first post in long while, haven't been on this site in years and I'm glad to see SD fish is back to fishing posts. IYKYK
Fished blacks in morning on a flat medium high tide. got mixed bag of critters, started off with YFC on first cast which was confiscated to Mr. Osprey. It wasn't wide open but the fishing remained steady through the time I left. Ended up landing about 15 mixed bag of corbina, perch, YFC and pancakes. Lots of bait thieves biting off the sand crab eggs, but when I did manage to land perch they were all decent sized. Only took one picture, since I was getting dive bombed on nearly every catch. For some reason the bird didn't seem interested in pancakes, go figure... haha
Glad to see something posted from Black's . . . a great beach to fish, but IMO for the younger anglers who have the stamina to get there & back. My knees would not hold up for the long walk or up & down the cliff trail. Hat's off to you for doing it and getting into some nice fish.
yea, love how quiet it is out there. It's perfect because the surfers stay south in the MPA and everything north is open fishing grounds. I definitely feel the lack of foot traffic encourages the fish to come in closer to feed. Have had some good session out there.
Funny, I was getting to talking with someone that came up to me at Mission Beach Sunday morning and he was telling me about how nice of a spot Blacks is to fish, so long as you're willing to make the trek to the ocean. I've never been so can't picture what its like but he made it sound a little sketchy to get to.
The cliffside trail/stairs would be the way I would go. It's still a huff & puff going back up but beats the long mile + walk from TP. The walk from TP state beach to flat rock is 1.1 miles. Know guy who lives in LJ shores area and walks in regularly from that end. Does real well there, lot of species.
I love walking, and I want to do it while I still can, but I don't like the idea of getting trapped between the ocean and a bluff. I'm not sure if that pertains to TP and Blacks yet... I've got to learn the ropes.
Gliders port is my preferred route since it drops you right in the legal side. from TP or La jolla it's def much flatter but you end up having to walk a lot more. you're never really "stuck" either. from TP you could always walk up and around if you don't want to get wet. But at that point you might as well have started at gliders lol.
HK_Supermarket wrote: Tue Jul 22, 2025 11:28 am
Gliders port is my preferred route since it drops you right in the legal side. from TP or La jolla it's def much flatter but you end up having to walk a lot more. you're never really "stuck" either. from TP you could always walk up and around if you don't want to get wet. But at that point you might as well have started at gliders lol.
I made it to blacks yesterday, thanks for this thread—first time. I took the glider port instructions. The scenic views and hang gliders were truly incredible. It was the first high tide of the day, and the current was ripping south with large and small vegetation roaming with it—no Bueno.
I caught two fish chasing a 1.5-ounce C-Rig down the beach. I am fairly certain I lost a big fish, pulled hook... but those kelp stringers can make pretty good runs too... and I am prone to dismissing my own "lost fish" cases anyway. Sure felt like a fish and ran like a fish. I would like to go back under more fishable conditions, perhaps in winter, for halibut. The stairs are a "do it while I still can situation. It wasn't bad for now.
Last edited by Everydog on Sat Jul 26, 2025 1:03 pm, edited 1 time in total.
Everydog wrote: Sat Jul 26, 2025 11:06 am
I made it to blacks yesterday, thanks for this thread—first time. I took the glider port instructions. The scenic views and hang gliders were truly incredible. It was the first high tide of the day, and the current was ripping south with large and small vegetation roaming with it—no Bueno.
I caught two fish chasing a 1.5-ounce C-Rig down the beach. I am fairly certain I lost a big fish, pulled hook... but those kelp stringers can make pretty good runs too... and I am prone to dismissing "lost fish" cases anyway. Sure felt like a fish and ran like a fish. I would like to go back under more fishable conditions, perhaps in winter, for halibut. The stairs are a "do it while I still can situation. It wasn't bad for now.
Guess we’ll never know what could’ve been with the fish that got away. All we can do is assume that it was a world record halibut you’ll just have to re-catch another time. Or maybe a great white shark, no way to know for sure.
Blacks has been AMAZING this year. Some of the best soft structure I've seen in the past few years. The spotfin were schooling and tailing like crazy in April/May, and now the corbina are charging in the waves.
Everydog wrote: Sat Jul 26, 2025 11:06 am
I made it to blacks yesterday, thanks for this thread—first time. I took the glider port instructions. The scenic views and hang gliders were truly incredible. It was the first high tide of the day, and the current was ripping south with large and small vegetation roaming with it—no Bueno.
I caught two fish chasing a 1.5-ounce C-Rig down the beach. I am fairly certain I lost a big fish, pulled hook... but those kelp stringers can make pretty good runs too... and I am prone to dismissing my own "lost fish" cases anyway. Sure felt like a fish and ran like a fish. I would like to go back under more fishable conditions, perhaps in winter, for halibut. The stairs are a "do it while I still can situation. It wasn't bad for now.
glad you made it. Sounds like you had a tough session. I went yesterday at low tide and it was about as weedy as I've seen it this year. Hopefully that changes for the better in the coming weeks but it definitely made it harder. It was still very productive even with all the weeds, but yesterday was an all perch affair couldn't find the spotfins or corbina. Many of them good eating size if that's what you're into.
Nice that you had a good trip, HK. I don't mind having challenging days; it's still an adventure. I usually try to find a solution or a workaround for any challenges that arise, if time allows, and I know the area a bit. It was a surprise to learn that there aren't many reefy parts down there.
Yea blacks is pretty much all sand structure. It's not until you walk pretty far north (just before flat rock) that you start seeing hard structure and a mix of sand/rock. All the extra sand just means more sand crabs for the fish to eat.
IYKYK
