Liza haematocheila is an important economic fish in the Yellow River estuary waters. The species lays eggs which hatch as larvae in the shallow waters, or the interchange areas of salt and fresh water in the estuary every spring, and move to coastal waters to grow within changing tides. The fish migrate into the deep-water area of the Bohai sea for winter. Fish eggs and larvae are the basis of supplement and sustainable utilization of marine fish resources, and changes in their quantitative distribution are very significant to maintain the balance of marine ecosystems. At present, the researches on Liza haematocheila mainly involve such parameters as age, growth, feeding, breeding habits, etc. However, there is no report on the distribution of Liza haematocheila eggs and larvae in the coastal zone of the Yellow River estuary. In order to understand the distribution of Liza haematocheila eggs and larvae, and to investigate thoroughly the impacts of environmental factors on such distribution in the coastal waters of the Yellow River estuary, this study analyzed the spawning period, spatial distribution of fish eggs and larvae of Liza haematocheila and their relationship with environmental factors. Data were collected from a spawning grounds survey conducted during April and July of 2020 and from a set net survey during April and November of 2020. Due to no eggs and larvae being caught during some sampling events, a two-step GAM was constructed which modeled presence/absence data (PA model) and density of presence observation (density model). The results indicated that the peak spawning period of Liza haematocheila was from April to May in the coastal waters of the Yellow River estuary. The spatial distribution characteristic of fish eggs was different from larvae, with fish eggs being concentrated in the coastal waters of Laizhou Bay, and larvae distributed in Laizhou Bay and the estuary of the Yellow River. Water temperature was significantly associated with both presence and density of fish eggs and larvae. For the PA model, SST (sea surface temperature) was the second most important factor and determined more than 13% of the deviance, while the final model determined 61.50% of the variance in fish eggs and larvae presence/absence. For the density model, SST determined the largest portion of the data deviance (＞ 50.21%) and the final model determined 67.04% of the variance in density, given presence. Both occurrence and density of fish eggs and larvae were mainly in the range of 11–14 ℃ and 19–22 ℃. However, variation of temperature affected them in different ways. As water temperature increased from 11 ℃ to 14 ℃, the occurrence probability increased, but the density at first decreased and then increased. During temperature increase from 19 ℃ to 22 ℃, both showed a trend decreasing first and then increasing, but the change of density was much greater than the occurrence probability. Salinity had a significant effect on the occurrence of fish eggs and larvae, with explaining 8.01% of the deviance of the PA model; however, it had no obvious effect on density. Fish eggs and larvae of Liza haematocheila occurred in the salinity range of 24–30, with the most concentrated distribution and a fluctuating upward trend occurring between 26.5 and 29. Depth was significantly associated only with the occurrence of fish eggs and larvae, which were distributed between 1 m and 10 m. The occurrence probability decreased slowly with the increase of water depth and was most concentrated at 2–6 m. This supports the view that Liza haematocheila lay eggs in shallow water near the shore. The results of the study provided a scientific basis for the protection of spawning grounds and resource conservation. It also proved that the application of remote sensing of water temperature was feasible for fishery ecological research in estuarine and nearshore waters.