Creel Quick answer: Friday, October 2, 2026 at 6:00 p.m. The recreational spiny lobster season opens at 6 p.m. on the Friday preceding the first Wednesday in October, and closes at 11:59:59 p.m. on the first Wednesday after March 15 — that is March 17, 2027. Seven lobsters per person, minimum 3¼-inch carapace measured in the water, hoop net or hands only, and you need a sport fishing licence plus a $12.70 Spiny Lobster Report Card in your possession before the first hoop goes over the rail.
The date, and why people get it wrong
The California recreational spiny lobster season opens at 6:00 p.m. on Friday, October 2, 2026.
Half the internet will tell you it is Saturday. The rule is written as 6 p.m. on the Friday preceding the first Wednesday in October — the first Wednesday in 2026 is October 7, so the Friday before it is October 2. The season then runs until 11:59:59 p.m. on Wednesday, March 17, 2027, the first Wednesday after March 15.
An evening opener is unusual, and it is deliberate: the fishery goes live at dusk on a Friday, which is why the harbors in Long Beach, Dana Point, Oceanside and Mission Bay empty out on Friday afternoon rather than Saturday morning.
Spiny lobster is a Southern Region fishery in practice. The range runs from about Point Conception south to the Mexican border, plus the Channel Islands. North of Point Conception you are not going to find them in numbers, whatever the regulation permits.
Opening night, in the order it matters
| Rule | |
|---|---|
| Opens | 6:00 p.m. Friday, October 2, 2026 |
| Closes | 11:59:59 p.m. Wednesday, March 17, 2027 |
| Bag limit | 7 per person per day, and 7 in possession |
| Size | 3¼-inch minimum carapace, measured in the water |
| Gear | Hoop nets or bare hands. No spears, no gaffs, no traps |
| Hoop nets | Capped per person and per vessel — tighter south of Point Arguello |
| Licence | Sport fishing licence, plus Ocean Enhancement Validation south of Point Arguello |
| Report card | $12.70 Spiny Lobster Report Card, filled in as you fish |
| Card due | Returned or reported online by April 30, 2027 |
The four things wardens actually write
Measuring on the boat. The gauge has to come out in the water. A lobster brought over the rail, measured on deck and then thrown back is still a take of an undersize lobster, and it is the single most common opening-night citation in Southern California.
A blank report card. The card is not paperwork for later. The month, day, location code and gear code go in before you fish; the count goes in when you stop. A card with nothing written on it while there are lobsters in the bag is its own offence, separate from anything about the lobsters.
Fishing a hoop net inside an MPA. Southern California has a dense grid of State Marine Reserves and Conservation Areas, several of them wrapped around the exact rocky structure that holds lobster — Point Vicente, Abalone Cove, Laguna Beach, Swami’s, Matlahuayl. Opening night in the dark is a bad time to be estimating a boundary from memory.
Eight in the bag. The eighth lobster is not a rounding error. Excess-of-bag offences carry a base fine plus a separate per-animal surcharge, so the total climbs with every extra one.
What it costs to be wrong
The Judicial Council’s uniform bail schedule sets what a Fish and Game citation actually costs, and the number is not the small “base fine” you see quoted. Two of the assessments stacked on top are set county by county, so the same offence is a different number in Ventura than in San Diego. For an undersize or over-limit invertebrate you are looking at roughly $430 to $485 as an infraction, with a per-animal amount on top of that, and a misdemeanor filing is roughly double.
Creel carries all 120 offences from the schedule with both levels shown, and lists them on the species screen — so the lobster page tells you the limit and what breaking it costs, on the same scroll.
See how California fishing fines are calculated →
Is lobster safe to eat?
Spiny lobster is not one of the species OEHHA restricts in California coastal waters, but the hepatopancreas — the soft green “tomalley” in the body cavity — concentrates contaminants and domoic acid, and health agencies advise against eating it. Discard the tomalley and eat the tail meat.
Separately, CDPH runs a shellfish safety programme through the season and can quarantine specific counties on short notice. That is a different system from the lobster season itself and it can land mid-season, which is exactly the kind of change a printed booklet cannot tell you about.
Get told, instead of remembering
Creel watches the opener for you. Set a watch on spiny lobster in the Southern Region and it pushes a reminder the morning before October 2, with the limit, the size and the report card requirement on the notification — and it keeps working on the boat when the signal drops off past the breakwater.
Frequently asked questions
What time does lobster season open in California in 2026?
6:00 p.m. on Friday, October 2, 2026. Not midnight, not sunrise on Saturday — 6 p.m. Friday evening. The rule sets the opener at 6 p.m. on the Friday preceding the first Wednesday in October, and in 2026 the first Wednesday is October 7, which makes the preceding Friday October 2. Boats leave the docks in Long Beach, Dana Point and San Diego in the afternoon to be on the numbers when it goes live.
When does California lobster season close in 2027?
11:59:59 p.m. on Wednesday, March 17, 2027 — the first Wednesday after March 15. Take is unlawful from that moment, and lobster taken legally before the close may still be possessed, but the fishery itself is shut until the opener the following October.
How many lobsters can you take on opening night?
Seven per person per day, and no more than seven in possession at any time. There is no separate opening-night limit and no boat limit that lets one person carry another’s share. Every lobster over seven is its own per-animal surcharge on top of the citation.
Do I need a report card for the lobster opener?
Yes, and it has to be filled out as you go, not at the ramp. A $12.70 Spiny Lobster Report Card is required in addition to a sport fishing licence. Record the month, day, location code and gear code before you start fishing, then log lobsters kept when you finish. The card must be returned or reported online by April 30 or CDFW charges a non-return fee the following season.
Can you use a net or a spear to catch California lobster?
Hoop nets and bare hands only. Spears are illegal for spiny lobster anywhere in California, and so is any device that can pierce, penetrate or crush the shell. Divers take them by hand. Hoop net counts are capped per person and per vessel, and the cap is tighter south of Point Arguello — check the current number in the app or the CDFW booklet before you load the boat, because it is one of the rules the Commission has changed in recent years.
How do you measure a California spiny lobster?
Carapace length: from the rear edge of the eye socket between the horns, in a straight line down the midline, to the rear edge of the carapace. Minimum 3¼ inches. You must carry a fixed-caliper measuring gauge and measure each lobster while still in the water — a short lobster has to go back immediately, at the spot of capture, and measuring on deck is itself the violation people get cited for.