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Grunion Run 2026: The Best Guide

Everything you need to know about the California grunion run and how to make the most of it: what a grunion run is, the rules and regulations, when and where to find them, and the best ways to prepare and eat them. Scroll to the end for the 2026 dates and times.

Nick Meyers, Nautical Nick7 min read

Everything you need to know about the California grunion run: what it is, the rules, when and where to find them, and how to cook them. Scroll to the end for the 2026 dates and times.

Grunion Run 2026: The Best Guide

A few nights each spring and summer, on the sand of Southern California's beaches, thousands of small silver fish do something no fish is supposed to do: they leave the ocean entirely. Under the full and new moons, California grunion ride the waves as high up the beach as they can, and the females drill tail-first into the wet sand to lay their eggs before the next wave carries them back out. It is one of the strangest and most beloved spectacles on the California coast, and for generations people have gathered in the dark to watch it, and to catch dinner.

This guide covers what a grunion run is and why it happens, the rules for watching and for harvesting, when and where the fish come ashore, and how to cook them. The 2026 run dates and times are at the end.

What Is a Grunion Run?

The California grunion (Leuresthes tenuis) is a small, slender silverside, a relative of the jacksmelt and topsmelt, found only from Point Conception south along the coast of Southern California and Baja. Most are 5 to 6 inches long, rarely more than 7, and few live past 3 or 4 years. What sets them apart is how they breed. From March through August, on the 4 nights that follow each full and new moon, grunion spawn on the open beach in the hours after high tide. As the waves push up the sand, the fish surf in with them. A female arches her body and digs tail-first into the semi-fluid sand until she is half-buried, head to the sky, and releases somewhere between 1,600 and 3,600 eggs. As many as 8 males curl around her to fertilize them, then dash back to the water. The whole act can take 30 seconds, though some fish end up stranded on the sand for minutes. The females do not die in the process; a single grunion may spawn 6 or more times in a season.

The timing is no accident. Grunion lay their eggs at the very highest tides of the month, so the nests end up above the reach of the waves that follow. The eggs then incubate in the damp sand for about 10 days, safe from the surf, until the next series of high tides washes over them and the agitation of the water triggers them to hatch. The run, in other words, is a precisely tuned gamble on the rhythm of the moon and the tides.

A California Tradition

Grunion hunting is a Southern California ritual nearly as old as the beach towns themselves. The fish take their name from the Spanish gruñon, or grunter, for the faint noise they are said to make. For more than a century, families have carried buckets and flashlights down to the shore on run nights, and institutions like the Cabrillo Marine Aquarium in San Pedro still host public grunion programs a few nights each season.

The tradition has not always been gentle on the fish. By the 1920s, with spawning beaches lost to erosion, harbor construction, and pollution, the grunion fishery was already showing signs of strain. California established its first closed season in 1927, shutting down harvesting for 3 months, from April through June. That closure was relaxed to April and May in 1947. Then, in 2022, the state reversed course to better protect the peak of spawning, restoring the April-through-June closure and, for the first time, capping the catch at 30 fish per person. Much of what scientists know about the runs today has come from decades of citizen observation, including the Grunion Greeters program run by Pepperdine University biologist Karen Martin.

Painting of grunion spawning on a moonlit Southern California beach

The Rules: When You Can Watch, and When You Can Catch

The most important rule is the calendar. Grunion season runs from March 1 through August 31, but April, May, and June are closed to harvesting. During those 3 months the fish may be watched but not touched: discreet observation is allowed, and any contact is prohibited so the grunion can spawn undisturbed. That leaves March, July, and August as the open months, when grunion may be taken.

The method is just as strict. Harvesters may use their hands and nothing else. Nets and any other gear are off limits, and it is illegal to dig holes in the sand to trap the fish as they come in. Anyone 16 or older needs a valid California sport fishing license, including the ocean enhancement stamp, and a license is required for any interaction with the fish, even catch-and-release. No license is needed simply to observe. The daily bag and possession limit is 30 grunion.

Wildlife officials add one more piece of guidance that is not a law but a plea: when in doubt, watch rather than grab. Grunion are not an abundant fish, and a female left to finish burying her eggs is the difference between this run and the next one.

