Surf Fishing Report: Bite on Fire

This past week was one for the books in terms of both numbers and quality. Fishing in So Cal has been absolutely on fire as of late. The water temperature has warmed up since it’s most recent dip about two weeks ago and the red tide appears to be completely gone. The waters in the surf line are crystal clear right now and there’s plenty of action in both the shallows and the deep. It’s safe to say that surf fishing in So Cal is in peak season summertime-bite mode.

If you want to learn how to have similar success, book a guided trip with me here.

Today, I’ll give you guys a comprehensive rundown of the past week of surf fishing in San Diego. I fished a collection of local beaches along the coast of Southern California. To my knowledge, all local beaches are open to surf fishing now (please correct me if I’m wrong in the comments) and the timing couldn’t have been better. I fished a total of 4 days and each session yielded some good fish.

Day 1: Quality Over Quantity

We kicked off the week fishing a late morning from 8:15 am – 10:45 am. It was a last minute decision as my previous hopes of fishing the grunion run were shot down due to a temporary curfew in relation to senseless, violent protests.

I fished an incoming tide from about 1 ft at the beginning of our session to 3 ft at finish. The swells were a moderate 2-f ft with manageable current and light sea weed. Water temp was listed at 65 degrees Fahrenheit which was a 2 degree increase from last week’s low.

The bite was fairly slow as the first 2 hours yielded only 3 yellowfin croaker, a small corbina, and a barred surfperch. It was at 10:37 am in which the fish I was waiting for finally took.

Successful Sight-Casting

As I mentioned earlier, the water has been crystal clear this past week. So, sight-casting is a fairly effective and highly satisfying method of surf fishing that can be utilized right now. It requires a fair amount of focus, precision, and finesse, but it’s definitely something any surf fisherman can pick up with some practice. For more information and tips on sight-casting, view this page under the “tactics” section to find “sight-casting”.

Anyways, I was scoping out the surf when I saw a group of three large spotfin cruising in about 1-2 feet of water. When you’re sight-casting, it’s imperative that you don’t spook the fish by casting at the wrong time or too close. So, I timed my cast perfectly with a nice 8-10 foot lead in the direction they were swimming and I watched.

Any experienced and even inexperienced sight-caster will tell you how frustrating it can be when the fish is either spooked or simply ignores your bait.

Did I Miss It?

In this instance, I saw the group of them make a slight turn away from my bait as they swam out a little deeper just before some white water rolled over them causing me to lose sight of them. I knew they were still nearby, so I decided to leave my bait there for at least the next 20 seconds.

I have this thing I do when I’m totally focused. I’ll watch either the water in front of me or my line, and I count backwards in intervals from 20-to-0. I don’t know what it is, but it helps me to keep my bait in the right spots for set periods of time before moving or recasting.

In this case, it payed off big time. I feel a classic “tap… tap-tap-tap-tap” and I set the hook. Immediately, my drag starts screaming! At this point, I’m pretty certain I’ve hooked one of the spotfin in that group. A solid 1-2 minute fight later and I lug this beauty onto the beach as it slaps and thumps the shoreline with undeniable power. When you beach a massive fish per species, it doesn’t take much to recognize it; in this instance, I recognized it. At 22.5″, this was my largest measured spotfin croaker to date.

Day 2: Best Light Tackle Surf Fishing Session To Date

Nice section heading huh? I think you’ll agree after reading it. This time, I went out for a 4:30 pm – 9:30 pm session at a different spot with an old friend of mine from High School.

Light Tackle Surf Fishing Gear and Tackle:

• Rod: Okuma Celilo (8’6″ MA) or the Okuma SST (8’6″ MA)
• Reel: Penn Battle II or III 4000 series
• Mainline: 15-pound monofilament
• For Bait: Carolina Rig:
  • Leader Line: 15-pound fluorocarbon
  • Swivels: 15-19mm barrel swivels
  • Hooks: size #2 or #4 owner mosquito hooks
  • Weights: 1-oz egg weight
  • Beads: 8mm fishing beads
• For Lures: Lucky Craft FM 110 and Shimano WM 115 SP
• Other best surf fishing rods and best surf fishing reels

We fished an outgoing tide until 6:10 when it switched to an incoming tide. Swells were a nice 2-3 ft with another minimal current and light seaweed. The water temperature now read 66F which equaled 1 more than my previous outing. From the first cast to the last cast, there was some fairly steady action. My first fish was a decent 18″ Spotfin. To the left of me, I noticed an angler had caught a couple decent looking Spotfin while I continued to fish so I went over to check out what he was using. I was using sand crabs (my go-to) and he had been using real sand worms (not gulp). It was working for him and he was kind enough to offer me the remaining worms as he was wrapping it up for the day. I later learned that he was a follower of this website and blog (Surf Fishing In So Cal) and if your reading this right now, thank you for your kindness last Tuesday! And also a shout out to Jeff and Brian as it was a pleasure running into you guys on the sand the other day!

I tried the sand worms out for a good 25 minutes and while it worked for him… nothing for me. So I switched back to sand crabs for the remainder of the day and I immediately got hit. Another Spotfin! This one at 20.5 inches!

The Bite Turns On!

From about 7 pm – finish, that’s when the bite was absolutely insane. Not to specifically leave out the details of any of the fights, but I’d say I caught 70% of my fish from about 7 – 9 pm. At one point, my buddy hooked into a good size leopard in the middle of the bite. I was able to catch 2 more fish while he was fighting the shark before I had to help him land it, measure it, and photograph it! It was simply an awesome session with action on every cast for nearly 2 straight hours.

