Offshore pelagic · Saltwater
White seabass
Atractoscion nobilis
Eastern Pacific marine native ranging from Magdalena Bay, Baja California Sur, to as far north as Alaska; core range and fishery are off California and northern Baja California.
- Inshore
- Nearshore
- Regulated context
- 4 of 4 overlays reviewed
- Reviewed 2026-08-27
Before you target this fish
Regulated context — check the rules for the exact water
Where this applies California (CDFW); the species' range extends into northern Baja California, Mexico, under separate Mexican regulations not covered here.
The reviewed context, unedited
CDFW sets a 28 in total length (or 20.5 in alternate length) recreational minimum size, a standard 3-fish daily bag/possession limit, and a reduced 1-fish limit south of Point Conception between mid-March and mid-June (describe the structure; exact calendar dates are set/confirmed annually). White seabass despite the name is a croaker (family Sciaenidae), not a true bass. California also runs the Ocean Resources Enhancement and Hatchery Program (OREHP, established 1982), which has released well over a million tagged hatchery-reared juvenile white seabass since 1986 (current goal on the order of 300,000+ fish/year) -- a stock-enhancement program, not itself evidence the wild population is currently depleted: the 2016 and 2022-2023 CDFW stock assessments/FMP reviews found the population not overfished or depressed, though the 2016 assessment flagged that the then-current optimum yield might be set too high. A human should confirm current-year size/bag/season numbers before fishing.
Rules for this fish change at a state line and sometimes inside one. Check the ones that apply to the exact water you are standing on before you act on anything here — this record is biology, not permission.
Take this somewhere
This page is the record. The reading is what happens when you add water, a season and a temperature to it — that is where the families below get ranked against each other instead of just listed.
Those three links carry the fish and nothing else. No conditions were declared on this page, so none travel, and the link says so rather than sending an empty reading.
The half nobody publishes
What this record does not know
Everything else on this page comes from a named agency or peer-reviewed source. This is the other side of that: the questions a reviewer went looking for an answer to and came back without, and the fields the record leaves empty because filling them would mean guessing.
It is here rather than at the bottom because a page that only shows what it knows is easy to read as a page that knows everything. For White seabass there are 14 of them.
Named by a reviewer
11Somebody looked for this and wrote down that they did not find it.
- Behaviour
No sourced territoriality or aggression.
No sourced cold-front or angling-pressure response.
General (non-spawning) diel feeding pattern not documented.
- Identification
Sources disagree on maximum documented age (27 years per CDFW/OREHP life-history data vs. up to 20 years per UC San Diego California Sea Grant); recorded rather than resolved.
No sourced sexual dimorphism.
Aging methods disagree on the age at which fish reach the 28 in legal minimum size (about 3 years by newer otolith-based aging vs. about 5 years by older scale-based studies), which affects whether legal-size fish are reliably sexually mature -- flagged for a human to check further.
- Forage
No sourced life-stage-specific diet breakdown (juvenile vs. adult prey composition), only life-stage habitat.
No sourced seasonal diet breakdown.
No clear ontogenetic diet shift documented beyond the general note that large adults can key in heavily on Pacific mackerel.
- Season
No sourced fall-specific entry beyond the general cooling/southward-migration trend implied by the winter-to-summer contrast.
No sourced tide interaction with the seasonal or diel pattern.
Absent from the record
3No reviewer wrote a gap here. The field is simply empty, which is its own answer.
- Water temperature
No agency or peer-reviewed temperature band for White seabass was found that a review would accept. The reading runs without one rather than borrowing a number from a related fish.
- Identification
No reviewed image. A photograph is only in this catalog when an agency or a named creator labelled the subject, and nobody has cleared one for this species yet.
- Population context
No regional population profile is registered. The species-level reading stands on its own; it does not silently become a local one.
