Creel Who I am
I'm Elias. I fish the California coast and I write software, and Creel is where the two met. Before every trip I was opening CDFW's regional pages, the in-season changes and the CDPH shellfish warnings in separate tabs, and still not sure I had the whole picture for the stretch of water I was heading to. Creel is the thing I wanted: one screen that says what is open where I am today, with the limits and what getting it wrong costs.
I write and maintain every guide on this site myself. When a season flips I re-read the numbers off the live data rather than off the last version of the page, because a stale bag limit is worse than no page at all.
Where the rules come from
Nothing on this site is written from memory. Every figure is read from an official source:
- Seasons, bag limits, size limits and depth limits: CDFW's ocean sport fishing regulations for each of California's 6 management regions, re-read every day.
- In-season changes and emergency closures: CDFW's in-season changes page and news releases, re-read every day.
- Shellfish and domoic acid warnings: the California Department of Public Health, checked every six hours, because those land with no notice.
- Marine Protected Areas: CDFW's published MPA regulations and boundaries.
- What a citation costs: the Judicial Council of California's uniform bail and penalty schedule, all 120 Fish and Game offences, with the assessments each county adds on top.
- Safe-to-eat advice: OEHHA's fish consumption advisories.
- Tides: NOAA tide predictions.
Species names, legal terms and date ranges are shown the way CDFW writes them. I summarise around the law; I do not reword it.
How it is checked
The daily read is automated, and so is the part that catches it going wrong. If a CDFW page changes shape, a season cannot be parsed, or the penalty schedule goes out of date, I get an email that day instead of the app quietly showing old numbers. Every guide shows the date it was last checked against that data, at the top of the page.
Found a mistake?
Email hello@getcreel.app. If a date, a limit or a fine on this site is wrong, I want to know that day, and I fix it against the CDFW source before I reply. The same address works for anything else about Creel.
What Creel is not
Creel is not affiliated with CDFW, CDPH, OEHHA or the Judicial Council. Nothing here is legal advice, and emergency orders can land faster than any daily refresh, so confirm with CDFW before you fish.
How it is paid for
The guides on this site are free and stay free. The app is a paid subscription ($34.99/year), and that is what pays for keeping the data current. If the guides are all you need, use them.