San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

Holy smack... not just a "croaker" but a "spotfin croaker!" Way to go on a nice off-season catch.

Glad to hear you got out to enjoy the early sunshine and clear skies. Cool that there's homeguard corbina cruising around.

I found some soft shells at low tide today and converted 2 of them to these respectable corbina. Clear water, sunny skies and tons of fun!

White capped and brisk this afternoon. I found a soft shell and converted it to this corbina.

Drizzly low tide today. Found a good rip and sent a soft shell to the head for this fat croaker.

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 found some nice soft shells today and casted them long for these small corbina.

Bummed about your favorite beach, Butch. I hope you find another tanker Corbina at your other favorite beach in a few weeks

I typically use multiple websites to plan.

Tide: https://www.surf-forecast.com/breaks/Torrance-Beach/tides/latest

Wind: Windy app on my phone, or https://www.windy.com/

Surf: lots of sites for wave heights, I haven't found one I like yet

Webcam: Google to see if there is a webcam close to where ...

Wow, nice hook up, Butch! Bummed the spotfin sawed you off, but glad to hear your balance held out and you didn't tumble into the surf!

Crab sandwich for the win! Nice action, Butch

...and crabs were a little tough to come by but caught 6 perch (personal record for a session!) on both blood and camo Gulp sand worms. Surf was on the heavier side, little bit of kelp, but all in all a fun day on the shore...


Sounds like a fun session :)

As for sand crabs, I use a homemade ...

There are so many rods and reels to choose from. For me, Okuma's Celilo 9'6" ML paired with a 2500 or 3000 size spinning reel is a great value. The rod is perfect for perch, corbina, croaker and other surf species. I like the cork handle better than longer handled, East Coast style surf fishing rods.

Sunset with your family and fish too... sounds like a memorable outing!

I found a few croakers, rays and this above average Corbina yesterday in close with soft shell crabs. Then this special guest star bit surprisingly hard.

Awesome outing. I’m new to SD county. Noticed what looks like a corkie or bead by the hook. I haven’t seen that before.


The 6mm orange bead emulates sand crab roe. I believe it helps attract fish to the bait and then they decide to bite, or not. Sort of, "Come look at me, I'm a soft shell crab ...

The corbina and croaker were biting in close today. This 18” corbina ate a thumb sized soft shell and the not so common spotfin ate 2 small soft shells.

jwacky wrote: Mon Aug 04, 2025 10:22 am ... vibe seems to be a factor for sure. Get tense and frustrated and no fish is gonna bite on that negative energy!!

I agree with this 100%! Attitude and intent matter.

Nice going to beat the skunk. I think those smaller SNGF bite like corbina.

I use straight 8lb mono and the fish don't seem to care. Of course, old weak line matters after you get bit

Btw, I've been using Sufix Tritanium for about 2 years now and I really like it. It is soft like Izorline XXX and I think slightly more abrasion resistant.