Surf Fishing Trends: Where Is the California Corbina?

The light tackle bite this season has already begun to define itself for the 2021 season. Last year, we were pleasantly surprised with an early start for big spotfin croaker and this year, we’ve been graced with a similar start to the season. While maybe not as productive as last year at this time, things are looking up. Just last week, I had asked around the surf fishing community if anyone had gotten on a good corbina bite yet this season. I hadn’t seen much of them nor their shallow-water friend the shovelnose guitarfish. But, before I had time to look at the trends from the last two years to check and see if we were on pace for peak season, corbina and guitars lit up my line.

Let’s talk about some trends for a common surf fishing season and when you can expect to see peak season for surf fishing in So Cal. In this article, we’ll be focusing on the California Corbina peak season. If you’re looking to learn more about California corbina fishing in general, click the link, but first, a couple of photos from the past week. My latest video in the San Diego beaches series is out on YouTube check it out here or at the bottom of the page.

Gear and Tackle for Corbina Fishing

• Rod: Okuma Celilo Salmon/Steelhead | The St. Croix Salmon/Steelhead rod is very comparable.
• Reel: Penn Battle (II or III) 4000 series
• Terminal Tackle 15 lb monofilament (mainline)
• 1-ounce sliding egg weight
• Protective beads– I actually just use store-bought craft beads most of the time as they have a wider hole.
• Barrel Swivel (size 7)
• 15 lb fluorocarbon line (leader line)
• size #2 mosquito hooks or size #4 mosquito hooks
• Lucky Craft Lures – for halibut, big perch, and other predators (not used with C rig).

Article on why I use what I use for gear and tackle.

Every year, I keep logs of every fish I catch. And every once in a while, I like to take a look at the data I’ve collected and make some visual graphics. Since 2017, I’ve made charts like the one depicted below. 2017 wasn’t a complete year of data but since 2018, I’ve made a chart nearly identical to this one every year. A really nice feature that Excel offers is that I can select certain variables (in my case species) and take a look at each’s individual trends. The one below might be tough to follow, but if you guys are interested in certain species, I’d consider showing individual charts for the ones that are most popular in interest. I haven’t decided if I want to offer all my data (as it’s taken A LOT of time and work), but I’ll be playing with my options.

Corbina Trends: 2018

Take a look at the charts below and you’ll get a good feel for each year’s trends in terms of corbina fishing. The bar heights within each graph may be deceiving as well so be sure to check the numbers on the left that correlate with the frequency of catch.

In 2018, not a single outing resulted in more than two corbina (per angler) until June 19th. That day resulted in a 7 corbina session. From 6/19 through 8/16 the average session resulted in roughly 5 corbina. The bite remained decent for corbina through August and into September, but late September into October was pretty tough.

Overall, the bite didn’t really pick up until mid-June which is in line with what we’ve experienced this season.

Corbina Trends: 2019

Below is the chart that might be most deceiving in appearance. This was far and away the best corbina season I’ve had yet and although the bars look shorter on average than the other two charts, take a look at the numbers on the far left. Those two sessions in the 25 range really skew the chart and make the remaining bars look short while in reality, many of those represent double-digit days. From May 28th through June 29th, we pulled in an average of 3 corbina per session. All of June (you could say) was relatively slow for corbina. They were there for sure and they were feeding, but nothing crazy.

In July, we experienced the best corbina fishing an angler could imagine. There were literally days with non-stop action. At times, it felt like you had to weed through corbina to get to anything else. You can’t tell by the graph but that first really tall bar actually represents two data sets: one for myself and one for Kyle. On that day, he caught 26 corbina and I caught 21 corbina. From what I recall, I had 20 fish in 1 hour that day!

From July 1st through August 2nd, we averaged 10 fish per session (again these are per person numbers). That was an absurd month of corbina fishing. Imagine showing up confident you’d catch 10 corbina along with who knows how many other fish!

Corbina Trends: 2020

2020 was an interesting season (and year) to say the least. We had covid and a massive red tide and it felt like the world was ending. While it was a crazy and terrible year for many people and businesses, 2020 left me with some memories I’ll never forget. I remember when they re-opened beaches how much misinformation was running around. It was 50-50 whether you’d get booted from the beach for fishing. I had the lifeguards’ schedules down like clock-work (as it literally was clock-work) and I’d be out either early morning or late evening getting my essential hobby in. I took advantage of sharking at night and had an absolute blast.

Anyways, the corbina fishing wasn’t half-bad in 2020 either. It was interesting as the red tide was thick and long-lasting, but the bite didn’t seem to be affected very much. In May, I had two 5 corbina sessions and an 11 corbina session. On June 12th, I had a 12 corbina day and from that point on, I’d say the corbina bite was “decent”.

From June 12th through the end of June, we averaged about 6 corbina per session but the bite slowed a little bit all the way up until July 22nd. During this period, the average corbina haul was 3 fish per session. It is worth noting, however, the spotfin bite was a bite for the ages! So don’t let the corbina numbers fool you on how good the overall fishing was in 2020.

Unfortunately, I took a family vacation beginning in the last week of July and ending in the first week of August. I think I missed the best fishing of the season and I’m going to make a point to not miss any of July in terms of surf fishing this summer. You can see the gap below at the end of July and it really is a shame because while all the other species were biting just as well, my average corbina haul per session was 9 corbina from July 22nd through August 7th.

Peak Season Overview for Corbina Fishing (2018-2020)

• 2018: Peak season= Late June-July | Slowest corbina season of the given span.
• 2019: Peak Season= July | Best corbina season yet.
• 2020: Peak Season= Late July into August but all of June-July was nice.

The 2020 summer season has just begun. Statistically speaking, the corbina bite doesn’t reach peak season until late June or July so don’t worry too much if you haven’t got on the bite just yet. They’re definitely around right now but at some point, a switch will flip, lighting up the bite. The real peak should last between 3 weeks and 2 months so make sure you’re ready for it.

Thanks for reading and I wish everyone the best of luck as we enter the best time of year! Below are some popular articles I think are relevant and/or worth the read that were published in 2021: