San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

I got to fish with my youngest son yesterday afternoon. We found some soft shells at the Hermosa/Manhattan border. After about 30 min I glanced over my shoulder to see him get bit in close. I didn't see it until he beached it... 22 inches! A quick photo, then released strong. My son was all smiles ...

Very nice fish! I've seen many SFC posts caught on various baits, but this is the first I've seen caught on a fly... you definitely have skills!

Very nice local yellowtail!

That's a very solid corbina. Very nice first bean of the season - congrats!

Soft shell crabs get the corbina to bite at my local beaches - RAT, Torrance, Redondo, Hermosa, Manhattan. I don't know about the southern beaches.

I know you said pier fishing, but this is also a surf fishing site too :)

There are lots of fish that can be caught from the surf and as Zhao suggested, Walmart combos would be fine. Sand crabs are free and the fish are not too far out. I'm sure if you post your general location in SD, someone here ...

I was targeting corbina with translucent soft shells when this hungry guy showed up.

What # test line ? They're tough dudes, don't seem to tire out. Had a big one like that last year snap me off on 10# test.


I used straight, 8lb Sufix Tritanium, with a Tranx 200XG and a 10'6" Loomis STR1263C. My small, Caivo Nanowire #10 hook got him perfectly in the jaw and my buddy grabbed ...

Splash-bam! I love it when they bite like that... Nice head-casting!

These Torrance Beach corbinas and croakers all ate soft shells in the first trough this morning during the neep high tide.

There are a lot of setups that will work well in the surf. A solid entry setup is an Okuma Celilo 9'6" ML with a 3000 size reel.

Now "best" setups are really a matter of personal preference. I like to use a Loomis STR1263C 10'6" steelhead rod with a Tranx 200XG baitcaster. I use this rod ...

I haven't been out for a while and decided to take a 30 min hole shot at RAT today. I found 3 soft shells and converted all 3

Such a cool, late season catch... way to go!

Sand bass salad Way to go in tough conditions.

What a great session! Those are some nice looking bass.

Man, I hope those are corbina

My fishing buddies are reporting that Corbina have been showing up from the Redondo Beach Pier to Palos Verdes the last week, or so. But like Butch, I haven't been able to get out.

Very nice... first the bay, next it will be the freedom and serenity of the surf

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 ...

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 ...

That's a tremendous fish... congratulations!