Half Moon Bay Fishing Report & Forecast
Today's best window: 8 AM to 11 AM
Do I need a license in Half Moon Bay?
View Half Moon Bay fishing mapHalf Moon Bay report
2026-10-06Rockfish and Lingcod are the story around Half Moon Bay right now
The next 14 days in Half Moon Bay
Data from: ECMWF + GFS + BlueCasterTwo 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 Half Moon Bay reaches that day. Green is good, amber is fair, red is slow, and you can read it from across the room.
4,032 scores behind it
12 spots, every hour of every day, out to 14. This row is the best of them.
Hour by hour today at Pillar Point Harbor Entrance Light
All times PDTOne real spot
A city has no tide or wind of its own, so this is Pillar Point Harbor Entrance Light, the most fished spot in Half Moon Bay, scored for Chinook Salmon.
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 Half Moon Bay, so you can see slack coming before you leave the dock.
The spots people actually fish in Half Moon Bay
6 more on the mapA year of catch reports
The order here is how much each mark actually gets fished, not today's guess. The busiest water in Half Moon Bay 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.
- 88Pillar Point Harbor Entrance LightKnown spotBest 8 AM–11 AM · Low slack · Lumpy · Rock reef
- 87Deep ReefKnown spotBest 8 AM–11 AM · Mid flood · Lumpy · Rock reef
- 87Pescadero PointBest 8 AM–11 AM · Early flood · Lumpy · Rock reef
- 87West Pescadero Point HumpBest 8 AM–11 AM · Early flood · Lumpy · Rock reef
- 87Southeast Reef HumpBest 8 AM–11 AM · Low slack · Lumpy · Rock reef
- 87North Pescadero Point HumpBest 8 AM–11 AM · Early flood · Lumpy · Rock reef
Every spot we score in Half Moon Bay
Bathymetry: NONNA-10 + NRCanReal charted seabed
Depth soundings, not a stock map. The banks, reefs and drop-offs are where you can see them.
12 spots, all scored
Every spot we cover around Half Moon Bay, 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.
- Drop a pinAnywhere on the water. The ledge you found, the bay nobody talks about.
- Name itYour name for it, not ours. It stays private to your account.
- Choose speciesPick what you fish there, and it starts scoring from the next run.
What you can keep in Half Moon Bay today
- Chinook SalmonKeep2 a day · min 20"Open at all 11 spots we cover
- LingcodKeep2 a day · min 22"Open at all 11 spots we cover
- Rockfish (Aggregate)Keep10 a dayOpen at all 7 spots we cover
- California HalibutKeep2 a day · min 22"Open at all 4 spots we cover
- CabezonKeepOpen at all 5 spots we cover
- Black RockfishKeepOpen at all 3 spots we cover
- Dungeness CrabClosedShut at all 1 spot 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 12 spots in Half Moon Bay
Every spot we cover around Half Moon Bay has its own page, with the tide, the wind and the next 14 days.
- Deep ReefBoat · 15 km · best for Chinook Salmon
- North Pescadero Point HumpBoat · 27 km · best for Chinook Salmon
- Pescadero PointBoat · 30 km · best for Chinook Salmon
- Pescadero Point HumpBoat · 29 km · best for Chinook Salmon
- Pillar Point Harbor Entrance LightBoat · 1.0 km · best for Chinook Salmon
- Point San PedroBoat · 11 km · best for Chinook Salmon
- Sail RockBoat · 2.0 km · best for Chinook Salmon
- San Pedro RockBoat · 11 km · best for Chinook Salmon
- Southeast Reef HumpBoat · 4.0 km · best for Chinook Salmon
- Wash RockBoat · 4.0 km · best for Chinook Salmon
- Wash Rock HumpBoat · 3.0 km · best for California Halibut
- West Pescadero Point HumpBoat · 30 km · best for Chinook Salmon
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 Half Moon Bay
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.
