ReelCaster

Today's best fishing in Huntington Beach: 7 AM to 10 AM

This page is full of real data to show you what you can see with ReelCaster in Huntington Beach.

The next 14 days in Huntington Beach

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 Huntington Beach reaches that day. Green is good, amber is fair, red is slow, and you can read it from across the room.

  • 2,352 scores behind it

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

Tue
Sep 15
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Sep 19
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Sep 26

Hour by hour today at Huntington Beach Artificial Reef

All times PDT

  • One real spot

    A city has no tide or wind of its own, so this is Huntington Beach Artificial Reef, the most fished mark in Huntington Beach, scored for California Sheephead.

  • 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 Huntington Beach, so you can see slack coming before you leave the dock.

Conditions
Time
1 PM
Now
Score
83
Good
Tide
4.6 ft ▼
Ebbing
Current
—
Ebb
Wind
6 kn
WSW · steady
Sea state
Choppy
2.6 ft
Air temp
76°
Warm
Weather
Clear
16% cloud
Hour 1 PM. Score 83 Good. Tide 4.6ft Falling ▼. Current -1.3kn Ebb. Wind 6kn WSW G6. Sea 2.6ft Chop. Air 76.3°.

The spots people actually fish in Huntington Beach

1 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 Huntington Beach 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 mark 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 Huntington Beach

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.

  • 7 marks, all scored

    Every spot we cover around Huntington Beach, 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 Huntington Beach today

  • California HalibutKeep5 a day · min 22"Open at all 5 spots we cover
  • Barred Sand BassKeep5 a day · min 14"Open at all 5 spots we cover
  • YellowtailKeep10 a day · min 24"Open at all 1 spot we cover
  • Kelp BassKeep5 a day · min 14"Open at all 4 spots we cover
  • California SheepheadKeep2 a day · min 12"Open at all 5 spots we cover
  • White SeabassReleaseCatch and release at all 5 spots we cover
  • Calico BassClosedShut at all 5 spots we cover
  • Rockfish (Aggregate)ClosedShut at all 4 spots we cover
  • BonitoClosedShut 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.

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.

Start your 7-day free trial

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When to fish Huntington Beach

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 Huntington Beach
SpeciesJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember
California Halibut
Calico Bass
White Seabass
Barred Sand Bass
Yellowtail
Kelp Bass
California Sheephead
Rockfish (Aggregate)
Bonito

California Halibut: January poor, February fair, March excellent, April excellent, May excellent, June excellent, July excellent, August good, September good, October fair, November poor, December poor. Calico Bass: January poor, February fair, March good, April good, May good, June excellent, July peak, August excellent, September good, October fair, November poor, December poor. White Seabass: January none, February fair, March excellent, April peak, May peak, June peak, July peak, August good, September poor, October poor, November poor, December none. Barred Sand Bass: January poor, February poor, March fair, April excellent, May peak, June peak, July peak, August excellent, September fair, October fair, November poor, December poor. Yellowtail: January none, February poor, March fair, April excellent, May peak, June peak, July peak, August peak, September excellent, October fair, November poor, December none. Kelp Bass: January poor, February fair, March good, April good, May good, June good, July excellent, August good, September good, October fair, November fair, December poor. California Sheephead: January fair, February fair, March good, April good, May good, June fair, July good, August excellent, September good, October fair, November fair, December fair. Rockfish (Aggregate): January good, February good, March good, April fair, May fair, June fair, July fair, August fair, September fair, October fair, November fair, December good. Bonito: January none, February none, March poor, April good, May peak, June peak, July peak, August peak, September peak, October fair, November none, December none.

  • California Halibut. California halibut are resident year-round in Huntington Beach nearshore flats and surf zone, but abundance climbs in spring (Mar–Jun) as fish move shallow to spawn and warming water triggers feeding, peaking late spring/early summer. A secondary early-fall bump reflects post-spawn feeding and bait-driven activity, while winter fish move deeper and slow down, lowering nearshore presence without ever truly disappearing.
  • Calico Bass. Calico bass are resident year-round in Huntington Beach kelp and reef structure, so they never hit zero, but abundance concentrates in warm-water months. Spring peak (May–June) reflects the pre-spawn aggregation on the reefs, and a second late-summer/early-fall peak (Aug–Sep) tracks warmest water and heavy bait presence before fish disperse and slow in winter's cold, dirty water.
  • White Seabass. White seabass off Huntington Beach peak in spring (March–May) when they move inshore to spawn over squid grounds and along kelp/reef edges, with a strong secondary summer bump tied to warm-water squid spawns and grunion cycles. Winter presence is lowest as fish scatter to deeper offshore water, though they never fully leave SoCal, keeping baseline above zero year-round.
  • Barred Sand Bass. Barred sand bass are resident year-round off Huntington Beach but aggregate into dense spawning schools over deeper flats and edges from late spring through mid-summer, producing the June–July peak. Fish disperse to deeper structure in cold winter months, lowering local shallow-water abundance without ever leaving the region entirely.
  • Yellowtail. Southern California yellowtail hold at low winter levels but never fully leave inshore/island waters, then build strongly from late spring as water warms and squid/bait cycles fire, peaking April–June around spring spawn and again with a warm-water bump in September. Numbers taper through fall as temperatures drop, with warm ENSO years extending abundance later into December.
  • Kelp Bass. Kelp bass are resident, non-migratory reef fish so they never truly disappear, but abundance in accessible nearshore kelp and structure peaks with warm water and the summer spawn (roughly May–August), with a late-spring pre-spawn bump and a strong midsummer high. Winter's cooler water pushes fish deeper and slower, lowering catchable nearshore density without eliminating the stock.
  • California Sheephead. California Sheephead are resident reef fish present year-round on Huntington Beach's rocky structure and artificial reefs, so abundance never hits zero. Peaks appear late spring (spawning aggregations May–July) and early fall (warm-water activity and post-spawn foraging), with a slight winter dip as cooler temperatures reduce activity on the shallow reefs.
  • Rockfish (Aggregate). Rockfish are resident, structure-oriented bottom dwellers on the reefs and hard bottom off Huntington Beach, so biological abundance stays essentially flat year-round with no migratory runs. Minor seasonal shifts occur as some species move deeper in colder months, but the aggregate stock remains present at baseline throughout the year.
  • Bonito. Pacific bonito abundance off Huntington Beach builds as inshore waters warm through spring, peaking in early summer (late May–June) and again in warm-water September–October pushes tied to squid and anchovy schools. Winter presence drops sharply as cooler water sends most fish south, though a residual population lingers in warm years near the power plant outflow and harbor.

Before you go

Management areas

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

  • Southern

Fishing Huntington Beach

Huntington Beach sits along the Southern California coast, with fishing grounds ranging from the nearshore flats and artificial reefs just off the beach to deeper banks and rocky structure well offshore. Barred Sand Bass hold through the warmer months with a peak from April to August, while Calico Bass come on strong from June through August and California Sheephead push into two windows, March through April and July through September. The inside waters over sand and reef structure draw the sand bass concentrations, and the harder bottom and offshore banks hold Sheephead, Cabezon, and California Scorpionfish. Anglers work the sand bass with drift fishing over the flats, covering ground until the schools stack up. The fishery carries strongest through late spring and summer, when species overlap across the shallow and deep spots alike.

Nearby