ReelCaster

Crescent City Fishing Report & Forecast

Today's best window: 8 AM to 11 AM

Do I need a license in Crescent City?

View Crescent City fishing map

The next 14 days in Crescent City

Data from: ECMWF + GFS + BlueCaster

  • Two weeks ahead

    Most forecasts stop at the weekend. This one runs a full 14 days, so you can pick the day before you book the time off.

  • One number, out of 100

    The best score anything in Crescent City reaches that day. Green is good, amber is fair, red is slow, and you can read it from across the room.

  • 9,072 scores behind it

    27 spots, every hour of every day, out to 14. This row is the best of them.

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Hour by hour today at Sister Rocks

All times PDT

  • One real spot

    A city has no tide or wind of its own, so this is Sister Rocks, the most fished spot in Crescent City, scored for Lingcod.

  • Six readings, one clock

    Tide, current, wind, sea, air and sky, all lined up on the same hour, so you can see what is actually driving the score.

  • Currents, not just tides

    Modelled flow for the water off Crescent City, so you can see slack coming before you leave the dock.

Conditions
Time
8 AM
Now
Score
85
Good
Tide
4.2 ft ▼
Ebbing
Current
—
Ebb
Wind
5 kn
NE · steady
Sea state
Easy
3 ft @ 7 s NW
Air temp
46°
Cold
Weather
Overcast
100% cloud
Hour 8 AM. Score 85 Good. Tide 4.2ft Falling ▼. Current -0.6kn Ebb. Wind 5kn NE G5. Sea 3 ft @ 7 s NW Easy. Air 45.9°.

The spots people actually fish in Crescent City

21 more on the map

  • A year of catch reports

    The order here is how much each mark actually gets fished, not today's guess. The busiest water in Crescent City comes first.

  • Today's number too

    Beside each name is the best score that spot reaches today, so you can weigh a proven mark against a good forecast.

  • Every spot has a page

    Its own chart, its own species and its own rules, worked out the same way as everything above.

Every spot we score in Crescent City

Bathymetry: NONNA-10 + NRCan

  • Real charted seabed

    Depth soundings, not a stock map. The banks, reefs and drop-offs are where you can see them.

  • 27 spots, all scored

    Every spot we cover around Crescent City, each one carrying its own number for today.

  • Point at any of them

    The name, how busy a mark it is, and the tide, sea and seabed at its best hour.

Create custom spots

Our full model on your custom private spots.

  1. Drop a pinAnywhere on the water. The ledge you found, the bay nobody talks about.
  2. Name itYour name for it, not ours. It stays private to your account.
  3. Choose speciesPick what you fish there, and it starts scoring from the next run.

What you can keep in Crescent City today

  • LingcodKeep2 a day · min 22"Open at all 27 spots we cover
  • Black RockfishKeep10 a dayOpen at all 10 spots we cover
  • Rockfish (Aggregate)Keep10 a dayOpen at all 9 spots we cover
  • Blue RockfishKeep10 a dayOpen at all 10 spots we cover
  • Chinook SalmonClosedShut at all 27 spots we cover

Rules differ between groundfish management areas and change in season. Check CDFW for the groundfish management area you are fishing before you keep anything.

All 27 spots in Crescent City

Every spot we cover around Crescent City has its own page, with the tide, the wind and the next 14 days.

That was one day. Pro opens the next fourteen.

Every spot on this map, hour by hour, two weeks out, with alerts when your water crosses the score you set.

$0 today, then $33 USD a year, which is $2.75 a month. Card required, cancel any time.

When to fish Crescent City

Each row is shaded against that species' own best month here, so a dark cell means a good month for that fish rather than a comparison between them.

Relative abundance by month for each species around Crescent City
SpeciesJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember
Chinook Salmon
Lingcod
Black Rockfish
Rockfish (Aggregate)
Blue Rockfish
Cod

Chinook Salmon: January none, February none, March good, April excellent, May excellent, June peak, July peak, August peak, September good, October poor, November none, December none. Lingcod: January fair, February good, March excellent, April fair, May fair, June fair, July fair, August fair, September excellent, October good, November fair, December fair. Black Rockfish: January fair, February fair, March good, April good, May good, June excellent, July excellent, August good, September good, October fair, November fair, December fair. Rockfish (Aggregate): January fair, February fair, March fair, April fair, May good, June good, July excellent, August good, September good, October fair, November fair, December fair. Blue Rockfish: January fair, February fair, March good, April good, May good, June good, July excellent, August good, September fair, October fair, November fair, December fair. Cod: January excellent, February good, March fair, April fair, May fair, June fair, July fair, August fair, September fair, October good, November good, December excellent.

