Summer-time fishing in March

[Neuroshima]

The water temps are up, the fish are out, and the spring swells are creating incredible structure. I saw schools of spotfin and a few lone corbina sliding in and out of the surf, some going tails up. Sand crabs are the size of roly-polies. Get out while you can!

[pseudoMoGil]

Those look nice sized! Where’d you spot them at if you dont mind me asking?

[Bendo]

I found plenty of mid-size Sand Crabs about 18 inches deep, below the tiny ones. I managed around 30 in a half hour. Unfortunately, not a bite on them this trip. Usually when they are tough to find, every one gets bit.

[Midnightpass]

Oh man… The sights of summer…
Butch

[kastmaster]

Looking good!

[Mike M]

That is a great photo!

[RBFishing]

I'm already seeing nice sized crabs in small beds at the sand surface in LA County, corbina in the skinny, and baitfish in the water. It's GO-Time!

[kastmaster]

Saw a school of a dozen 20 inch + spotfin at La Jolla Shores this morning, cruising very shallow water.

[Neuroshima]

Saw a school of a dozen 20 inch + spotfin at La Jolla Shores this morning, cruising very shallow water.

Woo hooo!!!!

[jwacky]

Part of me is going to miss winter fishing, haha. No crowds, plentiful perch. Although admittedly it did feel like a bit of a grind at times with the king tides and occasional stormy conditions. It helped me come to terms with fishing at a comfortable pace, not feeling like I HAD to be there every possible morning. It also forced me to try different baits, strategies, etc.

That said, since this was my first winter of surf fishing, I'd be curious to hear how the conditions we had compare to what can reasonably be expected in future winter seasons? I thought things would slow WAY down, and they did as far as variety and quality, but the quantity was certainly there for me. Part of that could just be getting 'better' than I was at this when I started, but perhaps some of it was due to unusually warm waters and a fairly mild winter overall.

Thoughts? Were these past few months unusual or is that about the norm?

[kastmaster]

We had one of the warmest winters on record in SoCal, a trend that will likely continue.

https://weatherwest.com/

Comparisons with prior years, on subjects ranging from agriculture, snowpack, fishing, are going to be increasingly more difficult, case in point, the meteorologists and oceanographers are already poking fun at themselves for how often they need to use the word 'unprecedented'.

I feel like I caught more perch this winter per hour fished, but I also learned how to stop casting for and invest time walking the beach to look for structure. Same goes for surveying beaches at very low tides when not fishing and taking notes.

I'm looking forward to trying new summer strategies for species I have yet to catch. I've never fished with sandcrabs! I'll make it a point to walk further to avoid summer crowds by fishing Black's and / or being on the water before sunrise.

Part of me is going to miss winter fishing, haha. No crowds, plentiful perch. Although admittedly it did feel like a bit of a grind at times with the king tides and occasional stormy conditions. It helped me come to terms with fishing at a comfortable pace, not feeling like I HAD to be there every possible morning. It also forced me to try different baits, strategies, etc.

That said, since this was my first winter of surf fishing, I'd be curious to hear how the conditions we had compare to what can reasonably be expected in future winter seasons? I thought things would slow WAY down, and they did as far as variety and quality, but the quantity was certainly there for me. Part of that could just be getting 'better' than I was at this when I started, but perhaps some of it was due to unusually warm waters and a fairly mild winter overall.

Thoughts? Were these past few months unusual or is that about the norm?

[jwacky]

We had one of the warmest winters on record in SoCal, a trend that will likely continue.

https://weatherwest.com/

Comparisons with prior years, on subjects ranging from agriculture, snowpack, fishing, are going to be increasingly more difficult, case in point, the meteorologists and oceanographers are already poking fun at themselves for how often they need to use the word 'unprecedented'.

I feel like I caught more perch this winter per hour fished, but I also learned how to stop casting for and invest time walking the beach to look for structure. Same goes for surveying beaches at very low tides when not fishing and taking notes.

I'm looking forward to trying new summer strategies for species I have yet to catch. I've never fished with sandcrabs! I'll make it a point to walk further to avoid summer crowds by fishing Black's and / or being on the water before sunrise.

Part of me is going to miss winter fishing, haha. No crowds, plentiful perch. Although admittedly it did feel like a bit of a grind at times with the king tides and occasional stormy conditions. It helped me come to terms with fishing at a comfortable pace, not feeling like I HAD to be there every possible morning. It also forced me to try different baits, strategies, etc.

That said, since this was my first winter of surf fishing, I'd be curious to hear how the conditions we had compare to what can reasonably be expected in future winter seasons? I thought things would slow WAY down, and they did as far as variety and quality, but the quantity was certainly there for me. Part of that could just be getting 'better' than I was at this when I started, but perhaps some of it was due to unusually warm waters and a fairly mild winter overall.

Thoughts? Were these past few months unusual or is that about the norm?

That's a very good point. This very well could be the new normal. And every year forward brings a new new normal! Just have to take each season at it comes, I suppose. Things may be generally consistent from one season to the next but never the same.

As for the crowds, my life cheat code to avoiding them has always just to do things before they show up. I've always been a morning person so being at the beach in the wee hours of the morning doesn't phase me. And in the middle of summer, there'll be plenty of daylight by 6:00-6:15 a.m., which is long before any real crowds will get there. And when they do, I'll already have been fishing for 2-3 hours so I'm good to go. At that point I play my favorite game, "parking karma", and wait by my car for someone who looks like they'll enjoy my spot. A family, or surfers, etc. Out of towners in a rental car getting aggressive? Sorry, I'm not leaving

[Nelson 1]

We had one of the warmest winters on record in SoCal, a trend that will likely continue.

https://weatherwest.com/

Comparisons with prior years, on subjects ranging from agriculture, snowpack, fishing, are going to be increasingly more difficult, case in point, the meteorologists and oceanographers are already poking fun at themselves for how often they need to use the word 'unprecedented'.