Long story short. I caught 29 fish that session. While 29 fish in and of itself is an impressive number and an awesome day on the sand, that wasn’t the most impressive part of it. More than 50% of the fish I caught that day were spotfin croaker all ranging from 16″ – 21.5″. I also caught a couple big corbina and yellowfin croaker. My total count was as follows: (29) 15 spotfin, 5 yellows, 3 corbina, 3 bats, 3 guitars (biggest spotfin 21.5″). To top things off, my buddy landed that big leopard that taped out at 51″.

While I didn’t get very many photos, there’s a reason for that. As I like to put it, “Sometimes, when the bite’s on fire, you gotta forget about taking pics and just keep slayin!!!!”.

The reason I labeled that day as my best light tackle surf fishing session to date is, well, because it was! Almost every single fish I caught that day took out some drag. To catch 15 spotfin in a session (at least in San Diego) is unheard of to my knowledge. I know OC and LA had myriad of spotfin last summer, but this was a day I won’t forget. Medium was the target distance for casts that day. I almost forgot to mention that at one point, I caught a spotfin and a bat ray on the same cast… I only used one hook.

Day 3: Solid Corbina

For day 3, I hit a spot that I’ve been meaning to hit for some time now. It was good to see you there Mark! I hope you had a decent second-half of your session.

We fished from 4:30 pm – 7:45 pm and we fished the outgoing tide. Swells were listed at 2-3 ft and the current was pulling south just moderately with minimal seaweed present. The session was slow to begin as I only got a couple yellowfin croaker and a small leopard shark in the first hour or so.

I moved North a little bit and I found myself on a little bit of a bite. This resulted in a couple smaller leopard sharks and some perch before my catch of the day.

I had to tie a knew hook on as the former had dulled down to an undesirable sharpness. So, I figured I might as well setup my shark rod too. I quickly set up the shark rod and made my way back to my spot. First cast back and wham! It was a short cast and it immediately pulled out some drag. At first I thought, “maybe a good spotfin?”… As I got my first look, I was wrong. Turned out to be a beastly 21.5″ corbina and my first corbina over 20” in a few months.

Unfortunately, this guy gutted the hook and I tried to send him back to sea, but he just wouldn’t go. So, he turned into dinner. Just as I finished tying another hook on and made it back to my spot, I see my shark rod tip. I run over and begin fighting. I could tell immediately that it wasn’t huge and maybe 2 minutes later I beached a 36″ leopard shark. Sorry, no photo.

I ended the day with (14) 5 baby leopards, 3 yellows, 2 perch, 1 guitar, 1 perch, 1 corbina (21.5″) 1 medium leopard 36″ on big. Somewhat of a typical day surf fishing but that big corbina really topped it off.

Day 4: Ummm Yah

For my final day from the week, we fished an incoming to an outgoing tide from about 4 pm – 9:30 pm. The swells were listed at 1-2 ft, the current was awesome as it fluctuated from north to south ever so slightly all session long. Water temp was 66F with minimal kelp and it was a warm sunny day with passing clouds due to a breeze out of the east.

The day yet again, began slowly. I spoke with other anglers fishing that evening and both had yet to catch a single fish all day. So, I wandered from south to north to south again, nothing. I did see one corbina that I would put somewhere between 22″ – 25″ in length however.

I finally set up and focused on a spot that looked decent. One deep cast, hit! A nice little yellowfin croaker. Another cast, same thing. For maybe 15 minutes I had a good amount of action, landing some 7 fish between croaker, corbina, and perch. Although nothing big by any means it was good to get on the bite.

Something Big!

There was a little lull there from about 5:30 pm- 6:10 pm and then I got right back on the bite. In the next hour, I got another 12 fish, but again, all on the smaller side. Just as I’m getting another nibble, my buddy hooks into something enormous on his light rod. Up and down the beach he went without catching a single glimpse of the beast until it was within feet from the shore.

When you’re fighting a fish that big, and you don’t see any sort of surface-break whatsoever, there are only two possibilities in my mind; and no, not a bat ray. It either has to be a big guitarfish or an enormous sting ray.

In this case, it was a guitar. After beaching, photoing, and measuring, she taped out to be a personal record for the both of us. A whopping 53.5 inches long!

Cherry On Top

As the evening continued past 7 pm, I got action once again on every single cast. By 9 pm, I had surpassed the 30 mark in numbers. None of which (until number 30) were longer than 13″. Number 30 was my first spotfin croaker on the day and it was a scrawny 16 inches.

It was number 31 that topped it all off. I continued fishing after I landed that spotfin and I look to my left to see my shark rod in full bend! This rod was pointed straight to sea. So I rushed over there to apply some pressure, but it didn’t give me any leeway as the run continued. After the initial run, he swam straight to me only to go on one more short run. He turned out to be a she, and she was a gorgeous 57″ leopard shark.

• Rod: Fiblink Moonsniper (12 or 13 feet)
• Reel: Penn Battle 8000 (II or III)
• Main Line: 50-pound braid
• Topshot: 100-pound nylon coated mono
• Leaders: Shark Leaders
• Weights: 8-ounce pyramid or 6-ounce sputnik

If you’d rather purchase a pre-made shark rig made of these exact materials click the link and make your purchase. I hand sharpen all hooks and I ensure top quality engineering for each individual shark rig.

So that was my week. I ended that day with (34) 12 corbina, 10 yellows, 9 perch, 1 leopard (56.5″) 1 spotfin 1 sting ray. It was an awesome week to say the least, and I hope next week brings much of the same.

If you’re wondering how the heck any of this is possible, go ahead and book a guided trip with me here and we’ll try and set you up to be able to match my success on your own.

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