Corbina and Leopards

Summer has officially begun in So Cal. While in terms of surf fishing, the summertime bite has been here for the past few weeks, the official season is underway.

We’ve seen a couple water temperature spikes and dips in the last month or so and it’s made for some unpredictable, yet extremely productive fishing at times. More specifically, May of 2020 into early June of 2020 has brought some of the best surf fishing that Southern California has seen on a month-for-month: year-for-year basis since 2014.

The numbers of spotfin that have inhabited the coastal waters of So Cal has been a blessing to say the least. While this should not be over-looked by any means, one other species has been on fire and another is just beginning to bite in size and numbers. Leopard sharks and Corbina.

Leopard Sharks

Spotfin have been on fire, but leopard sharks too, have been on a tear in So Cal since late April. This is much earlier than the usual mid June mark. If you read my article about a month ago on the Leopard Shark, you might remember that the congregation of leopard sharks in the La Jolla Cove is a major factor that contributes to the quality of leopard shark fishing during the summer months. You might also remember that their arrival has a strong correlation with the summer solstice (which we just passed). Bottom line, whether the leopards arrived early this year or whether they were simply mating deeper into So Cal during mating season, the bite is on fire.

Since late April, I’ve fished some 25 times with 20 of those times being at least somewhat dedicated to catching leopard sharks. Of those 20 sessions, only 3 have turned me away empty-handed. From my experience, this season is set to be either the second best or the best summer to target leopard sharks since 2014.

So if you’re looking to get in on the thrill of landing a 5-foot leopard shark from the surf in So Cal, book a guided trip with me and/or purchase all the gear and tackle you’ll need:

Shark Set Up

With that being said, let’s get into this past week’s fishing report and the forecast for next week.

Day 1: Decent Day (day 2 was much more interesting)

I was able to make it out Thursday for a morning session. I’ll make this one pretty quick and leave my logs immediately below. The bite was good as soon as we arrived on the sand. We fished light tackle for the first hour or so and landed some 12 fish between the two of us in the first 30 minutes. Fish were biting on a short to medium cast during this period.

As the bite died down, we walked the beach looking for a more fruitful spot. It turned out that we may have been better off in terms of light-tackle fishing if we had stayed where we were. I was able to land a solid spotfin as another angler (Jeff) got a couple good ones prior to that. With the light-tackle bite dying down a good amount, I committed to a shark session from here on out.

Good thing too, as it paid off big time. At the end of the day, I landed two Leopards at 56″ and 58″. A decent session and details below.

Time:	6:30 am – 12 noon
Tides:	(0.1 ft at 2:41 am) (3.4 ft at 8:57 am) (2 ft at 1:37 pm)
Sky:	cloudy start to sunny finish
Temp:	warm
Water temp:	67F
Swell Height:	1-2 (more like 2-4)
Fishies:	Nick (11) 5 yellows, 2 leopards (58″, 56″) 2 corbina, 1 perch 1 spotfin
	Kyle (13) 5 corbina, 4 yellows, 2 spotfin, 1 guitar, 1 perch
Kelp:	minimal
Notes:	CLASSIFIED

Day 2:

This was a more interesting session. It was Friday 6/19 and client Bryce was excited to experience a guided session at one of my go-to spots. Again, I’ll leave the conditions and logs at the bottom of this report.

We fished an incoming tide from 2 pm to 8:30 pm. I was really thinking the tidal swing would be a nice addition to the 1-2 foot swells making for an awesome session. As the evening began, my instincts were tested… big time.

We gathered our crabs and over-viewed the session as usual. We rigged up and began fishing. For the first 20 minutes or so, no bites for either of us. We spotted multiple healthy looking rip currents and some awesome structure and fished that for a little bit but it just didn’t produce. After accepting the fact that the rips and troughs weren’t working at the moment, I made the call to fish a mellower looking section of the beach. Within 5 minutes or so, I spotted a good-sized corbina cruising the shallows. I gave it a good 10-15 foot lead and waited. Once again, it disappeared for a few seconds and then, “tap… tap-tap-tap-tap!” I set the hook and we’re on!

