Spring Surf Fishing: 5 Reasons to Get Excited

It’s almost spring! Like fall, spring is a transitional season. But fall surf fishing couldn’t be any more different from spring surf fishing. The calendar months weren’t designed with surf fishing in mind, so I tend to label the seasons in my head a bit differently.

Spring: Mar-Apr

Summer: May-Aug

Fall: Sep-Nov

Winter: Dec-Feb

Fall represents a fading bite and a slow transition where spring marks the beginning of peak season for the majority of surf species. During spring, with each day that goes by, we expect the bite to get better. It’s arguably the most exciting season for surf fishing. We’ll shift from targeting surfperch and halibut only to literally fishing for everything!

1. Water Temps
2. The Usual Suspects: Which Species Will Be Heating Up?
3. Sand Crabs
4. Later Sunsets
5. Grunion Runs

Warming Water Temps

With spring, the first thing that comes to mind is the warming water temperature. Usually around late-March and definitely by April, we can expect water temps to hop out of the 50’s for good, and into the low 60’s. By the end of April, it isn’t uncommon to see water temps edging past 64-degrees Fahrenheit.

Before we get into why the water temp is good for surf fishing, let’s not neglect the fact that these warming waters and overall warmer air temperatures are reasons alone to get excited! Warmer weather makes fishing through the sunset and into the night all the more worth it.

Does Water Temp Affect Surf Fishing?

As we enter spring, both the air temp and water temp will steadily increase (on average). How and why does this affect fishing?

The first and most important reason is this simple fact. Historically, the warmer months have proven to be better for fishing with respect to corbina, spotfin croaker and many other fish that so cal anglers most commonly target.

The warmer months also correlate with other things like spawning seasons, mellower surf, and the arrival of sand crabs on our local beaches. This leads us to the next two points: which species of fish will be heating up and some info on sand crabs and when to expect them.

Spring Lure Fishing and The Start of The Summertime Bite

Species	Peak Season	General Season
California Corbina	Jun-Aug	May-Oct
Yellowfin Croaker	Jun-Aug	Apr-Oct
Spotfin Croaker	Jun-Aug	May-Oct
Barred Surf Perch	Jan-Apr	Year Round
Walleye Surf Perch	Jan-Apr	Year Round
Shovelnose Guitar Fish	Jun-Aug	May-Oct
Sting Ray	Jun-Aug	Year Round
Bat Ray	Jun-Aug	Year Round
Leopard Shark	May-Aug	Apr-Oct
California Halibut	Mar-Jun	Year Round
Soupfin Shark	Mar-Jul	Year Round
White Seabass	Mar-Jun	Feb-Sep
Calico Bass	Mar-Sep	Year Round

Lure Fishing Expectations

Surf fishing with swimbaits gets a whole lot more productive as we roll into spring. These will be used for targeting species like white seabass, halibut and calico bass as these species will be spawning soon. Halibut and white seabass specifically should be biting a lot better as we enter March and April.

If you’re interested in targeting fish like these, first, head over to the species profile page for each of your targets (in the common species table overviewed earlier in this article), and then take a look at some of the best swimbaits for surf fishing.

Lure fishing can be incredibly productive in the late winter months through the spring months. Look for halibut and white seabass fishing to be very productive in the months of March through June.

Start of The Summertime Bite

Looking at the chart above, you’ll see that the seasons for corbina, yellowfin and spotfin croaker are right around the corner (just after halibut and seabass start biting). Same with the shovelnose and leopard shark. These are simply estimates and we can usually assume a plus/minus of about a month to a month and a half.

Expect end of April and early May to yield increasing numbers of yellowfin croaker along with some spotfin croaker and corbina. For all my fellow shark fishermen, end of March marks the beginning of high potential leopard shark and soupfin shark fishing.

Additionally, every year tends to produce a something unique and surprising. In some recent years, spotfin croaker have shown up early, often and throughout. It was early April of one of those years when I caught the spotfin featured in the image atop this page and in the video below.

That evening, I saw more than 30 spotfin croaker with their backs out of the water as they scoured the ultra-shallow waters in search of sand crabs. I was lucky enough to connect on that beautiful fish.

What will this year bring? Some big corbina, spotfin, yellowfin croaker, maybe tons of guitars and leopards?

Sand Crabs

I typically expect to be able to find sand crabs on a regular basis in April.

There’s a large percentage of anglers who strictly fish sand crabs. When sand crabs are present, they fish, when they aren’t they wait until “summer”. So it’s a big deal when they show up in the masses as spring surf fishing is the beginning of the season for many anglers.

For those of you who don’t know, sand crabs are one of the main sources of food for corbina, croaker and other species. During the winter months, sand crabs disappear from our beaches for a number of reasons. When they disappear, the bite slows, when they come back, the bite turns on.

This article provides an overveiw on sand crabs and surf fishing and touches on the following:

Spring Surf Fishing and Late Sunsets

These later sunsets go hand-in-hand with warmer, more comfortable evenings that make it soothing and peaceful to be at the beach past dark rather than freezing your butt off.

Who doesn’t love a little extra day light? I know a huge factor for many of us is the fact that with a later sunset, we can fish after work. That changes the complexion of life altogether in my opinion.

Back in December, the sun was setting as early as 4:43 PM and come June, it will set after 8:00 PM on a few occasions! That’s over 3 hours of fishing we didn’t have before! And with the potential for Day Light Savings to become permanent, we could gain another hour of fishing in the the fall and winter months of next year (fingers crossed).

Grunion Runs

As mentioned recently, grunion runs occur from March – August. This is when small baitfish rush ashore on 3 or 4 nights every 2 weeks (in correspondence with full and new moons) to spawn.

It’s quite the phenomenon simply from a spectators point of view and with such a large volume of bait in the water, the bite has the potential to be insane on the nights and days of grunion runs.

See the latest calendar for the projected times and sates of this year’s grunion runs.

The key take aways here:

• Baitfish Spawn on the Beach
• Find them on Nights of Full and New Moons
• They Bring in Predatory Fish
• It’s a Sight To See
• Read the Regulations before You Take

Surf Fishing Guide