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Sea Smith Slough (California) — one of the area's fishing spots. Close by — Redwood City, Palo Alto and San Mateo. Salt water, not fresh — so this page carries its own marine bite forecast. Here you'll find a bite prediction — when fish are active and which hours give the best chances, adjusted for weather and pressure.
Nearest towns and cities
Other nearby places to fish
Other nearby waters
California: the months when each species peaks and when it goes quiet. The current month is outlined.
| Fish | January | February | March | April | May | June | July | August | September | October | November | December |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Steelhead | peak | peak | active | fair | active | peak | peak | peak | active | peak | peak | peak |
| Flounder | fair | active | peak | active | active | active | peak | active | active | fair | slow | slow |
| Striped bass | fair | active | peak | peak | active | active | active | peak | active | fair | slow | slow |
| Chinook salmon | slow | slow | slow | active | peak | peak | peak | active | fair | slow | slow | slow |
| Coho salmon | slow | slow | slow | slow | fair | active | peak | peak | peak | fair | slow | slow |
| Lingcod | fair | active | peak | peak | fair | fair | fair | fair | slow | slow | slow | slow |
| Pacific halibut | fair | active | peak | active | fair | fair | fair | fair | slow | slow | slow | slow |
| Rockfish | fair | active | peak | peak | fair | fair | fair | fair | slow | slow | slow | slow |
Wednesday, October 21
Look for structure — reefs, flats, channel edges; work them slowly near the bottom.
Smith Slough — Wednesday, October 21
The bite is moderate — fish feed in short bursts. Pressure is dropping — this usually boosts the bite. Peak 06:00–08:00 and 17:00–18:00.
The computed water temperature is around 67 °F — warmer than the 43–59 °F comfort range for Coho salmon: in the heat it drops deeper and feeds less often.
Coho salmon works the twilight: the peaks are pinned to sunrise and sunset — their times are in the sun-and-moon card above.
Pressure is dropping 0.09 inHg over the day — fish are usually more active ahead of a weather change.
One more input — the moon's feeding windows: within their hours the score sits higher than across the rest of the day. The window times are in the “Solunar feeding periods” card below.
October is an average month for Coho salmon here.
These are the same values the bite curve above was computed from. How the forecast works
| 00:00 | 01:00 | 02:00 | 03:00 | 04:00 | 05:00 | 06:00 | 07:00 | 08:00 | 09:00 | 10:00 | 11:00 | 12:00 | 13:00 | 14:00 | 15:00 | 16:00 | 17:00 | 18:00 | 19:00 | 20:00 | 21:00 | 22:00 | 23:00 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| -0.9 ft | -1.2 ft | -1.1 ft | -0.6 ft | 0.3 ft | 1.2 ft | 2.1 ft | 2.7 ft | 2.9 ft | 2.7 ft | 2.2 ft | 1.5 ft | 0.9 ft | 0.5 ft | 0.4 ft | 0.6 ft | 1.1 ft | 1.7 ft | 2.3 ft | 2.6 ft | 2.5 ft | 2.0 ft | 1.2 ft | 0.3 ft |
Open-Meteo tide model, grid point 2.8 mi away
Open-Meteo Marine model, grid cell 2.8 mi from the waterbody. Values are daily means.
Clear · feels like +63°
The day is 2 min shorter than yesterday.
Sunshine hours count direct sun only — cloud cover cuts it, so it is shorter than daylight.
Geomagnetic fieldquiet, Kp 3.7
Kp index — NOAA forecast. Not part of the bite score: catches show no link between geomagnetic storms and the bite.
The windows are set by the moon's transit and rise, and the forecast above already accounts for them: within these hours the bite score sits higher than across the rest of the day, while the day's overall level still comes from the catch-calibrated model.
What are solunar periods?Look for structure — reefs, flats, channel edges; work them slowly near the bottom.
Smith Slough — Wednesday, October 21
The bite is moderate — fish feed in short bursts. Pressure is dropping — this usually boosts the bite. Peak 06:00–08:00 and 17:00–18:00.