What is the bag limit for White Seabass in California?

3 fish daily, the same across every California region where it is regulated. Read as of September 7, 2026.

What is the size limit for White Seabass in California?

28-inch minimum. Measure before it goes in the bag: an undersize fish is roughly $430 to $485 in total bail plus $71 to $82 for the fish itself.

Is White Seabass season open in California right now?

Open in all 4 regions as of September 7, 2026.

White Seabass: Identification, Range and California Limits

Quick answer: White Seabass is open in all 4 California regions where CDFW regulates it, with a 28-inch minimum. The bag limit is the same in every region it applies to. Read on September 7, 2026; seasons change in-season with days of notice.

How to identify White Seabass

Not a bass at all: it is the largest croaker in California waters. Look for an elongated body, a large mouth and a raised ridge running the length of the belly. Adults are bluish to gray on top with dark speckling and silver to white below, with a black spot on the inner base of the pectoral fins. Young fish carry several dark vertical bars on the side that the adults lose.

Size, range and where it lives

Size	Recorded to 5.2 feet and 93 pounds, though anything over 60 pounds is rare.
Range	Magdalena Bay, Mexico north to Point Conception, plus the northern Gulf of California. In warm-water years they have been caught as far north as Juneau.
Habitat	Adults school over rocky substrate in or near large kelp beds, and also several miles offshore at or near the surface in spring and summer. Larger juveniles are caught off piers, jetties and in kelp beds.

Identification sourced from CDFW, White Seabass Enhanced Status Report (2020). The regulation figures below come from CDFW and carry their own date.

White Seabass by region

Region	Status	Bag limit	Size limit
San Francisco	Open	3 fish daily	28-inch minimum
SF Bay	Open	3 fish daily	28-inch minimum
Central	Open	3 fish daily	28-inch minimum
Southern	Open	3 fish daily	28-inch minimum

Season dates

open year-round

What it costs to get it wrong

An undersize fish or one over the bag limit runs roughly $430 to $485 in total bail as an infraction, plus a further $71 to $82 for every individual fish over the line. Charged as a misdemeanor the base part is about $958 to $1,095, with the same per-fish amount on top. The range is real: two of the assessments are set county by county.

How California fishing fines are actually calculated →

This page is a snapshot taken on September 7, 2026. Creel re-reads every CDFW regional page daily and shows current status for your region, offline. Always confirm with CDFW before fishing.