San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

San Diego Bay Crazy Good Fishing! Halibut & Bass


Hey all I hope that the new year is treating you well so far. I headed out on the big bay for the first time this year with a few goals in mind.
1. Catch Fish
2. Use old gear
3. Catch fish on a new lure
4. Catch a fish that wouldn’t fit in the net

It’s so nice to achieve our goals! In this case I was able to accomplish all of them in one session. I brought out first one of my older rotten real combos that I absolutely love. A Diawa AirX casting rod and a Shimano Calcutta 200 DC real circa 2004. Also an older Shimano 500 spinning reel on a 4 foot Berkeley lightning rod with noodle action!

I also brought out an old rattle trap to throw on the casting rig. I was rewarded very quickly with a ton of feisty spotted bass bass. I had heard that there was lots of bait in the south Bay near the Silver strand with halibut holding underneath them. And after catching a bunch of Bass on my way out, I finally got to the area, but couldn’t find any halibut right away. I decided to break out the lightning rod and use a Sabiki with a small under spin at the bottom to get some bait. It was so much fun catching big smelt on that noodle action rod that I almost just gave up the halibut fishing just for that. I did end up getting some 4 to 5 inch smelt and decided to put that out on a Carolina rig. A little while later, I got a bit of a pull on that rig and was rewarded with a 19 inch halibut. I was super stoked as I hadn’t used this method in quite some time and it was fun to revert back to some of the old methods from days gone by.

After catching one fish that way I had that urge sated and went back to the lures. I broke out a new crank bait.Bandit 8-12ft in the sparkle chartreuse color. I got a nice bass on the first throw with the new bait so that was fun. I really like the action of the bait. The only thing I don’t like is that the hooks are light wire and bend very easily. It’s a relatively inexpensive bait so I may just change out the trouble hooks. After catching a few more on that bait, I decided to throw the Gulp Paddleshad in the chartreuse color on a quarter ounce under spin. Less than five minutes I was hooked up to a fish that felt really good. After fighting it for a minute it got off and I was disappointed, but ready for the next cast, as I was reeling in, I went to look at something to my right and stop the retrieve, and the bait was bit again. This time it was not getting off!

The fish quickly got to the surface, and I noticed it was one of the biggest halibut that I had ever hooked in the bay and been able to see. Once it saw my tube and the net then it actually started to scream off drag. It was finally a fish that I couldn’t fit in the net! After fighting it for a while on 8 pound test I managed to get it aboard my tube and it measured out at 27 inches long. I was super stoked about this and just all around it made my day! I did get a few more bass after that on the crank bait and a few more on the under spin and decided to call it a day and have lunch with my wife on Coronado Island. I love the pizza place near the ferry and we had a great afternoon. All in all it was a spectacular day, both catching great fish and spending time with my wife. You can check out the video for more details and information, including me getting dive bombed by an osprey. Cheers all and happy new year!

Saw this yesterday on Youtube, great stuff as always. I was out this past Saturday and it was slow for me and apparently some others. I only saw one fish get landed by the numerous boaters and yakers out near the bridge. I’m hoping for a better day this Sunday.
On a side note, I switch the majority of my cranks to single hooks. Heavier gauge hook, easier to remove and I have yet to have one bend out in the bay. My hook up ratio didn’t really suffer because of it either.

galen wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2025 2:28 pm Saw this yesterday on Youtube, great stuff as always. I was out this past Saturday and it was slow for me and apparently some others. I only saw one fish get landed by the numerous boaters and yakers out near the bridge. I’m hoping for a better day this Sunday.
On a side note, I switch the majority of my cranks to single hooks. Heavier gauge hook, easier to remove and I have yet to have one bend out in the bay. My hook up ratio didn’t really suffer because of it either.

It's funny you say that as I was thinking of doing the same. What hooks are you using?

Sorry but I have read online that fishing slows down in the bay during the winter. You must be catching illiterate fish. Or ones without Internet access.

Gotfish? wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2025 6:11 pm Sorry but I have read online that fishing slows down in the bay during the winter. You must be catching illiterate fish. Or ones without Internet access.

Ha! That's hilarious. I've actually had some of my best days on the bays in the winter. I've never had an issues with it slowing down, actually. I also like the winter on the bay because there is less boat traffic.

