San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

Went for an afternoon session yesterday. Salad was pretty tick, so I just tried the weedless set up for 2 hours. Ended up catching two sand bass, one legal size one short.

I fished south of Crystal Pier Thursday and Friday mornings for a hour or two each day. Grass and kelp are still around but not near as thick as earlier in the week. Water clarity seems a little better. My app says water temp is 66, feels about right. Friday it took me a good 15-20 minutes with a ...

Make sure you use the waist belt . If you are knocked down and pushed into the surf it can be very difficult to keep your head above water the bouncy factor in the legs will try to put you head down , try to get the air out before tightening the belt . I use breathable ones boot foot and camo as I ...

I think most use 1/2 oz for normal conditions… I throw 3/8 oz, because that’s what the max my rod is rated for.. I’ll occasionally go smaller, but usually just in bays.. I love my lighter weight rod for fighting perch or even larger game like small bat rays or leopard sharks.. And is perfect for ...

When I used to use a c-rig, I matched the weight to the sweet spot of my rod which was 3/4oz. For me, it was more about casting and feeling the weight on the retrieve. I like to cast long for croaker and then see what bites when it gets closer.

I'd say, find a weight, line and leader length that ...

Well had a good trip and saw some of natures spectacles . Surf was big on most beaches , cities had all access and parking roped off to keep us looky loos out . Locals reported some rescues and recoveries due to unwary people . One of the lots where my wife and I usually set up optics for watching ...

I primarily look at the tide, wave height and wind. For beaches with webcams, I'll look at those too. Here's what I like at my local beaches (Palos Verdes to Manhattan) for corbina and yellowfin croaker with sand crabs:

1. Tide: I prefer to fish around high tide, although if I only have time to ...

I agree with Mike.. Less wind is important to me.. Unless it’s off shore, then I don’t mind a heavier breeze.. Weeds are a pain to deal with… I usually just fish when I can… Mostly mornings until noon, tides are what they are, even though they do affect the bite…
Butch

I agree with Mike M with one difference. I prefer low tide, but I will fish any tide because I fish mornings 99% of the time. I’m relatively new to the area and have only fished pacific beach for the last couple summers. PB gets crowded on summer evenings so I’m almost always fishing early mornings.

Yeah, it's hard to get a multi-species bite in winter....but this is when the bigger barred surf perch can be caught more easily.

Also, having a backup plan is a good idea when possible.

Mission/Pacific Beaches afford bayside options if the surf side is unfishable.

Same goes for Carlsbad ...

Grandson called and asked if I'd like to fish with him and his girlfriend.. Sure... So we made plans to fish Alamitos Peninsula with some lug worms... We tried the bay side 1st for no bites.. Very clear water, but no sign of bait or anything else... Then we jumped over to the ocean side and it was ...

Long time lurker, first time poster. Recently got into surf fishing as the tuna season is too far away and im antsy. First croaker ever, hit a strip of sand crab fishbites just after low tide. I'm hooked...

Perch killer wrote: Sun Mar 16, 2025 7:46 pm The big females are spawning, hope you were able get her/them back into the water

Sure did...her and every one that fell out on the sand.

**UPDATE**

The grunion were there! Not huge #'s, but plenty to have some fun and see an amazing display of nature! Pretty big wave power, the big washups seemed to have the most fish coming in. Put about a dozen in a bucket just to observe, used a few for live bait later, but they kept getting ...

I wet a line Sunday evening, maybe 6:00-6:45, around Crystal pier.

There are huge beds of micro sand crabs under the pier. They are too small to use in my opinion. I tried anyway, using 4 on a hook for 15-20 minutes. Then I switched to a jerk bait. No hits on anything.

Water still cold, around ...

I use a homemade rake to sift the sand with each out going wave. Rod in my left hand, hold on to rake with my right and kick sand into it (I wear Shimano EVA sandals).

I can’t speak for others but I have not had any luck with SMB even when the conditions are right. Is this place just extremely hit or miss ? Or is it just the basic layout that makes it not so appealing for decent fishing? To me is just seems flat all around.

I have had better luck in the north ...

I fished south of Crystal pier a couple hours Friday morning. I found good-sized sand crabs under the pier but there are plenty of beds along the beach as well. Grass and junk were annoying, not unfishable. Small BSP were hungry, lots of action in spurts. I landed 9, most hand-sized, biggest maybe ...

Braid is asking for trouble. It’s all the hype now so to each their own. I never use braid unless I’m frogging or dropping iron deep.

Back to the mono vs braid.. I had a tussle with a big spot fin croaker under a pier this am….
I was using 6# Yozuri Hybrid with a 4#. fluro leader.. The leader finally broke, but I guarantee you if that had been braid, the fight wouldn’t have lasted 1/2 as long…. That Yozuri is some tough stuff ...