Surf Fishing 2022: Looking Back on a Wild Year!
Hey guys, first and foremost, I wish you all a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year! In the past year or two, I’ve made a concerted effort to write more “evergreen” and educational content which has resulted in fewer narratives, reports, etc. and I know many of the original surffishingsocalsd.com subscribers miss those narratives. So, to everyone who misses those types of articles, here’s a look back at how my 2022 fishing year unraveled.
Favorite Lure of the Year
BioSpawn ExoSwim (4.75″) | Mustad KVD Grip Pin Swimbait Hook (5/0 | 1/8oz) Texas Rigged with a 1/2 oz bullet weight.
December of 2021
I had to start with December of 2021 because the tail-end of 2021 is what set the tone for my 2022. Really since August of 2021, I had become very interested, intrigued, and slightly obsessed with the idea of catching white seabass from the beach. It was in December that I first had the opportunity to fish with a couple buddies who had already accomplished my lofty goal.
Early December, I received and accepted a job offer, which meant I’d be leaving a company I’d been with since 2017. As we all know how work goes, I never had the time to make any fishing trips I’d dreamt of making. So, since I was able to choose my start date for this next job, I put in an early two weeks at my old job and allowed a week-long gap between employment for a long over-due trip to Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. It was only a one-night, two-day trip, but I’d be making the most of it.
Surf Fishing in Santa Barbara
It began in Santa Barbara with Vincent Alexander from “Vince Goes Fishing“. I had just begun surf fishing with swimbaits back in August and man, was it challenging! I’d caught only a handful of fish, but was just starting to gain a little bit of confidence. This trip, didn’t result in many fish, but it provided all the confidence I’d need to move forward with potential for great success ahead.
We arrived at our chosen beach, packed light, and worked our way up the beach for at least a half-mile and eventually finished by fishing the whole way back as well. The terrain was so different than San Diego’s beaches; the surf too. I was able to fish kelp beds from shore and more reef and rock than I’d fished in San Diego. The surf was smaller too. I think that has to do with swell direction and the angle of shoreline, and maybe the offshore islands too.
Santa Barbara Highlight
The highlight for me was when we came across a series of kelp patties. Vince had mentioned he’d had success with calicos by casting directly into the kelp beds, letting the lure sink for a couple seconds and getting bit upon retrieval. Sure enough, that’s exactly what happened! I cast out, let my lure sink, started retrieving, and wham! Seriously one of the strongest bites I’d felt on a lure. After a few snags… [read the rest of that day’s story here: Surf Fishing in Santa Barbara].
Surf Fishing Los Angeles
After Santa Barbara, I drove to LA where I’d spend the night at a past-client’s house who would then be fishing with me the next day with Gary from @californiasurffishing. Rob, I can’t thank you enough for letting me crash at your place. It was super memorable and allowed that trip to happen!
Gosh, this was a fun trip. Looking back, it really didn’t yield many fish, and no major revelations were made, but sometimes, all it takes is a little bit of confirmation and confidence to set yourself up for success.
We drove around with Gary trying numerous spots with almost no success on the day. I landed one halibut at 21.75″ (which for me was the biggest fish I’d caught on swimbaits to date) and that was the end of the day’s success. The beaches, again, were something else. Truly a different world than San Diego, but I knew of a handful of spots that might have similarities and would soon learn of many… many more thanks to a rather rigorous bike ride.
January
January was a busy month in terms of surf fishing, so, before I get to the bike ride, I’ll briefly review the month leading up to it… upon review, I did a bad job of the “briefly” part.
More Fishing with Gary
The first memorable session in January was when Gary traveled down to San Diego to fish with me. We hit a couple of spots, but the real action began at our last spot. Gary had scoped out a spot just by looking on Google Earth. It ended up being the exact same spot that I accidentally hooked a fish that was illegal to target. This time though, I think it was a king tide and we’d be fishing a negative low tide. I literally hadn’t been back since the first and only time I fished this spot and when I saw the exposed structure at low tide, my jaw dropped.
It began a slow session, but after I caught one small calico, we moved to a nice cut between two reefs and the bite went off for a little while. I missed a handful of fish, Gary caught a nice sandbass and I hooked into what was likely the halibut of a lifetime.
