Surfperch Fishing To Heat Up in the Upcoming Month

While many local anglers have packed up for the winter and put their rods in storage, the surfperch bite is just getting started. Southern California surf fishing is known for its summers and that’s fair. The fishing is undeniably best in the summertime, but winter offers some pretty solid fishing too.

Why Surfperch Fishing Will be Improving

Since November 2nd of 2020, the most frequently caught fish per session for myself and for those I have fished with has been the barred surfperch. If I look back at my 2019 logs, November 7th was that turning point, and January 31st was when the numbers really started to jump. In 2018, November 11th marked that turn but I didn’t end up doing much fishing that winter so I don’t have much data for that winter.

It’s now December and we’re already on our way to surf fishing in 2021. As we roll into a new year, the surfperch will be top on my list of species to target followed by the California halibut.

Fishing Report

A few days ago, I made it out for a morning session. I was looking for any sign that might signify the bite starting to ramp up. My conclusion: I’d say it looks like it’s heating up, but we’ve got maybe a month until things really pick up.

We began our session at 6:20 am and the first fish hit on my LC FM 110 zebra sardine at 6:52 am. When I say it “hit”, I really mean, it absolutely slammed my lure! Immediately, drag was flying off my spool. After a couple spurts, I worked it in closer and saw a tall shape flip onto its side as the water became too shallow for its size.

After I brought her up onto the sand, I made sure to get a photo and a measurement. A 15-inch slab of a perch and only half an inch shy of my personal record.

Switching Up Baits

After that fish, the bite was still slow. I worked a couple different LCs and it wasn’t until Kyle decided to try out mussel meat that the bite turned on a little bit. Usually, mussel meat will catch more fish than the hard plastic lures, but they don’t tend to be as big. While technically, that statement remained true per species for the day, mussel meat ended up being far more productive and produced a couple 13-inch and 14-inch perch along with some other critters.

We worked mussel meat for a couple more hours and tried some Fishbites EZ-Flea within that span too. Mussel meat worked best that day and it even produced a surprise 19-inch corbina for Kyle. We ended the day with a cumulative 10 fish and a hopeful mentality for the bite to continue to pick up.

Mussel Meat Now, Lures Later

Some of the biggest perch you’re going to catch in the winter are pregnant females. That brings about two points: 1) I recommend releasing all perch you catch during the winter if you at all suspect they might be pregnant. 2) Their diets should begin to change soon.

In comparison from three weeks ago to now, the bellies on these fish seem slightly bigger which supports our knowledge-to-date of their spawning time. I’m guessing that as these fish come closer to giving birth, their diets will begin to change and they’ll become more aggressive. They’ll target bigger meals such as baitfish. This should make lures that mimic anchovies, sardines, or similar fish the bait of choice. Livebait would obviously work well too, but that’s tough to manage for surf fishermen.