Same here.

https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Owner_S ... -OSRH.html
Tackle Warehouse has good ones. Big eye so they don’t hang up on the split ring.

galen wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2025 7:38 pm https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Owner_S ... -OSRH.html
Tackle Warehouse has good ones. Big eye so they don’t hang up on the split ring.

Awesome info! I will be trying that for sure.

Congrats on a great start to the new year I love that you reached your goal.
I also take ( all ) my trebles off and use the Owner’s single hook replacements it’s makes it super simple and through the years I have never had one bend out or break plus I can store lures together without spending time detangling trebles and easier to release bouncing fish ( no more hooks digging in to your fingers when trying to release the fish and it has to be less stress on the fish.

That could be your next goal to catch a quality fish on a lure you changed out to single hooks.

I also think that because you’re more comfortable knowing that you won’t hang up on branches, rocks, grass etc. as much you can fish your target area better, your catch ratio might tick up.

Nice 'butt.. WTG...
Butch

The hooks have already been ordered! It’s been something that I’ve thought about for a long time but never gotten around to doing. Thanks all for the recommendations. And when I do make a video with those I will for sure post it on SDFish and let people know I took the recommendations of others. Cheers all!

I randomly stumbled on this video last night scrolling YT and thoroughly enjoyed it! You have such a fun time out there and such a happy, positive attitude! Now I have to go broke on float tube stuff lol

Thanks for watching! It is an investment if that’s the route you want to go. That being said there are so many options these days so you don’t have to break the bank to get started. Tube, waders, boots and fins. There’s something for any budget out there. If you want any recommendations message me. Cheers!

Great catching and nice legal!! First…that vintage trap almost resembles a baby spottie with the colors and pattern? Second, butts love the smelt. A hundred years ago on the San Dieguito River just east of the race track we used to toss out bread pieces to call them to the surface and would scoop some to use for bait. You could count on a halibut bite with the smelt when nothing else worked. Thanks for sharing your day and tactics. And Im thinking now about the single hooks too. Love this forum!

JWall wrote: Fri Jan 10, 2025 9:13 am Great catching and nice legal!! First…that vintage trap almost resembles a baby spottie with the colors and pattern? Second, butts love the smelt. A hundred years ago on the San Dieguito River just east of the race track we used to toss out bread pieces to call them to the surface and would scoop some to use for bait. You could count on a halibut bite with the smelt when nothing else worked. Thanks for sharing your day and tactics. And Im thinking now about the single hooks too. Love this forum!

That’s awesome! Yes, I love learning new tricks, techniques and tactics. Sitting and thinking “hmmm…maybe I should try that!”

JWall wrote: Fri Jan 10, 2025 9:13 am Great catching and nice legal!! First…that vintage trap almost resembles a baby spottie with the colors and pattern? Second, butts love the smelt. A hundred years ago on the San Dieguito River just east of the race track we used to toss out bread pieces to call them to the surface and would scoop some to use for bait. You could count on a halibut bite with the smelt when nothing else worked. Thanks for sharing your day and tactics. And Im thinking now about the single hooks too. Love this forum!

And I looked online and that color Rattle Trap still exists it is called White Craw but I saw they are like $13-$15 each! Yikes!

galen wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2025 7:38 pm https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Owner_S ... -OSRH.html
Tackle Warehouse has good ones. Big eye so they don’t hang up on the split ring.

I will be ordering as well. I found a pack of single hooks in my garage tackle store that were the right size but normal eye. STOP…don't even try. They definitely hang up on the swivel and I wasted a good 20 minutes. And why do I feel like such a bonehead trying to f with split rings? That was 19 of the 20 minutes and drew blood as well. Even bought the special pliers

JWall wrote: Sun Jan 26, 2025 10:23 am

galen wrote: Wed Jan 08, 2025 7:38 pm https://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Owner_S ... -OSRH.html
Tackle Warehouse has good ones. Big eye so they don’t hang up on the split ring.

I will be ordering as well. I found a pack of single hooks in my garage tackle store that were the right size but normal eye. STOP…don't even try. They definitely hang up on the swivel and I wasted a good 20 minutes. And why do I feel like such a bonehead trying to f with split rings? That was 19 of the 20 minutes and drew blood as well. Even bought the special pliers

I got the owner inline hooks and swapped out the trebles on a couple baits to try. Definitely the split ring pliers help. I did pick up one spotty today on that crank. I’m excited to try it at Hodges.