Today's best fishing in Santa Barbara: 7 AM to 10 AM
This page is full of real data to show you what you can see with ReelCaster in Santa Barbara.
The next 14 days in Santa Barbara
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 Santa Barbara reaches that day. Green is good, amber is fair, red is slow, and you can read it from across the room.
1,344 scores behind it
4 spots, every hour of every day, out to 14. This row is the best of them.
Hour by hour today at Santa Barbara
All times PDTOne real spot
A city has no tide or wind of its own, so this is Santa Barbara, the most fished mark in Santa Barbara, 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 Santa Barbara, so you can see slack coming before you leave the dock.
The spots people actually fish in Santa Barbara
A year of catch reports
The order here is how much each mark actually gets fished, not today's guess. The busiest water in Santa Barbara 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.
- 88Santa BarbaraKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Mid flood · Chop · Rock reef
- 87Gato CanyonKnown markBest 7 AM–10 AM · Mid flood · Lumpy · Rock reef
- 77Santa Rosa Island, Talcott ShoalKnown markBest 8 AM–11 AM · Late flood · Lumpy · Mixed bottom
- 66San Miguel Island, Wilson RockKnown markBest 8 AM–11 AM · High slack · Lumpy · Rock reef
Every spot we score in Santa Barbara
Bathymetry: NONNA-10 + NRCanReal charted seabed
Depth soundings, not a stock map. The banks, reefs and drop-offs are where you can see them.
4 marks, all scored
Every spot we cover around Santa Barbara, 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 Santa Barbara today
- California HalibutKeep5 a day · min 22"Open at all 4 spots we cover
- White SeabassKeep3 a day · min 28"Open at all 1 spot we cover
- YellowtailKeep10 a day · min 24"Open at all 1 spot we cover
- California SheepheadKeep2 a day · min 12"Open at all 2 spots we cover
- California ScorpionfishKeep5 a dayOpen at all 4 spots we cover
- LingcodReleaseCatch and release at all 2 spots we cover
- Kelp BassClosedShut at all 3 spots we cover
- Nearshore RockfishClosedShut 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.
$0 today, then $33 USD a year, which is $2.75 a month. Card required, cancel any time.
When to fish Santa Barbara
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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| California Halibut | ||||||||||||
| Kelp Bass | ||||||||||||
| White Seabass | ||||||||||||
| Yellowtail | ||||||||||||
| Lingcod | ||||||||||||
| California Sheephead | ||||||||||||
| California Scorpionfish | ||||||||||||
| Nearshore Rockfish |
California Halibut: January poor, February poor, March fair, April excellent, May peak, June excellent, July excellent, August excellent, September fair, October fair, November poor, December poor. Kelp Bass: January fair, February fair, March good, April excellent, May excellent, June good, July good, August good, September fair, October fair, November fair, December fair. White Seabass: January none, February fair, March excellent, April peak, May peak, June peak, July peak, August good, September poor, October poor, November none, December none. Yellowtail: January none, February none, March poor, April fair, May excellent, June peak, July peak, August peak, September peak, October fair, November none, December none. Lingcod: January fair, February good, March good, April fair, May fair, June fair, July fair, August fair, September good, October excellent, November good, December fair. California Sheephead: January fair, February fair, March fair, April fair, May fair, June good, July excellent, August excellent, September good, October good, November fair, December fair. California Scorpionfish: January fair, February fair, March fair, April good, May excellent, June excellent, July good, August good, September good, October fair, November fair, December fair. Nearshore Rockfish: January fair, February fair, March fair, April fair, May good, June good, July good, August good, September good, October good, November fair, December fair.
- California Halibut. California halibut are resident year-round in Santa Barbara's sandy bays and flats but concentrate in spring (April–May) as they move shallow to spawn, driving the primary peak. A secondary late-summer bump reflects warm water and strong bait presence, while winter shows lowest abundance as fish move deeper and slow their movements in cooler water.
- Kelp Bass. Kelp bass are resident, non-migratory reef/kelp dwellers so they never leave Santa Barbara waters, keeping abundance well above zero year-round. The clear peak in late spring through early summer (May–July) reflects the spawning aggregation when fish concentrate in kelp beds as water warms, with a gradual decline into cooler winter months when fish become less active and disperse to deeper structure.
- White Seabass. White seabass peak around the Santa Barbara islands and coast in late spring (March–June) as fish move inshore to spawn and follow squid spawning aggregations, with the strongest abundance April–May. A secondary bump occurs in mid-to-late summer tied to warm water and squid, while winter sees the lowest presence as fish disperse to deeper offshore water.
- Yellowtail. Santa Barbara yellowtail are strongly tied to warming water and the arrival of squid/bait; abundance builds from late spring, holds high through summer, and peaks again in early fall (Sep–Oct) as warm water and often El Niño-influenced conditions push fish up the coast. Winter presence is low but not zero, as scattered resident/holdover fish remain around offshore islands and structure in colder months.
- Lingcod. Lingcod are resident bottomfish present year-round on Santa Barbara reefs and rocky structure, so the curve never hits zero. Abundance peaks in late winter/early spring (Feb–Apr) when males guard nests in shallower structure and again in fall (Oct–Nov) as fish stage and feed heavily before winter, with a mild summer lull when many fish hold in deeper, cooler water.
- California Sheephead. California Sheephead are resident year-round on Santa Barbara rocky reefs and kelp beds, so abundance never hits zero. Numbers peak in late summer through early fall (Jul–Sep) when warm water boosts activity and feeding on urchins/crustaceans, with a modest dip during the spring spawn-related dispersal in April-May before the buildup resumes.
- California Scorpionfish. California Scorpionfish (sculpin) are resident bottom-dwellers in Santa Barbara's rocky reefs and remain present year-round, so the curve never drops to zero. Abundance concentrates on structure with a strong late-spring spawning aggregation (May–June) when fish gather to release egg masses, and a secondary early-fall peak (Sept–Oct) as cooler water pulls fish onto accessible nearshore reefs; the mid-summer dip reflects post-spawn dispersal.
- Nearshore Rockfish. Nearshore rockfish are highly resident, structure-oriented, non-migratory reef fish that remain present in Santa Barbara's rocky reefs and kelp beds year-round, so biological abundance stays essentially flat at baseline. Minor real fluctuations come from winter storm dispersal and spring recruitment, but these are negligible compared to migratory species.
Before you go
Water around Santa Barbara falls into one area, and the rules can differ between them. California Department of Fish and Wildlife sets them.
- Southern
Fishing Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara sits on the Southern California coast, with fishing grounds spread from its nearshore kelp edges out to the exposed reefs and rocky pinnacles ringing the northern Channel Islands. California Halibut lead the fishery here, peaking from April through August, while Kelp Bass hold from March into August and California Scorpionfish concentrate through May and June. The spots range from the sheltered inside waters closer to town to the more exposed offshore shoals and island reefs where structure and current draw fish to the bottom. Drift fishing carries much of the halibut effort across the sandy flats and channel edges. The warmer months anchor the calendar, with the strongest overlap of target species falling between spring and late summer.