San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

1st morning at Crystal Pier… Every cast was a BSP… Except for a couple that I farmed and one cast that went unmolested…Ran out of SCs and was back at the room by 7:30 drinking coffee..Most were hand size, no dinks, except for a couple that were 12 to 14 inches… No corbs or croakers to be seen.. Water warm, salad around but no problem until close to high tide… Couldn’t find my usual holes,but a couple of minor dips,that produced.. A little cool, overcast and slight on shore breeze.. Lottsa small crabs that I used back-to-back...
Butch

Hope some good spots show on the low tides . Probably some crowd to deal with this weekend . Grunion should be staging . May not hurt to try a little night fishing if it pans out . Have a safe holiday , hammer them . WR

Sounds like my last few sessions Butch. Got to believe the conditions, i.e., crabs, warm water, etc., are ahead of the beans, croakers & the other non perch critters by a week or 2. They should be showing up soon. Hali's are around before, during & after grunion runs both sides of the lows. I know a couple legals were taken near B.Park on LC's. Got to commit to put in a lot of time walking the beach & be prepared for more skunk sessions than success IMHO.

What # test are they biting?

12# mono to 4# fluoro leader to 8# Owner Mosquito hook. 3/8oz sinker..
Butch

Have they opened up the pier yet?

mpa_slayer wrote: Fri May 23, 2025 9:54 pm Have they opened up the pier yet?

Nope still closed down. They said by summer, but summer is pretty close…
Butch

I caught two small yellowfin croakers and some good-sized perch in South Del Mar about 10 days ago. The bait was shrimp and /or sand crabs. High tide, Washing machine conditions.

2nd day… 6-8 BSP. Mostly hand size… 2 bigger at 12-13”…My back has been wonky the last 2-3 weeks, so I’m not pushing it much. Only fished for an hour this am. Found a decent hole, but nobody home… The eel grass was a pain, kelp no so much. The rest of the conditions where about the same as yesterday… Between the grass, sore back and so-so fishing I was back in the room by 6:30…. Still haven’t spotted any corbs or croakers.
Butch

3rd day… Perchin’ pretty good… All you would want of hand size BSP…. They ran me outta bait.. Last fish was a WSP just to catch something different.. Got one nice hit on a large sand crab, but came unbuttoned… Migha been the right kind.. Didn’t see and corbs or croaker in the surf.. But I did see some corbs from the pier yesterday.. The eel grass was much better today.. No problems.. Conditions were good except not much structure around.. Shallow dips was about it…
Butch

Hey Butch, was going to try and stop by this AM to say hello but could not find any close in parking. Guy who made the turn into PB Drive ahead of me, got the last spot in the lot at 5:45. Couldn't find anything else open in my usual spots. Holiday weekend & everyone is home, so figures. Headed down to Mission where parking that early in the morning is a sure thing. Your session sounded similar to mine, I'll post in a bit.

4th day..No report…Didn’t fish, wanted to spend the morning with the family… They just left, so I’ll be back at it tomorrow am.. I saw 1/2 dozen surf anglers this morning… If any of them were you guys, sorry I missed bumping into you..
Butch

Perch killer wrote: Sun May 25, 2025 11:16 am Hey Butch, was going to try and stop by this AM to say hello but could not find any close in parking. Guy who made the turn into PB Drive ahead of me, got the last spot in the lot at 5:45. Couldn't find anything else open in my usual spots. Holiday weekend & everyone is home, so figures. Headed down to Mission where parking that early in the morning is a sure thing. Your session sounded similar to mine, I'll post in a bit.

Sorry we missed each other…..
Butch

5th day… Plenty of decent grade BSP on B2B SCs. Eel grass and kelp a pain but started clearing at the end of the session… Tried for SFC by the pier.. Nada.. Then got into the perch at a hole farther south.. water warm enough, but the shore break a little sloppy, so I got wet again… I was kicking up rays as I went again, so be careful out there.. A year ago today I caught the fish in my avatar… Hoping for a rematch today.. Not to be,I guess….
Butch

Last day… No fishing today… Back has been sore, and I have to pack up to go home…. Thanks for the use of your beaches and fish… All fish were only borrowed and returned unmolesed except for some lip piercings… Except that darn SFC has my hook in his lip.. If anyone catches a big spot with a #8 Owner Mosquito hook in it lip, I’m claiming 1/2 ownership. .. So until next year… Vaya con Dios
Butch

Safe travels!