San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

This past Friday night a coworker and I fished Quivira basin for zero fish. Red tide was still in effect. We wandered over to the river channel, the tide was less than 2ft. We spotted with the headlamp a small school of predators that were sporadically popping on some smelt.
I got one bump on a jerkbait but it didn’t stick.
Figured this would be the place to ask what these fish most likely were. We were guessing corvina. Has anyone ever got barracuda in there? I imagine with a higher tide and some better moonlight we might have had a better shot. Whatever they were would have been more interesting than a spotty! Any insight welcome.

My guess is mackerel.

Interesting, although I don’t think so. We heard a few splashes that were too big to be mackerel. Only way to know for sure is to go back and actually land one!

galen wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2024 8:41 am Interesting, although I don’t think so. We heard a few splashes that were too big to be mackerel. Only way to know for sure is to go back and actually land one!

It's a guess based off of observing macks attacking the surface way back at the Liberty Station boat ramp at sunset. It doesn't take a big fish to make a big splash, but who knows? My second guess would be a corvina. Try sizing down your bait and see what hits!

Probably Jack Mackerel. Nothing too exciting. Try tossing a top water plug around the big bay or mission bay for Corvina. Try walking and casting for hours on end and eventually maybe you will get a look. Likely not though so try to just enjoy being outside

I've caught 5-8lb bonito in there before on top water while they ran along the rocks next to the bank but that was during the day when they schooled up a bait ball

Thanks for the input guys. I hardly ever fish at night but I’m going to bring a few different options next time I get out over there.

professionull wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2024 8:59 am I've caught 5-8lb bonito in there before on top water while they ran along the rocks next to the bank but that was during the day when they schooled up a bait ball

That just reminded me that I had a friend catch bonito off the south jetty... this was about 5 years ago...

Bonito and YT are right in the surf off the MB jetty surf side usually starting in August

Could also be YFC. They're definitely in there.

There are a lot of mullets in the channel

It could be the elusive Brown Speckled Corn Trout that migrates from up stream.

galen wrote: Tue Jun 18, 2024 8:41 am Interesting, although I don’t think so. We heard a few splashes that were too big to be mackerel. Only way to know for sure is to go back and actually land one!

There are a lot of Mullet in there. They can get big, and they frequently jump out of the water. It's possible that is all you were hearing. With that said, there are a lot of species in there. The biggest Yellow fin croaker I ever caught came out of there. There's also Halibut, turbot, bass, opaleye, corvina, leopards, and midshipmen, just to name a few.

If they were mullet, that might explain why they weren’t hitting my jerkbait. I was working it right through them , maybe what I thought was a strike was just me running over one with my plug.

galen wrote: Fri Jun 21, 2024 5:19 pm If they were mullet, that might explain why they weren’t hitting my jerkbait. I was working it right through them , maybe what I thought was a strike was just me running over one with my plug.

On the old SD forums I think I only ever saw one mullet that was caught (lipped) with bass baits. Most were just accidentally snagged. It seemed the only people consistently catching them were fly fisherman. I would love to find the trick to catching them (non fly fishing) as I have heard they put up a great fight.

Caught few mullet on a swimbait in the past

galen wrote: Fri Jun 21, 2024 5:19 pm If they were mullet, that might explain why they weren’t hitting my jerkbait. I was working it right through them , maybe what I thought was a strike was just me running over one with my plug.

Mullet jump at all times of the day. I was just at the river Sunday late morning with the family, and they were going nuts. If the splashes you witness started around dusk, then I would think that they were predators zoning in on baitfish. Mullet will also complete breach the water when they jump, so you can see them, whereas a predator eating baitfish will often barely brake the surface.

Mullet are mostly vegetarian, so people catch them on breadballs or flyfish for them. Occasionally they'll attach baitfish, so every now and then you'll see a report of a fair catch as shown below. Even with breadballs or flies, they are still incredibly challenging because they won't really "chase" anything. You literally have to put it in front of their face while they're filter feeding and hope they randomly inhale it. Pound for pound, one of the strongest fish, probably a better fight than a calico or corbina. They're like the grass carp of the sea.

Climate change AI bots? Wow. Straight hitler tactics