San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

I got started at TP this morning from the PCH free parking area, a little after the sun came up. The first thing I saw was 3 or 4 guys standing waist deep, and I think they were fishing with lures in hopes of striper. The structure opportunities looked good. But I didn't find good crab beds! So I waded to the other side of the lagoon inlet and boom, there they were—more than I have seen anywhere this summer. There was a man fishing with a C-rig, and we chatted awhile, and I headed toward Del Mar. But I saw fish combing the beach. So this was about 7:00. I wasn't set up to do light line, but I went about 100 feet past where I saw good fish and got crabs and casted south into the wash behind them. In two or three casts, I had a 19-inch Spotfin. I'm second-guessing leaving that spot perhaps too soon, but I figured I would do pretty well with more reef structure around, and I agreed to be picked up at 11th Street. I got a mix of about 10 perch and a few others, but no corbina or spotfin, another baby halibut. I saw a big and small corbina. Called it a day around 11 since my ride was ready to pick me up in Del Mar. There was a ton of seaweed between North TP and about 11th street... for the rest of the trek, it was excellent.

The net is for sorting sand crabs.

Nice spotty, with that hit I would have stayed awhile. But, if you have to end up at 11th for a ride, understand. Did you have a vehicle at TP and go back or dropped off and picked up ? Saves a long walk back. Just my curiosity.

Perch killer wrote: Thu Aug 07, 2025 9:45 pm Nice spotty, with that hit I would have stayed awhile. But, if you have to end up at 11th for a ride, understand. Did you have a vehicle at TP and go back or dropped off and picked up ? Saves a long walk back. Just my curiosity.

My wife was meeting a friend to walk. So we were winging the vehicle usage, and walking or being picked up was optional. But yeah, one day I will take Lyft or Uber back to my van! YOLO.

Nice spot fin... It's been a while since I've managed one...
Butch

Midnightpass wrote: Fri Aug 08, 2025 10:27 am Nice spot fin... It's been a while since I've managed one...
Butch

You would get them if you were fishing where they are, Butch.

Everydog wrote: Fri Aug 08, 2025 9:22 pm

Midnightpass wrote: Fri Aug 08, 2025 10:27 am Nice spot fin... It's been a while since I've managed one...
Butch

You would get them if you were fishing where they are, Butch.

I’m not so sure…. Do you know how bad a fisherman i am? …
Butch

I am starting to feel too lucky....It's gonna end. However, if you were there, Butch, you would have caught this fish today, at Torrey Pines Lifeguard Station 4 in the middle of the day amidst a sea of swimmers. Nuts. I hooked another, but a family member lost it at the beach....I could have lost it, so of course. No biggie. All fun.

Looks like the weeds have moved on. Thanks for the post.

HK_Supermarket wrote: Sat Aug 09, 2025 6:56 pm Looks like the weeds have moved on. Thanks for the post.

You're Welcome. Thanks for what you have shared, too! There are sections with weeds. Starting somewhere near the border of North Torrey Pines and Del Mar. I haven't been further south than Lifeguard Tower 4, but it looked good as far as I could see. Also. there are crabs on both sides of the lagoon. You might know that the surf forecast is for higher surf this week.

Congrats on the SFC… Very nice…
Butch

Everydog wrote: Tue Jul 08, 2025 10:54 am Speaking of North County. There is a nice trough at Jake's in Del Mar right now.
Courtesy of Surfline.

That’s so funny, I’m on Surfline all the time. Spots, Forecasts, updated Temperature trends, Swell height… useful!

Got back out this morning after grouting/caulking the shower last week.
Fished with LC from 6:30 to 7:15, got nothing
7:30 to 8:20 switched to crabs, only caught 4 small perch. Oh well, better than grouting a shower
Planning on another go at it on Friday

At least you gave it a shot. Fairly large swells past few days & poor early AM low tide conditions.

There is a big pop in the ratio of YFC to other species today between South Torrey Pines and mid Del Mar. Does someone know that this is typical for August? With a leopard and two guitars, a smattering of perch, a corbina, and lots of YFC, I had my best numbers day today with over 20 fish. No Spotfins today, but I saw a guy do a good job beaching one. I thought the bigger waves and churn would have made for a tougher day, and I would have sat it out if my friend didn't want to go. But it seems low tide was the least fishy part of the day. Seaweed is tolerable even in the worst sections. The rising tide made it pretty good everywhere. San Diego Unified School District is back in school, and it shows already. Crowds were way down compared to recent weekdays.

Hit it today from 9:30 to 11. Only caught 3 perch, largest maybe 6”. Plenty of bait thief’s today. Swell was way down from Wednesday. Wind was from southernly direction at about 12 or so, kinda choppy. Saw 1 guy to the north of me, didn’t seem to be having luck.

Mike A wrote: Fri Aug 15, 2025 8:56 pm Hit it today from 9:30 to 11. Only caught 3 perch, largest maybe 6”. Plenty of bait thief’s today. Swell was way down from Wednesday. Wind was from southernly direction at about 12 or so, kinda choppy. Saw 1 guy to the north of me, didn’t seem to be having luck.

Bait thiefs are everywhere right now!

I went back to North TP yesterday, fishing from about 11:00 to 3:00 PM.
Lots of sand crabs, but mostly hard-shelled, whereas there were tons of soft ones a few weeks ago. Weeds were medium to a PITA.
Caught a mix, around 7-8 fish all in a near-shore trough. Only one perch, but they are chomping the sand crab roe.
1 Chunky spotted bay bass on crabs. Caught my 10th clone spotted croaker since June, 19-22 inches. All were caught in near-shore troughs.

You're killing it on those croakers ! Nice going to rack up that many. TP seems to be the honey hole for them this year. You must have a parking pass otherwise I don't know how you would find any parking there mid day ??

It was easy to park at the pay lot off McGonigle.$10. I have been driving by Carmel Mountain Road for about a month now, and while it would be a little farther to walk, there has been parking open every time. I had my wife with me, so paying for parking was easier to accept.

A man posted a picture of croakers he caught casting over the outermost waves, and he wrote an interesting post on Facebook about them, if you have that. It's the third post down. https://www.facebook.com/groups/863514491264141