Cold Water, Hot Bite, and Some Help Finding Sand Crabs
I know it’s not Sunday, but the relevant events occurring in the surf right now warrant a post. I’ll keep this short and to the point. We’ll be covering the drop in water temperature, the “lack” of sand crabs, what’s biting, and which time of day has been best.
Water Temp and Why it Dropped
If you haven’t already read last Sunday’s post on the 10-degree drop in water temp, take two minutes to read it and get back up to speed. Temps have continued to decline with the latest reading for San Diego being between 56 and 58 degrees Fahrenheit. That’s cold! That’s winter-cold! So has it affected the bite? We’ll get into that. But first. Where are the sand crabs?
Can’t Find Sand Crabs? They’re Still There!
As the water temp dipped, sand crabs immediately reacted. From April, through July, sand crabs were seemingly infinite (in SD). At times, maybe too many were present. Since the drop in water temp, sand crabs have become much less visible. If I hadn’t bothered to do a little extra searching, I might have believed they were gone, altogether.
Thankfully, that’s not the case. Of the beaches that I’ve fished since the dip began, the shoreline (wet sand) has been emptied of sand crabs. But, take a couple steps into the chilling water and you might feel a familiar tickle between your toes. Look down, and you’ll see those classic little divots and v’s.
Tip: Sand crabs have been hanging out in ankle-deep water rather than the exposed sections of wet sand lately… Dig there.
A Hot Bite Despite the Cold Temps
Almost all the anglers I’ve heard from in San Diego seem to agree that the bite has picked up since the temp drop. I’ve been getting mixed reports from OC and LA (maybe OC and LA guys can give a report in the comments below). Since the temp began dropping about a week ago, the bite (for me) has increased significantly. Not just in terms of numbers either. Quality has been a reliable factor with every recent session and I look for that to continue. This takes us to our next topic. What’s been biting?
What’s Been Biting?
Short answer: Everything
Don’t worry. This drop – although significant – is not going to scare all the summertime species away. A few notable changes in the bite are worth mentioning though. Barred surfperch and soupfin shark have been two predictable species that had a noticeable uptick in activity. They both do well in cooler temperatures.
A couple of species that saw a surprising uptick in activity include spotfin croaker and corbina. Specifically big spotfin and corbina. In one session early this week, we landed a 24-incher, a 20-incher, a 19-incher and an 18-incher. The next day produced a 19-inch spotfin among a few other things… including four leopard sharks above 56-inches.
Oh yah, the sharks have turned on pretty well here with the temp drop. From leopard sharks to soupfin to even another great white sighting. Now, what about time of day?
What Time of Day has Been Best?
I’ve had my best luck (lately) in the early mornings. Evenings have been good too, but the lack of a sunset bite has been a little bit of a bummer. The morning sessions have been interesting as quality and quantity have been great, but the bite seems to die towards late morning. I’ve fished into the afternoon a couple times lately with very little luck.
I hope this helps and feel free to share your thoughts and experiences on the temperature dip thus far.
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Thanks Nick, very timely information. I’ve seen an uptick also in the corbina and spotfin bite, despite the colder water. Over the past 2 Saturdays in Carlsbad, I’ve landed 2 spotfins at 18″, and over 6 corbina ranging from 16″ to 20″, not to mention a world record smallest baby corbina at 6″! I had to do a double take to make sure it wasn’t a herring! The bite also included the most BSP I’ve caught over a 2 week period, but mostly palm-sized. Most fish were caught between 5am and 8am. And yes, the sand crabs did not go away. I was able to find them right up against some rocks at a jetty.
Question: When you say ankle-deep water, have they been there at ankle-deep regardless of the tide?
Thanks,
Ed
Yes, regardless of the tide, the have been there. Also, I too (we’ll not me but a client) recently caught the smallest Corbina I’d ever seen (or atleast seen hooked).
But thanks for the report and hopefully this bite continues!
Hermosa Beach bite better today in stormy surf conditions. 7 good croaker on gulp and a couple of good Corbina on crabs. Water temp not that bad here. One ran was 23 caught with St Croix 8-3 light weight and a Shimano 1000 with 8 to 4 lb leader. 10 min fight
Awesome report!
Hi Nick, thank you for this post — I am mostly a sunset angler and noticed a significant drop in activity over the last week with a few exceptions. I will definitely work in a few morning sessions while the water temps remain cold.
Mark
No problem. The bite changes often. Just gotta be on top of it.
Can anyone tell me how the evening conditions are in La Jolla or Coronado? We tend to have free time after 8pm, I’m always trying to get the crew out before then but they say the beaches are too crowded and the only beach that has sandcrabs is Ocean Beach (according to them). Am I wrong im my thinking you can catch SC in these other locations?
Coronado is tough for sand crabs but seaweed can be unpredictabley tough there. Be careful with La Jolla. The bulk of LJ is illegal to fish so know you’re MLPAs. Sand crabs are just about everywhere for most of summertime. Check out this page on (almost) all the beaches in SD and use it as your guide: https://surffishingsocalsd.com/best-surf-fishing-spots-in-san-diego/