Today's best fishing in Laguna Beach: 7 AM to 10 AM
This page is full of real data to show you what you can see with ReelCaster in Laguna Beach.
The next 14 days in Laguna Beach
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 Laguna Beach reaches that day. Green is good, amber is fair, red is slow, and you can read it from across the room.
1,680 scores behind it
5 spots, every hour of every day, out to 14. This row is the best of them.
Hour by hour today at Abalone Point
All times PDTOne real spot
A city has no tide or wind of its own, so this is Abalone Point, the most fished mark in Laguna Beach, scored for California Halibut.
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 Laguna Beach, so you can see slack coming before you leave the dock.
The spots people actually fish in Laguna Beach
A year of catch reports
The order here is how much each mark actually gets fished, not today's guess. The busiest water in Laguna 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.
- 86Abalone PointKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Mid flood · Chop · Rock reef
- 86Reef PointKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Mid flood · Chop · Rock reef
- 86Muddy CanyonKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Mid flood · Chop · Mud bottom
- 85Moro CanyonKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Mid flood · Chop · Rock reef
- 84Laguna Beach Kelp BedsKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Mid flood · Chop · Rock reef
Every spot we score in Laguna Beach
Bathymetry: NONNA-10 + NRCanReal charted seabed
Depth soundings, not a stock map. The banks, reefs and drop-offs are where you can see them.
5 marks, all scored
Every spot we cover around Laguna 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.
- 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 Laguna Beach today
- YellowtailKeep10 a day · min 24"Open at all 3 spots we cover
- 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
- California SheepheadKeep2 a day · min 12"Open at all 3 spots we cover
- White SeabassReleaseCatch and release at all 5 spots we cover
- Calico BassClosedShut at all 4 spots we cover
- California BarracudaClosedShut at all 3 spots we cover
- Rockfish (Aggregate)ClosedShut at all 2 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.
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 Laguna 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.
| Species | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Yellowtail | ||||||||||||
| White Seabass | ||||||||||||
| California Halibut | ||||||||||||
| Calico Bass | ||||||||||||
| Barred Sand Bass | ||||||||||||
| California Barracuda | ||||||||||||
| Rockfish (Aggregate) | ||||||||||||
| California Sheephead |
Yellowtail: January none, February poor, March fair, April excellent, May peak, June peak, July peak, August peak, September good, October fair, November poor, December none. White Seabass: January poor, February fair, March excellent, April peak, May peak, June excellent, July good, August fair, September fair, October poor, November poor, December poor. California Halibut: January poor, February poor, March fair, April excellent, May excellent, June peak, July peak, August excellent, September good, October fair, November poor, December poor. Calico Bass: January poor, February fair, March good, April excellent, May good, June good, July excellent, August excellent, September good, October fair, November fair, December poor. Barred Sand Bass: January poor, February poor, March good, April excellent, May good, June peak, July peak, August excellent, September fair, October fair, November poor, December poor. California Barracuda: January none, February none, March fair, April excellent, May peak, June peak, July peak, August peak, September good, October none, November none, December none. Rockfish (Aggregate): January good, February good, March fair, April fair, May fair, June fair, July fair, August good, September good, October good, November good, December good. California Sheephead: January fair, February fair, March fair, April good, May good, June good, July good, August good, September good, October good, November fair, December fair.
- Yellowtail. Southern California yellowtail off Laguna Beach peak in late spring through early summer (April–June) as warming water and squid/anchovy bait drive fish onto local reefs and kelp lines, with a broad summer-fall presence sustained by warm-water flushes and El Niño-driven schools. Winter numbers drop as most fish push south toward Baja and offshore banks, though a resident contingent keeps abundance from reaching zero.
- White Seabass. White Seabass abundance in Laguna Beach peaks in spring through early summer (March–June) as fish move inshore over squid spawning grounds along kelp edges, with the strongest window in April–May. A secondary bump appears in early fall when squid returns, while winter months show reduced but non-zero presence as most fish move deeper offshore.
- California Halibut. California halibut are resident year-round in Laguna Beach's sandy nearshore flats but show a strong spring spawning move into shallow water (March–May) and a peak summer/early-fall abundance (July–September) as warmer water and abundant baitfish concentrate fish on the beaches. Winter sees a decline as fish move deeper and become lethargic in colder water, though they never fully leave the region.
- Calico Bass. Calico bass are resident year-round in Laguna Beach kelp and rocky reef, so they never hit zero, but abundance and activity climb with warming water. The spring/early-summer (May–July) spawning aggregation pulls fish shallow and concentrated onto the reefs, and a secondary late-summer/early-fall peak (Aug–Sep) reflects warm 68–72°F water and strong bait cycles before fish disperse and slow into the cold winter months.
- Barred Sand Bass. Barred sand bass are resident in SoCal waters year-round but aggregate on shallow flats and hard bottom off Laguna during the summer spawn (late June–August), producing a strong peak in weeks 11–14. A secondary fall bump (weeks 24–27, Sept–early Oct) reflects post-spawn feeding before fish disperse to deeper, cooler water in winter, when they remain present but less concentrated.
- California Barracuda. California barracuda migrate into Southern California waters as they warm in spring, with peak biological abundance from late June through September when water temps exceed 65°F and warm-water pushes bring the largest schools near Laguna. Fish thin out sharply through fall as they move south, leaving winter months (Dec–Mar) with only sparse resident numbers in the cooler nearshore waters.
- Rockfish (Aggregate). Rockfish are resident, structure-oriented reef fish off Laguna Beach with high year-round abundance and no true migratory absence. The modest late-summer/early-fall peak (Aug–Oct) reflects warmer, stratified water pushing forage and concentrating fish on reefs, while late-spring shows a slight dip during post-spawn dispersal and cooler upwelling conditions.
- California Sheephead. California Sheephead are resident reef fish around Laguna Beach's rocky structure and kelp year-round, so abundance never hits zero. Slight peaks occur late spring through fall (spawning aggregations May–Sep and warmer water pushing fish shallower onto accessible reefs), with the lowest presence in winter as cooler temps push some fish deeper and disperse them.
Before you go
Water around Laguna Beach falls into one area, and the rules can differ between them. California Department of Fish and Wildlife sets them.
- Southern
Fishing Laguna Beach
Laguna Beach sits along the rocky Orange County coast, with fishing grounds ranging from the nearshore kelp beds and headlands to offshore banks and knolls that drop into deep water well beyond the surf. Calico Bass hold through the kelp and reef structure with peaks from March into September, while Barred Sand Bass gather over sandier bottoms from June through August and California Halibut move onto the flats from April to August. The inside kelp and points concentrate the reef species, while the outer banks and knolls draw anglers working deeper structure for sand bass and sheephead. Drift fishing over the sandy stretches accounts for much of the halibut and sand bass action across these waters. The fishery carries strongest through late spring and summer, with the reef species extending well into fall.