Where the record puts it
Water and range
Inshore
1 reviewed holding class- Grass flat
Nearshore
4 reviewed holding classes- Kelp edge
- Nearshore reef
- Rock pile
- Pier structure
DepthNewly hatched fish occupy open, shallow coastal water at about 4-8 m; juveniles (roughly ages 1-3) use protected bays with eelgrass beds; older juveniles congregate near piers and jetties with nearby kelp. Adults use rocky reefs, kelp beds, offshore banks, or open ocean from the surface to about 122 m (400 ft), though telemetry found 95% of recorded adult depths were under 50 m. Adults sit deeper in the water column (mean maximum depth about 31 m) October-March and shallower and more surface-oriented (mean maximum depth about 10.5 m, more time in the top 5 m) May-September, peaking in July.
Moving waterNot documented against tide specifically. Adult schools undertake a strong seasonal north-south coastal migration tracking warming/cooling water rather than a tidal cycle (Aalbers et al. telemetry study).
LightSpawning is concentrated in the roughly two hours following sunset; no other diel light-response pattern for general feeding behavior was found in sourced material.
Thermal band
Temperature
No reviewed temperature band
Nobody publishes a preferred or active temperature range for White seabass that a review would accept. Borrowing one from a related fish would look like knowledge and behave like a guess, so the reading runs without it and says which parts of the answer that weakens.
How it uses water
Behaviour
Adults typically travel in schools, per CDFW identification and life-history materials, though some general descriptions note fish can also occur solitary.
Piscivorous pursuit predator on schooling baitfish, especially anchovy and sardine, plus squid and pelagic red crabs; large adults are noted to sometimes feed almost exclusively on Pacific mackerel for a period.
Spawning activity is concentrated in the roughly two hours following sunset (CDFW/OREHP life-history research; UC San Diego California Sea Grant also describes spawning as occurring at night). This is documented specifically for spawning; no comprehensive diel feeding-activity pattern outside spawning was found in sourced material.
Seasonal activityNorthward coastal migration as water warms through spring and summer, with a southward/return migration as it cools; fish occur off Baja California in winter and progress north along the California coast through spring and summer (Aalbers et al.).
Temperature-driven behaviourTelemetry shows tagged fish spend the majority of their time (52%) between 13-16 degC, centered near 14 degC, with monthly means ranging from about 13.0 degC in December to 16.0 degC in June -- described in the source as fish actively occupying a thermal niche, i.e. a preference, not simply a distribution record (Aalbers et al., peer-reviewed telemetry study). Spawning specifically occurs in somewhat warmer water, around 15-18 degC, per separate CDFW/OREHP life-history research.
Depth movementSeasonal vertical shift: deeper in the water column (mean maximum depth about 31 m) October-March, shallower and more surface-oriented (mean maximum depth about 10.5 m, more time in the top 5 m) May-September, peaking in July; 95% of recorded depths were under 50 m (Aalbers et al. telemetry).
CoverMoves in and out of kelp beds and over rocky reef and offshore banks; not documented as a heavy structure-holder compared to true reef-resident fish.
Spawning (conservation context)Broadcast spawner; releases eggs at night, concentrated in the roughly two hours following sunset, mostly in water around 15-18 degC, over rocky habitat and near kelp beds. Eggs are unusually large for a croaker (about 1.3 mm diameter). Sourced timing spans roughly March through September, peaking in late spring to early summer. No spawning site or aggregation location is named.
What it can eat
Forage
- Small forage fish
- Larger prey fish
- Mollusks
- Crustaceans
Piscivorous; diet is dominated by schooling forage fish -- especially anchovy, sardine, and herring -- plus market squid and pelagic red crabs. Large adults are documented to sometimes feed almost exclusively on Pacific mackerel for a period. Diet capacity is not evidence of a current bait event.
- Feeding style
- Mixed
- Feeding zone
- Mixed
Diet capacity is not proof that a hatch or prey event is occurring. Observed current forage still comes from a user observation or Hatch Match.
Through the year
Season
Winter
- Where they sit
- Deeper in the water column (mean maximum depth about 31 m); population weighted toward the southern part of the range, including off Baja California.
- Depth
- Deepest and least surface-oriented seasonal position.