When and Where They Run

Grunion come ashore at night, in a window that opens shortly after high tide and lasts about 2 hours. Each run stretches over 4 consecutive nights beginning on the night of a full or new moon, and the fish arrive a little later each night. Seasoned watchers know the best shows usually come on the second and third nights of the four, and in the second hour of a run rather than the first, once the fish gain confidence. The exact timing shifts along the coast: runs near San Diego arrive about 5 minutes earlier than those at the Los Angeles reference point of Cabrillo Beach, while Santa Barbara runs come about 25 minutes later.

As for where, grunion favor a particular kind of beach: open, gently sloping, sandy, and wave-swept, the sort of shore where a thin sheet of water runs far up the sand. In principle they can spawn on any such beach in Southern California. In practice, some are famous for their runs, among them Cabrillo Beach in San Pedro, Doheny State Beach in Dana Point, Belmont Shore in Long Beach, Huntington Beach, Newport and Balboa, La Jolla Shores, and Mission Beach and the Silver Strand near San Diego, along with the broad sands of Malibu and the South Bay. Conditions change, and so do local curfews, so state wildlife officials suggest calling a beach's lifeguards, who often know whether the grunion have been showing up.

Grunion coming ashore beneath a swirling starry night sky

How to Eat Grunion

Grunion are eaten the way most small silver fish are: whole and fried. Their flavor is mild and delicate, and most people liken it to smelt, the little fish grunion are so often mistaken for, with a hint of the richness of a sardine or anchovy. Because they are so small, they are usually cooked whole, dredged in seasoned flour or cornmeal and pan-fried in a shallow layer of hot oil for 2 to 3 minutes a side, until crisp and golden. Cooked that way, the bones soften and the entire fish, head and tail included, can be eaten. Cooks who prefer a cleaner plate gut and behead them first. Beyond the classic fry, grunion take well to the grill or the broiler, dressed simply with lemon, garlic, and salt. However they are prepared, they are a beach food, best eaten fresh, the same night they came ashore.

A plate of fried grunion with a lemon wedge

California coast · July–August · Open season

Grunion Run Schedule 2026

Predicted two-hour spawning windows for Cabrillo Beach near Los Angeles Harbor. Only the July and August runs are listed because these are the dates when it is legal to harvest grunion: April through June is closed season, and the March open windows have passed.

17 dates5 run windowsPacific timeHarvest open
Predicted California grunion run dates and times from July through August 2026
DateRun nightExpected time
Run window 01July 01–02
WedJuly 1Night 3Best bet10:30 p.m.–12:30 a.m.
ThuJuly 2Night 411:00 p.m.–1:00 a.m.
Run window 02July 14–17
TueJuly 14Night 19:45 p.m.–11:45 p.m.
WedJuly 15Night 2Best bet10:35 p.m.–12:35 a.m.
ThuJuly 16Night 3Best bet11:20 p.m.–1:20 a.m.
FriJuly 17Night 412:10 a.m.–2:10 a.m.*
Run window 03July 29–August 01
WedJuly 29Night 19:45 p.m.–11:45 p.m.
ThuJuly 30Night 2Best bet10:15 p.m.–12:15 a.m.
FriJuly 31Night 3Best bet10:50 p.m.–12:50 a.m.
SatAugust 1Night 411:25 p.m.–1:25 a.m.
Run window 04August 12–15
WedAugust 12Night 19:40 p.m.–11:40 p.m.
ThuAugust 13Night 2Best bet10:20 p.m.–12:20 a.m.
FriAugust 14Night 3Best bet11:05 p.m.–1:05 a.m.
SatAugust 15Night 411:50 p.m.–1:50 a.m.
Run window 05August 28–30
FriAugust 28Night 110:00 p.m.–midnight
SatAugust 29Night 2Best bet10:35 p.m.–12:35 a.m.
SunAugust 30Night 3Best bet11:20 p.m.–1:20 a.m.

Timing by coast: San Diego runs about 5 minutes earlier; Santa Barbara runs about 25 minutes later.

Best bet: The second and third nights, especially the second hour, usually produce the strongest runs.

* When a forecast starts after midnight, the listed date is the previous evening. Times are predictions, not guarantees. Check local beach access before leaving.

Source: California Department of Fish and Wildlife

Sources

Grunion Run 2026: The Best Guide | Nautical Nick