no spam.

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 sport fishing license for anglers 16 and older, except on public piers in ocean waters. Rockfish and other groundfish follow CDFW's Southern Management Area rules, which change during the year; check CDFW's summary before keeping them.

Access

Balboa Pier, Newport Beach Pier and the Newport Harbor north and south jetties (CDFW free-fishing list).

About this water

Harbor city on the Orange County coast at the entrance to Newport Bay, California.

Fishing Newport Beach: the full guide

No license on the piers

CDFW lists Balboa Pier, Newport Beach Pier and the Newport Harbor north and south jetties among California's free fishing piers and jetties, where no sport license is needed; on the rock walls where the jetties meet land, a license is required. Other rules still apply, and a report card is still needed for spiny lobster or sturgeon taken from a public pier.

Halibut and bass rules

South of Point Sur, CDFW allows 5 California halibut a day with a 22-inch minimum. Kelp bass, barred sand bass and spotted sand bass share a 5-fish daily bag, with no more than 4 barred sand bass, and a 14-inch minimum. White seabass must be 28 inches; the limit is 3, but only 1 south of Point Conception from March 15 to June 15.

Surf fishing

CDFW's beach-fishing guide names surfperches, croakers, California corbina and California halibut as Southern California's year-round surf fish, and suggests casting near sand crab beds for perch. NOAA's station at the Newport Bay entrance in Corona del Mar (9410580) gives tide predictions for the harbor mouth.

Common questions

Do I need a fishing license on Newport Pier?

No. CDFW lists Newport Beach Pier and Balboa Pier as public piers where no sport license is required.

What is the halibut limit at Newport?

Five a day, each at least 22 inches, under CDFW's rules for waters south of Point Sur.

Can I keep spotted bay bass?

Yes, if they are 14 inches or longer; spotted sand bass count toward a 5-fish daily bag shared with kelp and barred sand bass.

Is fishing good at Newport Beach right now?

Check the daily report at the top of this page: it is regenerated every morning from live data. Today's read: Fair. Fish the windows. A steady pattern: dawn and dusk carry the day.

Nearby waters

Oceanside40 miLake Perris44 miDiamond Valley Lake49 miSilverwood Lake57 miLake Hodges58 miBig Bear Lake71 mi

Where this page's numbers come from

Tide predictions
NOAA CO-OPS 9410580 β€” Newport Bay 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 33.6030, -117.8830 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.
Pages checked
The facts in the written guide were checked against these pages, from the agencies and operators that manage the water, on October 5, 2026. Anything we could not verify was taken out.
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 text was drafted with AI assistance from the official pages listed above, and its facts were checked against those pages by automated verification on October 5, 2026; anything that could not be verified was 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.