- Temperature
- Coolest part of the documented thermal niche, with a December monthly mean around 13.0 degC.
What that changesDeep-drop and vertical presentations that reach the deeper winter depth band are the reviewed match; this is a depth note, not a bite-window claim.
Spring
- Where they sit
- Rocky reef, kelp-edge, and nearshore structure as fish move north along the coast and water warms.
- Movement
- Northward coastal migration as water temperature rises.
What that changesLive-bait suspension and structure-vertical presentations near kelp/reef edges remain the reviewed approach.
Spawning window begins (sourced timing runs roughly March onward); no spawning site is named.
Summer
- Where they sit
- Shallower, more surface-oriented water column (mean maximum depth about 10.5 m in August; most time in the top 5 m by July) over kelp beds, rocky reef, and offshore banks.
- Depth
- Shallowest and most surface-oriented seasonal position, peaking in July.
- Temperature
- Warmest part of the documented thermal niche, with a June monthly mean around 16.0 degC; spawning specifically occurs in slightly warmer water, about 15-18 degC.
What that changesLive-bait slow troll and structure-vertical presentations near kelp edges and reef structure remain the reviewed approach for this shallow, surface-oriented period.
What would count against it
- treating the spawning window as a bite-timing or location cue
Peak spawning activity (late spring into early summer), concentrated in the two hours after sunset; no spawning site or aggregation is named.
Spawning · Spring, Early summer, Summer
Broadcast spawner; releases eggs at night, concentrated in the roughly two hours following sunset, mostly in water around 15-18 degC (59-64 degF) over rocky habitat and near kelp beds. Sourced timing ranges from roughly March through September with peak activity in late spring to early summer (specific start/end month varies slightly between sourced documents). No spawning site or aggregation location is implied.
Recorded as conservation context. No spawning site, staging concentration or migration bottleneck is named anywhere in this catalog, because naming one is how a population gets fished out.
Telling it apart
Identification
What to look at
- A ridge running along the belly is the key trait separating white seabass from other California croakers (CDFW identification guidance).
- Adults lack large canine teeth in the upper jaw, unlike queenfish -- the species juvenile white seabass are most often confused with.
- Terminal (not sucker-shaped) mouth, with no barbels on the chin.
- Average adult length
- Not found as a distinct 'average' figure; at the 28 in legal minimum size fish are roughly 3 years old by more recent otolith-based aging (versus roughly 5 years old in older scale-based studies -- see gaps).
- Common angling size
- At the 28 in legal minimum, fish weigh about 7 lb 6 oz; by 15 years fish reach about 49 in and roughly 38 lb.
- Typical weight
- About 7 lb 6 oz at the 28 in legal minimum size, up to roughly 38 lb by age 15 (CDFW/OREHP life-history data).
- Maximum documented
- Largest recorded specimen exceeded 5 ft and weighed about 93 lb; the oldest aged specimen was 27 years old at 54 in (1,365 mm) total length.
- Longevity
- Sources disagree: the oldest aged specimen in CDFW/OREHP life-history data was 27 years (54 in TL), while a UC San Diego California Sea Grant summary states the species can live up to 20 years. Both figures are recorded here rather than resolved.
What it gets confused with
- Queenfish
- Queenfish have sharp teeth and are commonly found around the same piers and bait docks as juvenile white seabass, but lack white seabass's belly ridge, and adult white seabass lack queenfish's large canine teeth. CDFW's own anti-poaching identification guidance is built around this specific confusion pair.
What follows from all of that
Presentation families
Inshore
Live / natural bait suspension
Present a natural food form with enough life or scent to hold in a station without looking mechanical.
- keep it alive or fresh
- match the holding depth
- minimize hardware bulk
- detect without pulling it away
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- High
- Sensitivity
- High
- Casting distance
- Short to moderate
- Weight range
- As light as conditions allow
- Cover resistance
- Moderate
- Line visibility
- Low
- Retie frequency
- High
Tidal drift bait
Let a natural bait travel at the speed of the tide along an edge fish are feeding on.
