San Diego Surf Fishing Report June 23rd 2024

Well it’s been only a week since my last local surf fishing report and we are clearly due for another. What’s been biting? Everything! The best time of year for surf fishing is now for both quality and quantity.

Big corbina and spotfin croaker are becoming a more and more common catch, heck even striped bass are being reported caught more regularly. Sharking, halibut, calico, and white seabass fishing is all really productive right now – it’s peak season.

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	Nov-Apr	Year Round
Walleye Surf Perch	Nov-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

What’s the Deal with Striped Bass Surf Fishing in San Diego?

I was fortunate enough to land the nice striped bass shown above while targeting sharks recently surf fishing with cutbait. In speaking with some fellow local anglers, they have been caught more regularly this year than any other recent year. Could this be the beginnings of striped bass frequenting our waters more often? We’ll have to wait and see.

Corbina and Spotfin Croaker

As expected, we’re beginning to see more and more large spotfin croaker and corbina mixed in with those shallow-feeding shovelnose guitarfish. If a spotfin is on your bucketlist, I recommend getting out there as soon as you can. Shallow casts have been most productive but medium and far casts will produce well too especially if you’re fishing to the structure (troughs/holes).

Sand Crabs

We have reached that sweet spot where anglers have all types of sizes available to them when using sand crabs for surf fishing bait. For those of you who prefer that perfect “one crab per hook” size, these guys are out there and they’re plentiful. Hooking them as shown above (and if possible leaving the hook even more hidden in the roe of the crabs) will increase hook up ratios.

Sharking

To reiterate the sentiment from last week, sharking from the beach has been very productive to start the season. Since beginning in March, every session we’ve gone out to target sharks and rays, we’ve caught at least one. Sometimes current and swell has been tough, but if it comes down to it, holding the rod and walking with you bait will eventually catch if you give it a long enough soak.

Lure Fishing

The lure game is picking up once more as well. Calico bass, white seabass, halibut and as mentioned earlier, even striped bass have been on the chew.

For more context on what’s been biting and the season’s transition, have a look at last week’s surf fishing report linked here. Hope this wasn’t too quick an update for everyone. Bottom line, no matter what your target, the bite is on right now!