Surf Fishing Mission Beach: How-To Guide

There’s a lot to talk about when it comes to fishing Mission Beach. Mission Beach is a popular beach for surf fishermen across the county. It’s known for the infinite amounts of sandy beach for all-purpose needs. Meanwhile, it’s also incredibly popular in terms of beach goers, which, for fishermen, isn’t the best-case scenario. In this guide, we’ll cover everything you need to know about surf fishing Mission Beach.

Overview of Surf Fishing at Mission Beach

Parking Info	Free – Harder Than Most
Ease of Access	Very Easy
Tides	Any Tide is Good
Crowds	More Crowded Than Most
Terrain Type	Mostly Sandy
No Fishing Areas	None
Recommended Gear and Tackle	Surf Fishing Gear and Tackle

Mission beach is a great surf fishing spot but it has its pros and cons. The perch here seem to be larger than anywhere else on average. We’ve also pulled up some pretty big corbina here while surf fishing with sand crabs.

Of all the San Diego beaches, Mission beach has a notable track record of being smothered in seaweed. Additionally, crowds can be a major challenge while surf fishing Mission beach so plan to fish the late-evening through sunset (and maybe into the night) or the early morning until crowds arrive.

Seaweed aside, It’s full of potential and full of great spots. On days in which few people crowd the waters, I strongly recommend this beach for surf fisherman across San Diego.

What Can You Catch Fishing Mission Beach?

Any and all of the species shown in the table below can be caught here. Corbina, spotfin croaker, yellowfin croaker, sting rays, guitarfish and all the other sand crab species should can be expected catches.

As for the lure fishing, halibut and surfperch will be your most likely catches on lures. Given the terrain here, jerkbaits will do just fine but weeds can get bad in which case a swimbait would do better. Also during grunion runs, anything can happen. White seabass and crovina may roll through and become a possibility.

Common Species	Peak Season	General Season
California Corbina	Jun-Aug	May-Oct
Spotfin Croaker	Jun-Aug	May-Oct
Yellowfin Croaker	May-Aug	May-Oct
Barred Surfperch	Nov-Apr	Year-Round
Walleye Surfperch	Nov-Apr	Year-Round
Shovelnose Guitarfish	Jun-Aug	May-Oct
Sting Ray (Round Ray)	Jun-Aug	Year-Round
Bat Ray	Jun-Aug	Year-Round
Leopard Shark	May-Aug	Apr-Oct
California Halibut	Jan-May	Year-Round
Soupfin Shark	Mar-Jul	Year-Round

Bait and Gear & Tackle

The bait you choose depends on the species you’re aiming to catch. For surfperch, corbina, croaker, guitarfish, and any other incidental catches, opt for sand crabs when they’re available. When the colder months set in and sand crabs become scarce, switch to mussel meat. If you’re content with just catching surfperch, go with grubs, curly tails, or gulp sand worms.

If you’re going after halibut or larger surfperch, consider using a jerkbait like the Shimano WM or the Lucky Craft FM 110 (both linked in the tackle recommendations below). Refer to the details below for the appropriate gear and tackle for each approach.

Parking at South Mission Beach

South Mission Beach offers one public lot immediately at the jetty. There are fire pits, volleyball nets, a basketball court, bathrooms/showers, and plenty of grassy area. If you can’t find parking in the south mission lot, you can try street parking along the street or even try parking at Mission Point Park. Typically, if South Mission is full, Mission is definitely full.

Parking at Mission Beach

There are public parking lots at Belmont Park and South Mission Beach. Additionally, there are always the bay lots and limited street parking. There’s a lot of parking at Mission Beach, but lots of people too so spots fill up quick.

YouTube Video of Surf Fishing Mission Beach

Where to Legally Fish at Mission Beach

Mission Beach has no Marine Protected Areas nor naval bases so fishing along the entire stretch of the beach should be permitted. It isn’t until you enter La Jolla where you need to stop. Diamond Street is the south border line of the South La Jolla State Marine Reserve which extends North to Palomar Avenue.

Tides For Fishing Mission Beach

Yet again, Mission Beach is another “any tide beach”. If you haven’t made the connection, many southern San Diego beaches have lots of sand. As we work our way north, tides are a bigger factor.

Type Of Structure

Mission beach is yet another mostly sandy San Diego beach. However, I will add that its soft structure tends to be much better than Coronado and more in line with Silver Strand’s. For whatever reason, Mission beach is reliably easy to read when it comes to reading the water for surf fishing and finding really nice troughs and holes.

Given it’s terrain, it’s a great beach for the light tackle style of surf fishing targeting corbina, croaker and surfperch with sand crabs etc. The lure fishing will likely yield halibut and surfperch rather than reef species like calico, seabass and others.

Grunion

Aside from being one of the best shore fishing spots in San Diego, it is also a great spot for grunion runs during the late spring and summer months. The long, flat, sandy beach is exactly what grunion seek out when spawning. Similarly, night fishing during grunion runs here has been solid in the past. It isn’t a guarantee (as I have found to be the case), but the potential is through the roof. Here’s my video of a grunion run at mission beach that occurred in early 2021. To learn more about this super cool phenomenon, check out this link on everything you should know about grunion runs.

I hope this guide helps and if you’re interested in booking me as your surf fishing guide, reach out today!