ReelCaster

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

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

The next 14 days in Long 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 Long Beach reaches that day. Green is good, amber is fair, red is slow, and you can read it from across the room.

  • 2,016 scores behind it

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

Mon
Sep 14
Tue
Sep 15
Wed
Sep 16
Thu
Sep 17
Fri
Sep 18
Sat
Sep 19
Sun
Sep 20
Mon
Sep 21
Tue
Sep 22
Wed
Sep 23
Thu
Sep 24
Fri
Sep 25

Hour by hour today at Smith Island

All times PDT

  • One real spot

    A city has no tide or wind of its own, so this is Smith Island, the most fished mark in Long Beach, scored for Barred Sand Bass.

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

Conditions
Time
10 PM
Now
Score
26
Tough
Tide
4.9 ft ▲
Flooding
Current
—
Flood
Wind
1 kn
WNW · steady
Sea state
Choppy
2.8 ft
Air temp
72°
Warm
Weather
Partly cloudy
31% cloud
Hour 10 PM. Score 26 Tough. Tide 4.9ft Rising ▲. Current +0.6kn Flood. Wind 1kn WNW G3. Sea 2.8ft Chop. Air 72.0°.

The spots people actually fish in Long 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 Long 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 Long 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.

  • 6 marks, all scored

    Every spot we cover around Long 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 Long Beach today

  • Barred Sand BassKeep5 a day · min 14"Open at all 6 spots we cover
  • California HalibutKeep5 a day · min 22"Open at all 5 spots we cover
  • White SeabassKeep3 a day · min 28"Open at all 3 spots we cover
  • YellowtailKeep10 a day · min 24"Open at all 1 spot we cover
  • California SheepheadKeep2 a day · min 12"Open at all 5 spots we cover
  • Calico BassClosedShut at all 6 spots we cover
  • BonitoClosedShut at all 4 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.

Start your 7-day free trial

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When to fish Long 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 Long Beach
SpeciesJanuaryFebruaryMarchAprilMayJuneJulyAugustSeptemberOctoberNovemberDecember
Calico Bass
Barred Sand Bass
California Halibut
White Seabass
Yellowtail
California Sheephead
Bonito

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

  • Calico Bass. Calico bass are resident year-round in Long Beach kelp/structure but slow way down in cold winter water (Jan–Mar), then ramp hard as water warms; the peak is the late-spring/early-summer spawn aggregation (May–July) when fish stack up on structure, with a secondary bump in fall before water cools. Abundance never hits zero since they don't migrate away.
  • Barred Sand Bass. Barred sand bass are resident year-round in Long Beach waters but aggregate into dense summer spawning schools over sand flats (June–August), peaking late June through mid-July when warm water and spawning drive the famous 'sand bass grounds' bite. Outside the spawn they disperse and hunker in deeper, cooler structure through winter, so abundance in the surveyed shallow zones drops but never reaches zero.
  • California Halibut. California halibut are resident year-round in Long Beach waters but concentrate on shallow flats and bay mouths during the spring spawning migration (Apr–Jun), producing the strongest peak. A secondary late-summer/early-fall bump reflects warm water and post-spawn feeding, while winter shows lower abundance as many fish move deeper offshore.
  • White Seabass. White seabass peak in Long Beach waters during the spring spawning aggregation (March–June) when squid spawns concentrate fish over local reefs and around Catalina, with the strongest abundance late March through May. A secondary bump in late summer/early fall follows warm-water squid activity, while winter sees the lowest densities as fish disperse and move deeper offshore.
  • Yellowtail. Southern California yellowtail are present year-round but abundance surges as water warms; a spring push (Apr–May) builds off the coronado/local banks, then peaks in summer (July–Sept) when warm water and squid/sardine bait cycles concentrate fish around Catalina and local structure. A secondary bump in late spring reflects the seasonal migration up from Baja, while winter numbers stay low but non-zero as some resident fish hold on deeper structure.
  • California Sheephead. California Sheephead are resident reef fish around Long Beach rocky structure and jetties year-round, so abundance never hits zero. A modest spring bump aligns with warming water and pre-spawn aggregation, while the strongest peak comes late summer through early fall (Aug–Oct) when warm water pushes fish shallow and active, before slightly thinning in cold winter months as they hold deeper.
  • Bonito. Pacific bonito are warm-water schooling migrants that surge into Long Beach waters as inshore temps climb, with a spring push (April–June) tied to spawning and bait, and a stronger late-summer/early-fall peak (Aug–Oct) when warm water and anchovy/sardine schools concentrate them. Winter abundance drops sharply but rarely to zero, as small pockets of fish linger in the harbor and warm-water discharge areas year-round.

Before you go

Management areas

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

  • Southern

Fishing Long Beach

Long Beach sits along the San Pedro Bay on Southern California's coast, with fishing spots spread across breakwater lights, rocky headlands, and offshore banks. Barred Sand Bass and Calico Bass drive the fishery here, both peaking through the warmer stretch from March into August, while California Halibut holds strong from March through June. The spots divide between sheltered inside waters near the harbor entrances and more exposed structure off the outer points and channel islands. Anglers work the sand bass primarily by drift fishing across the flats and edges. The core months run spring through late summer, carrying the bulk of the action across most of these seven locations.

Nearby