Kelp paddy season · Southern California

Paddy Hopper

Pick a fish and cruise offshore. Run from paddy to paddy, crash the bait balls hiding in the shade, and grow. Or take the boat out and fish for them. Everyone fishing the same map shares the same ocean.

Who’s fishing?
Your color
Your character
Where to fish

Share this page and your friends' fish show up here with their names.

Find paddiesBirds circle the paddies holding bait on the block map. The arrow points to the nearest one.
Crash the baitAnchovies, sardines and mackerel. Burst through the ball; each one fuels you and adds weight.
Mind the linesFly-lined sardines and surface irons are hooked. If you get stuck, dive into the reef or kelp to break off, or you get boated and released a little lighter.
←→ turn ↑↓ rise · dive Space burst QE cruise slower · faster P pause H say hi C + arrows or right-drag: look around Mouse: hold and drag to steer

Paddy Hopper is a free, kid-friendly fishing game set in Southern California. Play as a yellowtail or an angler at Point Loma, La Jolla, Catalina and the Coronado Islands. It runs in a web browser on a Chromebook, laptop, tablet or phone, with nothing to download.

Is there a free fishing game I can play in a browser on a Chromebook?

Yes. Paddy Hopper is free and runs in Chrome on a Chromebook (and in other modern browsers). Open the page, pick a fish or the angler, and start. There are no accounts and no downloads.

What do you do in the game?

As a fish (yellowtail, mahi mahi, mako shark or marlin) you hop between floating kelp paddies, crash bait balls of anchovies, sardines and mackerel, and grow, while dodging hooks, lures and sharks. Or fish as an angler: you start in a pedal kayak and earn a jet ski, skiff, center console and sportfisher by catching fish: yellowtail, calico bass, white seabass, bluefin tuna, dorado, giant sea bass, California halibut, leopard sharks, rockfish and more. You can also dive in with a speargun.

Where can you fish?

  • Home Island, a hand-made island block
  • Point Loma and San Diego Bay, with the bait barge and the kelp along the point
  • La Jolla, from the canyon and the Cove down to Mission Bay
  • Catalina Island, the whole island
  • The Coronado Islands, where the fish run biggest

The real maps are built from NOAA depth data for Southern California.

Is it multiplayer?

Yes. Everyone fishing the same map shares the same ocean, so friends see each other’s fish and boats, and up to four can ride along on a sportfisher. There’s a leaderboard for the heaviest fish.