I feel like I caught more perch this winter per hour fished, but I also learned how to stop casting for and invest time walking the beach to look for structure. Same goes for surveying beaches at very low tides when not fishing and taking notes.

I'm looking forward to trying new summer strategies for species I have yet to catch. I've never fished with sandcrabs! I'll make it a point to walk further to avoid summer crowds by fishing Black's and / or being on the water before sunrise.

Part of me is going to miss winter fishing, haha. No crowds, plentiful perch. Although admittedly it did feel like a bit of a grind at times with the king tides and occasional stormy conditions. It helped me come to terms with fishing at a comfortable pace, not feeling like I HAD to be there every possible morning. It also forced me to try different baits, strategies, etc.

That said, since this was my first winter of surf fishing, I'd be curious to hear how the conditions we had compare to what can reasonably be expected in future winter seasons? I thought things would slow WAY down, and they did as far as variety and quality, but the quantity was certainly there for me. Part of that could just be getting 'better' than I was at this when I started, but perhaps some of it was due to unusually warm waters and a fairly mild winter overall.

Thoughts? Were these past few months unusual or is that about the norm?

That's a very good point. This very well could be the new normal. And every year forward brings a new new normal! Just have to take each season at it comes, I suppose. Things may be generally consistent from one season to the next but never the same.

As for the crowds, my life cheat code to avoiding them has always just to do things before they show up. I've always been a morning person so being at the beach in the wee hours of the morning doesn't phase me. And in the middle of summer, there'll be plenty of daylight by 6:00-6:15 a.m., which is long before any real crowds will get there. And when they do, I'll already have been fishing for 2-3 hours so I'm good to go. At that point I play my favorite game, "parking karma", and wait by my car for someone who looks like they'll enjoy my spot. A family, or surfers, etc. Out of towners in a rental car getting aggressive? Sorry, I'm not leaving

I will be fishing during the middle of the week early in the mornings . Start before sunrise , Do about 2 hours of fishing. Never fish with sand crabs either. Plus I'll be fishing Mission Bay in my canoe . Good variety of fishing in Mission Bay to.

[Midnightpass]

You guys are missing one of life’s great joys…Watching a big ol’ corbina suck up your sand crab, then head out with your drag screaming…
Butch

[Nelson 1]

You guys are missing one of life’s great joys…Watching a big ol’ corbina suck up your sand crab, then head out with your drag screaming…
Butch

I need to find a beach that's not as crowded as Mission Beach is going to be during the summer. I might have to start looking more North. Maybe Carlsbad .

[kastmaster]

You guys are missing one of life’s great joys…Watching a big ol’ corbina suck up your sand crab, then head out with your drag screaming…
Butch

I plan on dealing with this issue soon.

[Midnightpass]

I need to find a beach that's not as crowded as Mission Beach is going to be during the summer. I might have to start looking more North. Maybe Carlsbad .

I’m not a local, but I do come down and stay at Crystal Pier every Memorial Day for about a week… It gets pretty crowded then but I go out every morning at 1st light and surf fish the immediate area, and am off the beach before 9:00… Really no problem with crowds that early..
I also stay in Carlsbad and do the same thing…. But that’s usually during the Autumn or Winter…
Butch

[jwacky]

I need to find a beach that's not as crowded as Mission Beach is going to be during the summer. I might have to start looking more North. Maybe Carlsbad .

I’m not a local, but I do come down and stay at Crystal Pier every Memorial Day for about a week… It gets pretty crowded then but I go out every morning at 1st light and surf fish the immediate area, and am off the beach before 9:00… Really no problem with crowds that early..
I also stay in Carlsbad and do the same thing…. But that’s usually during the Autumn or Winter…
Butch

Pretty much my exact schedule as well. First daylight until the surf schools start setting up because those folks stay really close to shore. The regular surf crowd paddles out well beyond my reach.

[Nelson 1]

I need to find a beach that's not as crowded as Mission Beach is going to be during the summer. I might have to start looking more North. Maybe Carlsbad .

I’m not a local, but I do come down and stay at Crystal Pier every Memorial Day for about a week… It gets pretty crowded then but I go out every morning at 1st light and surf fish the immediate area, and am off the beach before 9:00… Really no problem with crowds that early..
I also stay in Carlsbad and do the same thing…. But that’s usually during the Autumn or Winter…
Butch

I grew up in Pacific Beach. We used to fish Crystal Pier all the time when I was a kid. Used to go out a lot further than it does now. Good times. Yeah I figure if I fish early in the mornings I might be able to beat some of the crowds. Just want to fish a different Beach. Maybe Torrey pines next. Where you fish at Orange county . Bolsa Chica.

[Midnightpass]

Where you fish at Orange county . Bolsa Chica.

Yea, I usually fish north OC/ South LA... Bolsa Chica and Huntington are my go to, but I do fish Alamitos Peninsula quite a bit too... Alamitos is really going down hill though, because of beach grooming and building sand berms to prevent flooding... It has wiped out the ghost shrimp and assorted other forage/bait on the inside of the peninsula, and the same on the out side minus the ghost shrimp...
Butch