Best Fishing Times in California This Week

California's fishing year includes striped bass heading upstream in March, the trout opener on the last Saturday in April, summer and fall stripers in San Francisco Bay, and Russian River steelhead peaking in January. Within any day, the first and last hour of light are the surest bite, best of all when a solunar window lands on them.

The table above shows the next 7 days for Bishop, Lakeport and Redding, with each day's major and minor periods, sunrise and sunset, and a rating from Fair to Best. For your own spot, enter a ZIP on the best fishing times page.

Striped bass fishing improves as the water warms in March, when stripers that wintered in the bays start moving upstream to fresh water to spawn. That is from California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The statewide general trout season opens on the last Saturday in April, which was April 25 in 2026. That is from California Department of Fish and Wildlife.

The California fishing license page has what a resident and nonresident license costs and where to buy one, read from the state's own regulations.

On the coast, often as much as the moon windows. The California tide charts page has high and low tide for every station, so you can line a moving tide up with a window here.

The solunar windows are the old angler's rule, and the studies are mixed. Dawn and dusk are the reliable part: fish feed in low light. So each day here is rated on the moon phase and on whether a moon window meets sunrise or sunset, with the weather as a smaller nudge.

Each town's card above rates today Fair, Good, Great or Best. The rating adds up the moon phase, whether a moon window meets sunrise or sunset, and the National Weather Service forecast for that town: pressure, fronts, wind, rain, cloud and thunder. A Fair day still has its dawn and dusk.