The Biggest Halibut I’ve Ever Hooked
As I was retrieving, my lure stopped like it got snagged on a boulder. Literally zero give and zero movement. I was still new to swimbaits at the time and learning the hook set from jerkbaits vs swimbaits was a challenge to say the least. In retrospect, if you’re fishing a swimbait and feel like you got snagged by a rock, set the hook. If it’s a rock, so what, you might look dumb in the moment. But if it’s a fish, I bet you it’s the biggest halibut you’ve ever come across. I chose the former… not the latter.
As I kept solid, but not aggressive tension on my rod, I felt the slightest of give. I looked to Gary and began to say, “I think I’m on a big…” Before I could finish my sentence, my rod thrashed forward and down as what had to be a 35+ inch halibut, went on a blistering run before heartbreakingly coming unbuttoned.
Nonetheless, it was such a mysterious evening capped off with a truly beautiful winter sunset.
Surfperch Tourney
It began with a “winter long” surf fishing tournament that I’d decided to join. The tournament was set up so anglers could join “side pots”. So, I committed to a couple of these which included a pot for the largest surfperch. I don’t want to come off as sounding arrogant, but I ended that tournament by the the first or second week in January.
There happen to be a couple spots in So Cal that hold above-average sized barred surfperch… which makes surfperch fishing a heck of a lot more fun than it is otherwise. My average surfperch tends to come in between 12-14 inches whereas most locations (and most anglers) yield 7-10-inch dinks. Long story short, I started and finished that “winter-long” tournament in one day with a 15.75 and 16-inch barred surfperch. For the full story of that day, here’s my report: “Close Call: A Wild Day of Surfperch Fishing”.
And… More Fishing With Gary
Alright, I guess I’m going to have to speed this up a little bit. Like I said, January was a busy month. This time we fished a beach that was unfamiliar to the both of us. I won’t say where, but it was slow as heck so there’s really nothing to hide.
The highlight of this session was the discovery of a new spot that had mighty potential (which would be proven later in the year) and a sunset that was second to none.
Bike Riding on the Beach at Low Tide
This was likely the most beneficial activity I partook in all year. You see, king tides in So Cal come around only a couple times a year, and it’s so difficult to choose which beach to fish. It could take a lifetime to see all the structure that’s exposed in San Diego at these ultra low tides. So, I dedicated one day to go on a 30-mile bike ride along the shoreline at an ultra-low tide.
Looking back, the two alterations I would have made are these. I should have rented an e-bike and I should have picked a bike with a more padded seat. I’ll be honest. I don’t ride bikes ever. I’m in solid shape and I’ve always thought riding bikes was easy enough. i might have been a little over confident.
The sand would be “hard as concrete” with these low tides right? Wrong… lol. It was actually more than hard enough to ride on, but some beaches have different textures and some areas are tougher than others to get through… there are also areas you need to walk around in San Diego.
Long story short, after returning my rental bike late and likely ruining my prostate for years to come thanks to a hard bike seat, I witnessed some of the most beautiful structure for surf fishing with swimbaits and could not wait to try the new-found spots in the future.
February – March
February and march were filled with a whole lot of recon as I worked long and hard to test all the new spots I found along our coastline at mid to low tides. It was also in March that I first met up with another buddy of mine and kind of formed a fishing trio between myself, Gary, and a new-found buddy of mine by the name of Justin.
I still took on quite a few skunks during these two months, but I found a couple spots that produced my first bit of reliable swimbait fishing. It was also in February that I had one incredible session that made all the skunks worth it. I literally hooked 10 halibut in one short session! If you haven’t read the article shown below, and watched the video embedded within the article, I encourage you to do so.
April – June
April through June was one big blur. The month of April is usually when I start running lots of guided surf fishing sessions for the year so from April through August, I experienced some of the busiest “life” I’ve ever experienced trying to balance, a 9-5 job, a private guiding business, surffishingsocalsd.com, a YouTube channel, and freelance writing for Western Outdoor News and BDOutdoors.
This timeframe is where I have enough photos to balance all the words. Here’s where the tides turned and we started absolutely slaying! Before I go on, below is the setup I used to target white seabass, halibut, and calico with swimbaits.
