Spring Surf Fishing: The Seasonal Changes Set to Occur

Clocks have turned forward and the unofficial start to spring is underway! So much change happens this time of year and there are a few things I want to touch upon as I think they’re all important and relevant. Get ready for spring surf fishing! I want to remind everyone that grunion runs will be occurring from now, through September. Be sure to read the linked article as it provides some really good info on what beaches might provide the best runs. A schedule of the predicted runs is also linked.

Overview of Seasonal Changes to Expect

While the water temperatures remain down (and actually continue to drop), I would expect a rebound to begin by the start of April and I’d be hoping for mean water temps of 62-64 degrees come late April. As the water temps begin to rise, a few more things will occur. Be on the lookout for sand crabs as they should be arriving on our shoreline any week now. They should be here in numbers by the end of April and you know what that means! This point in the calendar-year marks the transition to the summertime species and eventually the summertime bite!

Before I get way ahead of myself, perch are still the hottest bite and halibut are still a healthy target. As a matter of fact, I tend to believe the halibut bite is best as the water temps are just beginning to rise. But, bottom line, I see spring surf fishing as a transition to the summertime bite as yellowfin croaker usually arrive in numbers first, then corbina, then spotfin. And somewhere in between, leopard sharks!

Keep in mind though, that’s just the most common pattern I’ve learned over the years. It doesn’t always occur in that order. Last year, spotfin arrived way early, and in numbers that nearly no one could have predicted. This year? Who knows what’s to come?! That’s one of the joys of surf fishing and it’s something that I always look forward to discovering.

Significance of Daylight Savings Time and Spring Surf Fishing

Daylight Savings doesn’t directly affect fishing as fish have no idea what it is. But, for many anglers who work the traditional 9-to-5, it frees up the possibility of a sunset session. Sunset will be 6:56 pm to start Daylight Savings and if you fish through sunset, you shouldn’t have to worry about rush hour traffic.

Common Species and Peak Seasons

For reference to all the seasonal changes that I’m mentioning, take a look at the table below.

Upcoming YouTube Series

Before we get into the forecast for next week, my report for last week reflects the changes that are set to occur in the coming months. I made it out for a quick(ish) morning session this past week. Before I get into it, I want to let you all know that this year, I’m trying to commit to getting more youtube videos out there. I’ve got a few simple how-to’s out there, but specifically, I’ll be doing a San Diego Beaches Series of one session at just about every beach in San Diego. I started with “how-to use mussel meat for surf fishing” at Silverstrand but I might come back and do another there as it was fairly unproductive. This last week featured Del Mar Beach so check out the link after you read the report.

Surf Fishing Report

As we all know, this past week’s conditions weren’t the greatest, and by no means did the conditions make it appear as though we were surf fishing in the spring. They weren’t terrible, but they weren’t anywhere near “optimal”. Either way, I fished it anyways. Our original plan was to fish the Cardiff area, but after driving around to 3 different locations (trying to avoid rough surf and seaweed), we eventually found ourselves at Del Mar Beach. The conditions were as follows:

Conditions:

After finally arriving at our spot for the day, we only had time to fish from about 8 am to 9:30 am. It was a tough day, to be honest. Surf height to begin the day was near 5-to-6 feet (which is why we beach-hopped a few times) but it settled down to maybe 2-3/2-4 by the end of our session. Water temp was still down near the 57 range and we fished an outgoing tide: (5.3 ft at 6:13 am) and (-1.0 ft at 1:21 pm). Kelp was medium (as displayed in the video) and overall conditions just weren’t great. Nonetheless, we got on a couple.

I started out using super slayers compliments of Honey Badger Defense Co., but before I could get a feel for them, Kyle had a couple bites on mussel meat. I switched over and immediately, I get slammed! One of the best bites in the last few months and a few drag screamers later, I beach a nice 16-to17-inch corbina! My first in a long time and a pleasant surprise.

The sweet surprises didn’t end there. A few casts later, I get an unexpected nibble that turns into a bite. I set the hook, but it feels like I’ve lost it. A few seconds go by as I keep whatever upward pressure I can, and I feel a subtle head shake. I regain tension and just as I do so, szzzzzzzzzzz! It takes off! This one, bigger than the last, but it looks similar as I catch a glimpse in the wave. Then, as I get a view of the flank, I see a dark spot at the base of its pectoral and I’m stoked! Hadn’t caught a spotfin since October or maybe November and gosh, it was awesome to get on one again.

Surf Fishing Forecast (3/14)

For the upcoming week, the surf looks nice and mellow. Monday night and Tuesday morning look like the worst of the week with a minor storm and some relatively rough surf. Aside from that, we’re looking at some nice 1-to-2’s and 2-to-3’s. The water temp will likely remain down and the wind should taper-off after Tuesday.

The first grunion run began yesterday evening on a new moon series and it will continue through 3/16. I’d encourage everyone who has yet to experience a run to go out and try sometime this year. If you’re not one to go out in the cold, you might be best off waiting until late spring or early summer, but it’s definitely a cool experience.

I think I’ve just about covered everything so I wish you all the best of luck and some extremely tight lines! Thanks for reading and I’ll see you again next week.

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