Creel Quick answer: The autumn 2026 sequence: ocean salmon closes September 30 south of Pigeon Point and October 31 off San Francisco; rockfish, cabezon and greenling close in the Southern Region on October 1 while lingcod moves to 50-fathom offshore; spiny lobster opens at 6 p.m. on Friday October 2; Dungeness crab opens Saturday November 7; Pacific halibut closes November 15 in the north and December 31 in the centre. Then January 1 shuts rockfish and lingcod statewide until April 1, and lobster closes March 17, 2027.
Autumn and winter 2026–27, in order
This is the sequence on the California coast between now and spring. Every one of these dates is one somebody gets a citation for missing.
| Date | What happens | Where |
|---|---|---|
| Sep 30, 2026 | Ocean salmon closes | Central & Southern (south of Pigeon Point) |
| Oct 1, 2026 | Rockfish, cabezon and greenling close | Southern Region |
| Oct 1, 2026 | Lingcod moves to 50-fathom offshore only | Southern Region |
| Oct 2, 2026, 6:00 p.m. | Spiny lobster opens | Southern Region |
| Oct 31, 2026 | Ocean salmon closes | San Francisco & SF Bay |
| Nov 7, 2026 | Recreational Dungeness crab opens | Statewide |
| Nov 15, 2026 | Pacific halibut closes | Northern & Mendocino |
| Dec 31, 2026 | Pacific halibut closes | San Francisco & Central |
| Dec 31, 2026 | Rockfish and lingcod close for the year | Northern, Mendocino, SF, Central |
| Jan 1 – Mar 31, 2027 | Rockfish and lingcod closed statewide — unlawful to possess in any waters | All regions |
| Mar 17, 2027 | Spiny lobster closes, 11:59:59 p.m. | Southern Region |
| Mar 31, 2027 | California grunion season closes | Southern & Central |
| Apr 1, 2027 | Rockfish and lingcod reopen | Statewide |
The three that matter most
October 1 and October 2 are back to back, and they go opposite directions. In Southern California, rockfish shuts the day before lobster opens. A boat that ran rockfish trips all summer switches fisheries over a single night, and the crews that do not adjust are the ones that come back with a closed-season rockfish in the box on lobster opening weekend.
The lobster opener, in detail →
November 7 is a date, not a guarantee. The recreational Dungeness opener is the first Saturday in November, but domoic acid testing and whale-entanglement risk have delayed or restricted it in most recent seasons — zone by zone, with days of notice. Loading the truck on the strength of a calendar is how people waste an opening weekend.
The crab opener, and why it slips →
January 1 is the biggest closure in the state. Rockfish, cabezon and greenlings become unlawful to possess in any California waters for three months. Not “closed to fishing” — unlawful to possess. A fish in your freezer from December is fine; a fish in your cooler in February is not.
Open all year
Not everything moves. These stay open in all regions year round, with their limits unchanged by the calendar:
- California halibut — 22”, 5 fish in Central and Southern, 2 in the north
- White seabass — 28”, 3 fish
- Yellowtail — 24”, 10 fish (Southern)
- Leopard shark — 36”, 3 fish
- Surfperch — 10½”, 20 fish
- Rock crab — 4”, 35 crab
- Kelp and sand bass — 14”, 5 fish (Southern)
- California sheephead — 12”, 2 fish
- Tunas
Every California size and bag limit in one table →
Still closed, indefinitely
Red abalone has been closed since 2018 and remains closed. It is not on this calendar because there is no date to put on it — reopening depends on kelp forest recovery and CDFW’s recovery plan, not on a season.
Why abalone is closed and when it might return →
A calendar is a snapshot
Salmon closes on quota, not on the calendar, and has closed weeks early. Crab openers slip zone by zone. Rockfish depth limits move by emergency regulation mid-season. Every date above was read from the live CDFW regulations on September 5, 2026, and any of them can change before you read this.
That is the actual argument for the app rather than a page: Creel re-reads every CDFW regional page daily, and a watch on a species pushes you a reminder the morning before its season flips in your region — plus the emergency changes, which are the ones no calendar can anticipate.
What’s in season in California right now →
Frequently asked questions
What is the best month to fish in California?
There is no single best month — there is a best month per fishery, and they barely overlap. Summer stacks the most open seasons at once: rockfish all depths, halibut, white seabass, salmon in open years, tuna offshore. Autumn adds lobster and takes rockfish away in the south. Winter is Dungeness crab’s prime and the deadest stretch for everything else, because rockfish and lingcod are shut statewide from January 1. The useful question is what is open in your region this month.
What fishing seasons open in October in California?
One opens and several close. Spiny lobster opens at 6 p.m. on Friday, October 2, 2026 — the single biggest opener of the California autumn. On October 1, the day before, rockfish, cabezon and greenlings close in the Southern Region and lingcod moves to 50-fathom offshore only. Ocean salmon off San Francisco runs to October 31; south of Pigeon Point it already closed September 30.
What is closed in California in the winter?
Rockfish, cabezon and greenlings are closed statewide from January 1 through March 31 and may not be possessed in any waters during that window — it is the largest single closure in the California ocean calendar. Lingcod follows the same dates. Spiny lobster runs through it and closes March 17, 2027. Dungeness crab is at its best.
When does rockfish season open in California?
April 1, statewide. From there the areas diverge: Northern, Mendocino, San Francisco and Central stay open at all depths through December 31, while the Southern Region moves to a 50-fathom inshore limit on July 1 and closes completely on October 1. The season is one date; what happens after it is six different management areas.
Do California fishing seasons change mid-year?
Constantly. Salmon closes on quota rather than on the calendar, and has closed weeks early. Dungeness crab openers get delayed zone by zone for domoic acid and whale entanglement. Rockfish depth limits move by emergency regulation. The printed booklet you bought in March is a snapshot of what was true in March, which is the whole reason this calendar carries a warning rather than a promise.
When is the next California Free Fishing Day?
Both 2026 Free Fishing Days have passed — July 4 and September 5. CDFW sets two each year, typically the Saturdays nearest the Fourth of July and Labor Day, so expect two more in 2027 announced in the spring. On those days the licence is waived and nothing else is: bag limits, size limits, seasons, report cards and MPA boundaries all still apply.