October on the Mendocino coast: what’s actually in season, Point Arena to Ten Mile

October is the coast’s second summer. The fog’s mostly gone, the light goes gold by six, and the whole county is bringing something in: apples in Anderson Valley, the last of the grapes, tuna offshore if the warm water holds. Here’s what’s really on the table this month, from Point Arena to the Ten Mile River, and what’s still a few weeks off.

Jump to: From the water · From the land · Where to shop · What’s on in October · Planning an October dinner

From the water

Albacore: the big story, while it lasts
This has been a remarkable tuna year. In early September, one Fort Bragg charter brought in 165 albacore in four days, some of them pushing 37 pounds. By late September, reports up the coast said the warm water was starting to break up, and albacore goes where the warm water goes. October fish are possible but not promised, which is exactly why we don’t print tuna on a menu until the boat’s back in.

Rockfish and lingcod: the steady ones
The Mendocino groundfish season runs through December 31, open at all depths this year, and the rockfish bite has been good all month. Vermilion, black, canary, china: they aren’t interchangeable, and each gets its own treatment. Lingcod takes a hard sear better than almost any white fish. The limits are 10 rockfish a day, and 2 lingcod at 22 inches. Quillback and yelloweye stay off limits.

Salmon: closed for the year here
The Fort Bragg area closed on August 9 after anglers hit the quota, and it stays closed through the rest of 2026. The fall salmon season that’s open is well south of here, below San Francisco. Any October salmon on a menu on this coast came from somewhere else.

Dungeness crab: November 7, if all goes well
The recreational season opens on the first Saturday in November, which is November 7 this year. We’d hold that date loosely. Last year, domoic acid pushed the opener here to December 12, and a strong El Niño tends to raise the risk of it again. If crab matters to your dinner, plan it for December or later and keep a second course in mind. There’s more on that in our El Niño post.

Rock crab: the crab you can have now
Rock crab is open all year: sweeter than Dungeness, fiddlier to pick, lovely in a chilled salad. The state’s advising people not to eat the viscera this season because of domoic acid, so it’s meat only.

Mussels: wait until November
The annual state quarantine on sport-harvested mussels runs through October 31. After that it lifts, though the state can still close areas when toxins show up. Call the CDPH biotoxin line at (800) 553-4133 before you pick.

Purple urchin: take all you like at Caspar
Purple urchins are the reason the kelp forest disappeared, so the rules are generous. Divers in Mendocino County can take 40 gallons a day, and at Caspar Cove you can take any number by hand through 2029 to help the kelp come back. KelpFest’s urchin low-tide walk and cookout at Van Damme on October 11 is the easiest way to learn how to open one.

Abalone: still closed, until 2036
The recreational red abalone fishery stays closed until at least April 1, 2036. Any abalone you see on a menu is farmed, and good farmed abalone is a fine thing to eat.

From the land

Apples, pears and quince
October is peak apple month in Anderson Valley. The Apple Farm in Philo picks apples into late October and pears into mid-October, and it grows six kinds of quince, which come in now. Gowan’s Oak Tree in Philo is where the Sierra Beauty was rediscovered, and it’s a late apple, coming in from mid-October. It’s one of the best baking apples there is.

The rest of the harvest
Inland, in Anderson Valley and around Ukiah, the last tomatoes and peppers overlap with the first winter squash. On the coast it’s the cool-weather crops: brassicas, roots, leeks and greens that get sweeter as the nights get colder. The markets will tell you the rest.

Wine: crush is early this year
The North Coast harvest ran two to three weeks ahead of normal this year, so much of Anderson Valley’s picking may be done by mid-October. Wineries go quieter after crush, and that’s a good time to visit.

Mushrooms: the first chanterelles are already up
A few early September rains were enough to wake them: chanterelles are showing in the woods already, weeks ahead of the usual start. The rain stopped and it’s been warm and sunny since, so this is an early trickle, not the season. The real flush comes one to two weeks after the first soaking rain, usually late October or November, and with El Niño building, nobody can say quite when that’ll be. Remember that picking isn’t allowed in the state parks here, and Jackson Demonstration State Forest needs a permit from its Fort Bragg office. The Fungi Festival in Caspar is November 14–15, and public tickets for its guided forays go on sale October 15. They go fast.

Where to shop

Fort Bragg Farmers Market, Wednesdays
It runs all year, 2:30–5:30 through October, on Franklin Street behind City Hall. It’s the one stop that can cover a whole dinner. More on our page.

Mendocino Farmers Market, Fridays
Noon to 2:30 at Howard and Main. October’s the last month of the season. More on our page.

Gualala Farmers Market, Saturdays
Saturday mornings at the Gualala Community Center, near the end of its season. Check the market’s Facebook page for the last date. More on our page.

Boonville Farmers Market, Saturdays
Saturday mornings in Boonville, April through October, if you’re coming over 128.

For fish, butchers, bakeries and farm stands town by town, see our guide to stocking your rental kitchen.

What’s on in October

OZ Farm Harvest Celebration, Sunday, October 4
Apple pressing, pies and OZ cider on the farm in Manchester, 2–8pm. $15 adults, $5 kids. Details.

North Coast KelpFest!, October 8–12
A seaweed parade through Mendocino, tide walks, a fish taco crawl in Fort Bragg and an urchin cookout on the beach. Our guide to the weekend.

Native Arts Expo, October 16–17
Native artists, presenters and dancers at the Mendocino Art Center, 11 to 4. Free.

Harvest Mendocino, late October
The county’s harvest celebration usually starts in late October. The 2026 program hadn’t been announced when we checked. Our page will have it.

See everything on the coast this season on our events board.

Planning an October dinner

The light
Sunset in Fort Bragg is around 6:45 on October 10 and 6:16 by Halloween. If you want dinner on the deck with the sun going down, start around five. Clocks go back on November 1, and after that it’s dark by 5:15.

The weather
October’s usually clear and mild, with highs in the 60s, but the first rain of the season often arrives this month. Have a table inside that fits everyone, just in case.

How we build the menu
We write October menus backward: we see what landed and what the farms brought in, then decide the courses. Every fish course has a stand-in, so if the tuna moves offshore, you’ll get lingcod and you won’t notice the switch.

More from October on the coast: Fall food events · A Halloween weekend plan · Every Halloween event · Halloween dinner at the house · EarthSpoke Farms · Pumpkin Wonderland · The El Niño winter · Fungi Festival

Sources: CDFW Mendocino ocean regulations (updated August 10, 2026); CDFW groundfish regulations; CDFW on the 2026 North Coast salmon closure; CDFW on last season’s crab delay; urchin rules; 2026 mussel quarantine; red abalone closure; Active NorCal on Fort Bragg albacore; The Apple Farm, Philo; Gowan’s on the Sierra Beauty; Native Arts Expo; Sonoma News on the 2026 harvest; Mendocino County Farmers Market Association; OZ Farm; KelpFest schedule. Checked September 25, 2026. Regulations change in-season; check CDFW before you fish or forage.