  • Chinook Salmon. Crescent City Chinook build through spring as ocean-feeding fish stage off the Klamath/Smith River mouths, with a strong late-summer to early-fall peak (late July–September) as mature adults stack up before their fall river runs. Abundance drops sharply through October–November as fish enter freshwater to spawn, leaving the nearshore ocean largely empty of Chinook through winter.
  • Lingcod. Lingcod are resident on Crescent City's nearshore reefs year-round, but abundance concentrates as spawning males guard nests in late winter/early spring (Feb–Apr) and again in fall (Sep–Oct) when fish move shallow to feed. Summer sees fish disperse deeper and thin on accessible structure, while heavy winter swells and post-spawn dispersal create the lowest inshore densities.
  • Black Rockfish. Black rockfish are a resident, non-migratory nearshore species off Crescent City, so they remain present year-round with only modest seasonal variation. Abundance peaks in summer (June–August) when warmer water, calm seas, and strong nearshore baitfish concentrations pull fish shallow and aggregate them on reefs, with a slight dip in late spring during upwelling and a gradual decline through fall/winter as fish spread and move deeper.
  • Rockfish (Aggregate). Rockfish are resident, structure-oriented bottomfish present year-round off Crescent City, so the curve stays near baseline with no biological absence. A modest summer-to-early-fall bump (June–September) reflects warmer, calmer water and upwelling-driven forage that concentrate fish shallower and boost local density before winter storms disperse them back to deeper reefs.
  • Blue Rockfish. Blue rockfish are resident, non-migratory reef dwellers off Crescent City, so they're present year-round with no true biological absence. Abundance appears highest late spring through early fall (roughly April–September) when they move shallower and school densely near kelp and rocky structure during upwelling and warmer surface temps, with modest winter thinning as fish go deeper and disperse during rough conditions.
  • Cod. Pacific Cod in the far northern California waters off Crescent City are near their southern range edge, so they're a cool-water demersal fish present year-round but most abundant in late summer through fall (Aug–Oct) when deeper shelf aggregations build and juveniles recruit. Abundance dips in late winter/early spring as fish disperse to deeper, colder water during the post-spawn period, though they never fully leave the region.

Before you go

Management areas

Water around Crescent City falls into one area, and the rules can differ between them. California Department of Fish and Wildlife sets them.

  • Northern
Licence you need

California sport fishing license

California Department of Fish and Wildlife · 2026

Annual, resident aged 16 or older: $64.54

Ocean Enhancement Validation $7.30, required on an annual license to fish ocean waters south of Point Arguello. A one-day or two-day license does not need it.

One sport fishing license covers ocean and inland water. Anglers 15 and younger need no license. Fishing from a public pier in ocean or bay waters needs no license either.

Do I need a license in Crescent City?Buy from California Department of Fish and Wildlife

Fishing Crescent City

Crescent City sits on California's far north coast, where the open Pacific meets a scatter of rocky reefs and offshore humps within reach of the harbor. The area holds 28 documented fishing spots, with Chinook salmon running strongest from April through September and lingcod peaking in late winter and again from August into October. Coho salmon and Pacific halibut fill out the catch across the same waters. The spots cluster around exposed headlands, submerged rock pinnacles, and deep offshore humps rather than sheltered inside bays, giving the fishery its outer-coast character. Anglers work the salmon run largely by trolling through the spring and summer months, when the fishery carries its heaviest activity.

Common questions about Crescent City

›Do I need a fishing license in Crescent City?

Yes. Fishing around Crescent City needs the California sport fishing license from California Department of Fish and Wildlife. $64.54 a year for a resident aged 16 or older in 2026. The Ocean Enhancement Validation ($7.30) is required on an annual license to fish ocean waters south of Point Arguello. A one-day or two-day license does not need it. One sport fishing license covers ocean and inland water. Anglers 15 and younger need no license. Fishing from a public pier in ocean or bay waters needs no license either.

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