CatchWindow fishing intelligence

Crescent City, CA Daily Water Report — August 27, 2026

Today is a solidly good day for getting on the water around Crescent City, with a decisive lean toward the more sheltered and observant pursuits. Winds are unusually light for late August, sitting at a representative 2 knots from the northwest, and the sea is responding accordingly. The overall suitability is strong across the board, but the smart play is to target the morning or late evening, when those already minor breezes are calmest and the wave heights drop toward their daily floor near 0.9 meters. Surfing scores a 7.8, and that feels right for an exposed coast seeing a 1.2-meter swell from the northwest at 8.75 seconds. It's not a clean groundswell—the 6.3-second component from 287 degrees means there's some mixed energy—but the lack of wind chop should keep the faces from walling up too quickly. Divers should take note of the 7.7 score: the water sits at a warm 14.1 degrees Celsius, and with barely any wind to stir the shallows, nearshore visibility may hold up nicely. That 7.4 score for kayaking is a call to action—this is the kind of flat morning that paddlers wait for all month, especially compared to the stiff breezes of the past few days. Compared to earlier in the week, this is a reset. Tuesday and Wednesday were better for fishing, with scores touching 8.0, but those days also had gustier wind that made small craft less comfortable. Today's boating score of 7.3 reflects that tradeoff: the afternoon may bring an uptick in breeze toward 13 knots, so don't plan a long open-water run for the middle of the day. The chlorophyll reading of 1.01 mg/m³ has been flagged as high, which historically aligns with favorable conditions for bait activity, but no one should chase that single number as a guarantee. The coming days look like a transition. Thursday holds the same calm pattern, but by Friday a sharp uptick in wind to over 18 knots will likely shut down the glassy conditions and drop kayaking, boating, and diving scores significantly. Saturday's swell climbs to 2 meters, which may benefit the surfer's score but will make the inshore environment bouncy. Get out today, because by Sunday the ocean is going to remember it's the Pacific.