It really would have been awesome if Bryce were to have hooked this one because it was a thrill! I use my typical light tackle set up which is as follows:

My Light Tackle Set Up

Some anglers would say my set-up isn’t a light enough set-up in terms of line and weight and even hook size, but I have my reasons for my methods and later in the session, Bryce would learn first-hand why I use the gear that I use. Bryce was using a 10 foot Phoenix Trifecta with 6 lb test and a half oz weight.

Anyways, I began fighting this fish and immediately it took out a solid 30 feet of drag on a powerful tear. Just as I turned the head, it took off once again! Maybe 75 seconds later I successfully beached it. As I slid it onto the shoreline, I could feel it thumping the sand with its ever-so powerful tail. A 21.5″ corbina and a beauty at that!

Bite Turns Off

After that Corbina hit, the bite absolutely turned off for us. Kyle, who had happened to be fishing as well, landed a few average spotfin croaker, but only on extremely far casts. We fished on, plugging away with cast after cast as we walked up and down the beach for the next couple hours. It was to no avail but a small bait-sized corbina.

Since the current wasn’t terrible and the swells were a manageable 2-3 ft with minimal seaweed, I set up a shark rod while Bryce continued to fish light tackle.

After setting one shark rod up, we continued our effort to find the fish. A couple nibbles here and there but still nothing else. Maybe an hour into the soak for the shark rod, we saw the rod tip! Bryce picks it up and starts fighting but half way through, the fish (whatever it may have been) popped loose. If you’ve fought big fish before, especially fish that you’ve been after for awhile as you strive to land your first one, you know how frustrating it can be.

Bite Turns On

So we get that rod set back up again and for good measure, I set up a second shark rod as well. It took maybe another 30-45 minutes before we saw it tip with a full bend now. This time, the fish was on, and it was on well. But with one lost fish already, nothing was guaranteed.

8-10 minutes later with a tough slanted shoreline, we beached her. A 56” female leopard shark and Bryce’s personal record.

From that point on, the bite picked up little by little. Bryce’s first bite was a learning moment. I think he gained a better understanding of the risks you run when you fish with 6 lb test. Now, for all you guys who like to use 2-6 lb test in the surf, good for you, but I’ve got reasons why it’s 100% not necessary. Anyways, he hooked up and I hear, “fish on!”. There we were and it looked like a dang good fish from the way his rod was bending even with ample drag screaming off. Six seconds later… “snap”, he breaks off. He gave it one more go on the 6 lb and upped it to 10 lb after losing another.

From there on out it was an awesome sunset bite as a he landed some 18 fish between corbina, croaker, bat ray, this 46” guitar and another leopard that came in at 58 inches!

Bow Fishing and Forecast

At the bottom of the page, you’ll find my logs for the session:

And make sure you stay tuned in the next couple of weeks as I have officially begun bow fishing in the surf and I should have some awesome content headed your way. If you happen to be interested in bow fishing, I know a great local shop that’d be more than happy to get you started. Also, DO NOT pick this up and bow fish anywhere in the surf as there are municipal codes and what not that prohibit it at the majority of beaches in San Diego and a lot of So Cal in general.

As for the forecast, the conditions are optimal for all things surf fishing. We have a grunion run starting Sunday 6/21, swells are 1-2 feet, the tides have some nice volume to them and the temperature is perfect. If you need some more information on grunion runs, check out my article on grunion runs to best prepare yourself for this week.

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Time:	2 pm – 8:30 pm
Tides:	(2.1 ft at 2:10 pm) (6 ft at 8:31 pm)
Sky:	cloudy most of day with some sun peaks
Temp:	warmish
Water temp:	67F
Swell Height:	1-2 (more like 2-3) some 4s
Fishies:	Nick (5) 1 corbina (21.5″), 2 batrays, 2 yellows
	Bryce (18) 9 corbina, 5 yellows, 1 bat, 1 guitar (46″) 2 leos (56″) (58″)
Kelp:	minimal
Notes:	Super extremely slow rough start. Lost one leopard run with Bryce. Most bites were deep throughout the day. evening was great all around.

Tight Lines Guys!