| Species | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chinook Salmon | ||||||||||||
| Lingcod | ||||||||||||
| Rockfish (Aggregate) | ||||||||||||
| Halibut | ||||||||||||
| California Halibut | ||||||||||||
| Dungeness Crab | ||||||||||||
| Cabezon | ||||||||||||
| Black Rockfish |
Chinook Salmon: January none, February poor, March excellent, April peak, May peak, June peak, July peak, August excellent, September none, October none, November none, December none. Lingcod: January fair, February good, March good, April fair, May fair, June fair, July fair, August good, September good, October good, November fair, December fair. Rockfish (Aggregate): January fair, February fair, March fair, April fair, May good, June good, July good, August good, September good, October fair, November fair, December fair. Halibut: January none, February none, March poor, April excellent, May peak, June peak, July peak, August peak, September good, October poor, November none, December none. California Halibut: January none, February poor, March fair, April excellent, May peak, June peak, July peak, August peak, September fair, October poor, November none, December none. Dungeness Crab: January excellent, February good, March fair, April fair, May fair, June poor, July poor, August fair, September good, October good, November excellent, December excellent. Cabezon: January fair, February fair, March fair, April good, May good, June fair, July good, August good, September good, October good, November fair, December fair. Black Rockfish: January fair, February fair, March good, April good, May good, June good, July good, August good, September good, October fair, November fair, December fair.
- Chinook Salmon. Chinook stage off Half Moon Bay as they stC mature and stage before the Sacramento/Central Valley run, building through spring upwelling and anchovy/krill concentrations to twin peaks in mid-June and late July–August. Abundance drops sharply through fall as fish enter San Francisco Bay and rivers to spawn, leaving winter waters biologically near-empty.
- Lingcod. Lingcod are resident, structure-oriented bottom fish present in Half Moon Bay reefs year-round, so abundance never drops to zero. A spring peak (Mar–Apr) reflects males guarding nests on shallower rocky structure and moving inshore, while the strongest peak comes in late summer/early fall (Aug–Oct) when post-spawn fish are aggressive, water is productive, and juveniles have recruited, with a modest late-winter lull as some larger fish disperse to deeper offshore banks.
- Rockfish (Aggregate). Rockfish are resident, structure-oriented groundfish present year-round off Half Moon Bay, so abundance stays broad and never hits zero. Peak biomass occurs mid-summer through early fall (Jul–Sep) when upwelling-driven productivity, warmer settled water, and post-spawn aggregations concentrate fish on the reefs, while winter storms and cooler water in Jan–Mar disperse fish deeper for a modest low.
- Halibut. True Pacific halibut are only sporadic strays in central California waters, with the best (still uncommon) presence during warmer summer months when they follow forage north into nearshore banks, peaking late spring through mid-summer. Winter brings deep-water dispersal and near-absence from the shallow Half Moon Bay grounds.
- California Halibut. California halibut move into Half Moon Bay's shallow flats and nearshore soft bottom as water warms in spring, peaking May–June when spawning aggregations and bait push fish inshore. Abundance tapers through fall as fish disperse to deeper water, with a low but persistent winter presence since some resident fish remain in the region year-round.
- Dungeness Crab. Dungeness crab are resident but abundance of legal-size adults peaks in fall (Sep–Nov) as crabs finish molting and fill out with meat ahead of the traditional November season opener. Lowest biomass of harvestable adults occurs late spring/early summer (May–July) during and just after the soft-shell molt, when many crabs are thin, molting, or newly recruited.
- Cabezon. Cabezon are resident, non-migratory reef/kelp fish present year-round in Half Moon Bay's rocky nearshore, so abundance stays fairly stable. The clearest peak is late summer/early fall (Aug–Oct) when warmer water and post-spawn recruitment concentrate active fish on the reefs, with a secondary lift in late spring during the winter/spring spawning aggregations; the mildest dip is mid-winter when cold water reduces activity.
- Black Rockfish. Black rockfish are resident, non-migratory reef dwellers at Half Moon Bay, so they persist year-round with no biological absence. Abundance rises through spring and peaks in late summer/early fall (roughly weeks 20–34) when warm, settled water, strong upwelling-driven baitfish, and fish moving into shallower nearshore reefs concentrate the population, then tapers modestly in winter as fish disperse to deeper structure during storms.
Before you go
Water around Half Moon Bay falls into one area, and the rules can differ between them. California Department of Fish and Wildlife sets them.
- San Francisco
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.
Fishing Half Moon Bay
Half Moon Bay sits on the San Mateo County coast, opening directly onto the exposed waters and offshore reefs of the outer Pacific. The 15 fishing spots here concentrate around deep reef structure and a series of humps scattered off Pescadero Point and Southeast Reef, where uneven bottom draws fish to the outer coast. Lingcod hold on this structure with peaks from February through March and again from August into October, while Chinook Salmon run March through August and Pacific Halibut fill in from April through September. Rockfish round out the mix across the reefs from May into September, giving the area a fishery that carries through most of the year. Anglers work the lingcod grounds primarily by jigging over the reefs and humps.
Common questions about Half Moon Bay
›Do I need a fishing license in Half Moon Bay?
Yes. Fishing around Half Moon Bay 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.