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Surf Fishing a 15+ Foot Drop-Off: California Reef Fishing

Surf Fishing a 15+ Foot Drop-Off: California Reef Fishing

By October 30, 2022 Articles 0 Comments

California offers so much opportunity when it comes to surf fishing. Within the broad category of “surf fishing”, you can fish from the beach (beach fishing), you can fish from a pier, from a reef and all sorts of other structures along our coastline. With each area you fish, different types of terrain and structure attract different species of surf fish. But the type of structure that presents the richest potential and wildest opportunity is that of reefy, kelpy environments with extreme drop offs.

surf fishing reefs and drop offs

In the video above, you’ll see a session of mine from earlier in 2022 where I fished a drop off that had to be upwards of 15-feet deep. It was an extremely cool experience in which I truly felt no ceiling to the potential of what I might catch out there. Check it out and continue reading for tips on reef fishing and surf fishing drop offs.

What Types of Fish Do You Catch Near Reefs and Drop Offs?

You can catch an abundance of different species while surf fishing Southern California. Deeper water typically draws in bigger predators like white seabass, calico bass, rock fish, barracuda, and the optimist in me has to mention yellowtail.

reef fishing drop offs with live bait

While the deeper water draws in all of the species listed above, there’s one “big game” surf species I’ve left off the list – halibut. Halibut won’t often be caught from the surf while fishing a drop off like the one depicted in this video. While you might have luck fishing a 4-7-foot drop off, a 15-foot drop off is a different situation.

Why? Because halibut spend time on the bottom and a lure can only fall so deep, so fast. More often than not, as a surf fisherman, you’ll catch halibut in water between 1-foot and 7-feet. Anything deeper is usually too deep for your lure to hold to the bottom while retrieving. Especially if you’re standing atop a reef or “would-be cliff”.

What Gear for Surf Fishing Reefs and Drop Offs?

You’ve got two main choices when it comes to reef fishing. You can surf fish with lures or surf fish with bait. Both are good options and both have their pro’s and cons.

Surf Fishing Reefs and Drop Offs with Lures

If you’re fishing with lures, I’d recommend a surf rod between 8-10 feet and a 3000-4500 surf reel that’s sealed. Spool it up with some 30-pound braid and tie a 2-4-foot, 30-50 pound fluorocarbon or monofilament leader to your mainline. That leader should help in the event that a fish drags you into kelp or under a reef.

Your lure choice might vary depending on what type of structure is out there but take a look below for some of the best lures for surf fishing and a clear break down of a good surf fishing set up.

Surf Fishing Reefs and Drop Offs with Bait

Surf fishing with live bait will almost always be your best option, but it’s not the easiest to come by. Live smelt, grunion, anchovy, sardine, mackerel, or similar baits work extremely well near reefs and drop offs.

My buddy got the monster white seabass shown earlier in this article while surf fishing with live bait. Grunion runs are on of the few chances So Cal surf anglers have an opportunity to use live bait and this fish right here was caught on exactly that… grunion. Check out the story on the live bait link above and if you’d like to learn more about catching grunion and grunion runs, read my article here.

The more conventional route when surf fishing a reef or a drop off with bait would be using dead and/or frozen bait. Some of these baits include all the same live baits mentioned above (but obviously dead), along with baits like mussel, shrimp, squid, cut bait. All of the above will work depending on your target. Take a look here for the best baits for surf fishing for each species.

fishing reefs for record sheephead
Record Sheep Head from Shore
Gear for Reef Fishing with Bait

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