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Fishing maps/Monterey Bay

California coastal fishing maps

Monterey Bay fishing maps and surveyed sections

Three gap-free Monterey Bay sections are ready with official USGS/CSUMB direct-sonar contours, measured habitat spots, sourced fish and forage, exact CDFW protected-area rules and reviewed public access.

3 live sections5 sourced target species5 attached public access sites

Built for useful map scale

Why Monterey Bay is split into sections

The exact water-only bay spans 26.1 miles, beyond the fixed 25-mile page limit. The 36.84° N and 36.68° N dividers follow official California State Waters Map Series rows, preserve a gap-free parent, and keep Santa Cruz, Monterey Canyon and Monterey Harbor structure on separate, searchable maps.

Quality-assured and searchable

Choose a Monterey Bay fishing-map section

USGS/CSUMB survey contours · MLLW98% assessed · 93% measured

Northern Monterey Bay

51,679-acre Northern Monterey Bay fishing map with official USGS/CSUMB 2 m sonar survey contours in MLLW (93.24% measured, 97.81% assessed), MPA-filtered measured fishing spots, fish and forage evidence, public access and current Central Region rules.

Recorded max
870 ft
Species
Chinook Salmon, California Halibut, Surfperch, Lingcod
Public access
2 attached sites
Open depth map and fishing spots →
USGS/CSUMB survey contours · MLLW96% assessed · 95% measured

Central Monterey Bay

66,024-acre Central Monterey Bay fishing map with official USGS/CSUMB 2 m sonar survey contours in MLLW (95.44% measured, 95.63% assessed), MPA-filtered measured fishing spots, fish and forage evidence, public access and current Central Region rules.

Recorded max
2757 ft
Species
Chinook Salmon, California Halibut, Surfperch, Lingcod
Public access
1 attached site
Open depth map and fishing spots →
USGS/CSUMB survey contours · MLLW99% assessed · 99% measured

Southern Monterey Bay

16,649-acre Southern Monterey Bay fishing map with official USGS/CSUMB 2 m sonar survey contours in MLLW (99.4% measured, 99.45% assessed), MPA-filtered measured fishing spots, fish and forage evidence, public access and current Central Region rules.

Recorded max
315 ft
Species
Chinook Salmon, California Halibut, Surfperch, Lingcod
Public access
2 attached sites
Open depth map and fishing spots →

Source-backed, not crowd-guessed

What is included on every live page

  • Depth: official USGS/CSUMB 2 m direct-sonar rasters, with complementary 3 m or 5 m surveys where needed, transformed to MLLW using tracked NOAA VDatum control.
  • Coverage: measured, assessed/interpolated and unsupported cells stay separate; all three sections exceed 93% measured and 95% assessed while remaining below 5% unsupported.
  • Fishing spots: measured terrain, exact USGS interpreted habitat polygons and source-traceable NOAA chart structure; directly measured Tier A/B spots drive recommendations.
  • Fish and forage: five NOAA/CDFW-supported targets plus conservative anchovy/krill and market-squid search windows that still require visible bait, birds, sonar or feeding activity.
  • Rules and access: exact CDFW MPA polygons, current Central Region links and official Santa Cruz, Moss Landing and Monterey public access records.

USGS Monterey Canyon surveys·NOAA NCEI P080·CDFW Monterey Bay MPAs

No quality waivers

All three sections pass the fixed release gates

Unsupported water remains 2.19% in the north, 4.37% in the central section and 0.55% in the south. No section uses a coverage, shoreline, uncertainty, useful-depth or protected-area waiver.

Monterey Bay map questions

Frequently asked questions

Why is Monterey Bay divided into three fishing-map pages?

The exact NOAA named-water footprint becomes 134,353 water-only acres and spans 26.1 miles, beyond DepthScout's fixed 25-mile page limit. Northern, Central and Southern Monterey Bay use the official California State Waters Map Series row boundaries at 36.84° N and 36.68° N, reconstruct the parent without gaps or overlaps and keep measured habitat detail useful.

Which Monterey Bay sections are live?

Northern Monterey Bay covers Santa Cruz, Capitola and Aptos; Central Monterey Bay covers Moss Landing, Monterey Canyon and Marina; Southern Monterey Bay covers Seaside, Monterey Harbor and the Monterey–Pacific Grove shore. All three pass the fixed shoreline, measured, assessed, unsupported-water and uncertainty gates.

What supports the Monterey Bay depth maps and fishing spots?

Measured depth comes from official 2 m and complementary 3 m or 5 m USGS/CSUMB direct-sonar rasters transformed from NAVD88 to MLLW with section-specific NOAA VDatum control. NOAA ENC depth areas, and NOAA NCEI P080 in the northern section, remain explicitly assessed rather than measured. Fishing spots combine measured terrain with exact USGS interpreted habitat polygons and source-traceable NOAA chart structure.

How are Monterey Bay marine protected areas handled?

The maps clip six exact CDFW overlays. Soquel Canyon and Portuguese Ledge suppress general recommendations because only listed pelagic finfish exceptions apply; Lovers Point–Julia Platt suppresses all recommendations as a no-take reserve; Edward F. Ricketts and Pacific Grove Marine Gardens remain visible as finfish-method notices. Current CDFW legal coordinates and regulations always control.