- match weight to the run
- stay in the seam
- let it swing at the end
- reset up-tide
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- Moderate
- Sensitivity
- High
- Casting distance
- Short to moderate
- Weight range
- 1/8–1 oz
- Cover resistance
- Moderate
- Line visibility
- Low
- Retie frequency
- High
Nearshore
Live / natural bait suspension
Present a natural food form with enough life or scent to hold in a station without looking mechanical.
- keep it alive or fresh
- match the holding depth
- minimize hardware bulk
- detect without pulling it away
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- High
- Sensitivity
- High
- Casting distance
- Short to moderate
- Weight range
- As light as conditions allow
- Cover resistance
- Moderate
- Line visibility
- Low
- Retie frequency
- High
Structure vertical
Hold a presentation in the water column directly over hard structure and stay there as the boat moves.
- stay vertical
- hold the depth band
- short lifts
- reset when the line angles
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- High
- Sensitivity
- High
- Casting distance
- None
- Weight range
- 2–16 oz
- Cover resistance
- High
- Line visibility
- Secondary
- Retie frequency
- High
Live-bait slow troll
Move live bait just fast enough to cover water while it still swims naturally.
- barely-moving speed
- bait leads the boat
- let it swim
- drop back on a follow
What it asks of the tackle
- Depth control
- Moderate
- Sensitivity
- High
- Casting distance
- None
- Weight range
- Unweighted to 4 oz
- Cover resistance
- Low
- Line visibility
- Low
- Retie frequency
- Moderate
What moves them for this fish
Reviewed rules that push particular families up when the conditions match. Each one names the conditions it needs and why it exists, so you can disagree with it.
Telemetry found white seabass sitting deeper in the water column from October through March than in the warmer months, so a presentation that holds in the column over structure fits that winter depth band better than a near-surface trolled approach.
When
Nearshore · Winter · Kelp edge, Nearshore reef, Rock pile
Moves up
Structure vertical, Live-bait slow troll
Reviewed 2026-08-30
The same telemetry study found white seabass shallowest and most surface-oriented in the warmer months, peaking in July, so a presentation worked near the surface along the kelp edge fits that seasonal shift better than a deep vertical approach.
When
Nearshore · Summer or Early summer · Kelp edge
Moves up
Live-bait slow troll, Structure vertical
Reviewed 2026-08-30
Where every sentence came from
Sources
Agency
CDFW / OREHP White Seabass Enhancement Plan and life-history research
Used for identification; behaviour; forage; season. Read 2026-08-30, next check 2026-11-14.
Agency
CDFW white seabass identification guidance (anti-poaching field materials)
Used for habitat, thermal band and presentation families; identification. Read 2026-08-30, next check 2026-11-27.
Agency
CDFW White Seabass Fishery Management Plan, 2022-2023 Annual Review
Used for habitat, thermal band and presentation families. Read 2026-08-27, next check 2026-11-27.
Agency
CDFW / Ocean Resources Enhancement and Hatchery Program (OREHP) White Seabass Enhancement Plan and life-history research
Used for habitat, thermal band and presentation families. Read 2026-08-27, next check 2026-11-27.
Agency
Cal. Code Regs. Tit. 14, sections 27.60 and 28.35 (White Seabass recreational regulation)
Used for habitat, thermal band and presentation families. Read 2026-08-27, next check 2026-11-27.
Peer reviewed
Aalbers, S.A. et al., "Seasonal movement patterns and temperature profiles of white seabass off California", NOAA/Fishery Bulletin (SPO)
Used for habitat, thermal band and presentation families; behaviour; season. Read 2026-08-30, next check 2026-11-27.
Synthesis
UC San Diego California Sea Grant white seabass seafood profile
Used for habitat, thermal band and presentation families; identification; behaviour; forage. Read 2026-08-30, next check 2026-11-27.
A source with no link predates the rule that one has to carry a URL. It is still a real citation and still checkable; it just takes a search rather than a click, and that is worth knowing before you rely on it.