Catalina Island - Isthmus (Cat Harbor)
33.44°N · 118.50°W
Now 77 · 1 PM PDT
24-Hour Conditions
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Current regulations
In effect nowWhat you can keep at this spot today
- Daily limit
- 2 per day
- Possession
- 2 in possession
- Size
- Minimum 12"
- Gear
- Open year-round to divers and shore-based anglers only (not boat-based anglers outside specified season).
- Annual quota
- Not published
- Other
- Open year-round to divers and shore-based anglers. Open to boat-based anglers March 1, 2026 through December 31, 2026. Daily bag/possession limit is 2 fish. Minimum size 12 inches total length.
Source: CDFW · Groundfish Management Area Southern · synced today
Seasonality
52-week view · today highlightedWhen California Sheephead is best at this spot
Nearby Spots
View all on map →Other productive spots within easy run
Cat Harbor sits on the protected inner side of Catalina Island's Isthmus, a kelp reef over rocky bottom running from 20 to 60 feet within Santa Monica waters. Yellowtail draw anglers from May through October, worked on live sardines, mackerel, or anchovies, while White Seabass show from March into July and respond to live squid drifted along the structure. Calico Bass hold in the kelp and rock from April through August, taken on swimbaits and soft plastic grubs, and California Sheephead work the same bottom April through September on live shrimp, squid, or crab. Rockfish stay available year-round with a dropper loop of squid or cut mackerel, and Lingcod move in from September through February for vertical jigging with metal jigs and leadhead swimbaits. The sheltered exposure keeps the reef fishable when outer coasts are blown out, concentrating fish over the rock edges within the 20-to-60-foot range.
Catalina Island - Isthmus (Cat Harbor) is one of the spots we track around Los Angeles. See every scored spot in California.
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