Gear and Tackle for Targeting seabass, halibut and calico etc.
- Rod: Okuma SST-S-902HA – 1/2-2oz | 10-30lb | 9ft | H | MF
- Reel: Penn Spinfisher VI (3500 or 4500)
- Main Line: 30-pound braid
- Leader Line: 30-pound mono
- Lure Options:
And here are some photos to get you going before continuing to read this essay of a yearly recap.
April provided an exciting start to my guiding and personal fishing endeavors. But May was when my journey reached peak fulfillment to date. I finally landed my first white seabass and while it was technically “just a baby”, it was only a couple inches shy of the legal mark at 25.5 inches. In this moment [depicted below], I was the most adrenaline-filled, happy, content, fulfilled, and jittery, I’ve been possibly ever.
In June, catching white seabass became a “regular thing” for me and a couple buddies of mine. There was even one day we caught 7 white seabass and a couple halibut and calico between 3 of us as I landed my PB to date at 27 inches… Still looking for that first legal.
Flying Halibut
I almost forgot about the flying halibut! Just prior to catching all the seabass, Justin and I had one specific session in which we were literally sight casting for halibut. Now that I think about it, it might have been a couple sessions and Gary might have been there for one of them. This was some of the most intense and mind boggling fishing I’ve ever done. You can watch the full video of that session here.
July
After June, my luck with white seabass ended. Like a ghost, they were literally gone to me. Luckily, July was when the usual suspects began showing up in the surf. Corbina, spotfin, and yellowfin croaker had been here since April, but the numbers, and more so, sizes, were quite pathetic. That is, until July.
In July, it was like a switch flipped. Big corbina and spotfin croaker showed up in great numbers as they made up for the lack of success I was having on lures for halibut and seabass at this point. More so, it really helped in terms of guiding because I don’t really guide for seabass and halibut; I stick to corbina, croaker, and leopard sharks when it comes to guiding.
- 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
July was also when I got some really cool drone footage of corbina in the shallows and even a great white out deeper. Unfortunately, it’s also when I crashed my drone and had to buy a new one. Still love it though. If you’re interested in buying a drone for a good price, I recommend the DJI Mini SE.
August
In August, I made a trip up north. Can’t say how far north, but I met up with Gary and Kaspar and hit one of the most unique and beautiful fishing spots I’ve ever fished. We were fishing off the edge of a reef that dropped off into what was at least 15 feet deep. At one point, we even watched dolphins and seals pop up from the deep out of no where within just a few meters from the ledge. Again, rather than talking about it, here’s an article with a video embedded in it displaying the entire session.
Later in August, I met up with Gary and Justin once more, this time, at a spot none of us had ever fished and it was during a grunion run in the middle of the night. I would use a 4.8″ Keitech lure rigged up in the form of a Texas Rig with a Mustad KVD Grip-Pin Swimbait Hook (5/0 | 1/8oz) and a 1/2 oz bullet weight. Gary and Justin, however, they would use live grunion… of which they only were able to catch two or three that night.
Long story short, I caught a good number of fish. I think I had a yellowfin croaker, a few calico and I actually landed what appeared to be a legal barracuda from the beach. Gary however, caught a 34-inch white seabass and happened to hook it just a couple feet to my right exactly when I hooked my barracuda. I was that close… lol in all seriousness, it was incredible to just witness and Gary certainly knows what he’s doing.
September – December
The rest of the year was much milder as things cooled down. I met a handful more people that I didn’t get to mention in this article and I can also say the surfperch fishing is heating up as the 12-15 inchers are beginning to bite.
To all of you who took the time to read through this mess of a write up, I thank you for taking the time to do so. It means a lot to be able to share my memories and experiences via these means and I look forward to continuing this journey. Happy New Year, Everyone!
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Great looking back on 2022! San Diego can be a challenging place to surf fish. Its seems I have caught every species under the size limit the whole year. I am branching out to other beaches this next year and hopefully what I have learned will pay off. Happy New Year!
Happy New Year and goodluck!
Thanks for the narrative, Nick. I do miss them. I am also proud of your accomplishments. Love, Mom