San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

On the sand at 6 am armed with blood worms & ghost shrimp. Was hoping the change in location and menu would get some better action than just hand size perch. Didn't disappoint. Very 1st cast with BW got an 18" corbina. Quite a few perch hits followed and nailed a few but bait stealers were winning. Wanted to save a few BW's for another session in a few days so dug up some crabs. Piggy backed 2 soft shells and got hammered by this fat corbina just shy of 21". (I'm in a summer derby which explains the measuring board & code name in case anybody wonders). A few more perch and then put on some ghost shrimp. Wasn't long, got hammered and silver flashed as peeling drag but alas, unbuttoned on me. Big bean or croaker for sure. Bite tailed off as tide got near the high so called it at 8:30. Best session this season so far with 2 large beans on the sand & half dozen or so perch in the 7 - 9" range.

Nice! I've never caught a corbina, usually I get a bunch of different croaker and perch. I also have never used bloodworms, nor fished at mission beach. I am usually torrey pines or further north. Major newb question, how do you hook bloodworms? Do you put it through the center of the body or the end? Do you run the hook through so the worm goes on the whole hook?

Great session!

Nice! I too was at South Mission around this time. I tried to power through the high tide at 8:30 but got little to no action, so at that point I was mostly just enjoying the sun which had come out.

I did get a late, huge hit and saw the same silver you mentioned but I too lost it. Definitely the hardest “hit” I’ve felt out there in the past month or however long I’ve been doing this now.

Excellent!!!.... A double... I knew you'd get 'em... Too good of a fisherman not to...
Butch

FishNdive wrote: Mon Jul 07, 2025 12:08 am Nice! I've never caught a corbina, usually I get a bunch of different croaker and perch. I also have never used bloodworms, nor fished at mission beach. I am usually torrey pines or further north. Major newb question, how do you hook bloodworms? Do you put it through the center of the body or the end? Do you run the hook through so the worm goes on the whole hook?

For me it depends on what type/size of hook I'm using. I had a 4 mosquito as was also baiting sand crabs & don't like to waist time changing hooks to match bait. Run it through top of worm about 1/4 to 1/2 below head & then through mid section with hook point barely exposed. Idea is to cover up as much of the hook as possible as corbina & croaker have keen eyesight. If I'm also using larger crabs or mussel I'll go with a 4 baitholder or a 2 to and run the hook the traditional way, top down through the body. If the fish are really biting, don't think it matter show you hook them, just cover as much of hook as possible IMHO.

Midnightpass wrote: Mon Jul 07, 2025 8:33 am Excellent!!!.... A double... I knew you'd get 'em... Too good of a fisherman not to...
Butch

Thanks Butch. FYI, Crystal Pier opened for fishing yesterday and heard a few spot fins were caught from the pier.

jwacky wrote: Mon Jul 07, 2025 7:43 am Nice! I too was at South Mission around this time. I tried to power through the high tide at 8:30 but got little to no action, so at that point I was mostly just enjoying the sun which had come out.

I did get a late, huge hit and saw the same silver you mentioned but I too lost it. Definitely the hardest “hit” I’ve felt out there in the past month or however long I’ve been doing this now.

Well if you were at SMB, I was the old guy straight out from the LG station. Saw one guy fishing about 100 yards north of me and another guy about the same south towards the jetty. You must have been one of them. This time of year is prime surf fishing so I would ditch the camo worms and go with real bait as others have suggested. Those gulp worms work better during off season.

Perch killer wrote: Mon Jul 07, 2025 9:59 pm

jwacky wrote: Mon Jul 07, 2025 7:43 am Nice! I too was at South Mission around this time. I tried to power through the high tide at 8:30 but got little to no action, so at that point I was mostly just enjoying the sun which had come out.

I did get a late, huge hit and saw the same silver you mentioned but I too lost it. Definitely the hardest “hit” I’ve felt out there in the past month or however long I’ve been doing this now.

Well if you were at SMB, I was the old guy straight out from the LG station. Saw one guy fishing about 100 yards north of me and another guy about the same south towards the jetty. You must have been one of them. This time of year is prime surf fishing so I would ditch the camo worms and go with real bait as others have suggested. Those gulp worms work better during off season.

Noted, thanks! I’ll focus more on sand crabs when I get out there next weekend.

I was indeed at SMB and I was likely the guy 100 yards or so north of you. I tend to just head toward that spot to give myself a little more time before the crowds come in from both sides of it. I don’t recall you fishing just yet when I got there but did notice someone looking like they were gathering bait. Short while later I looked toward the jetty and sure enough, the same person gathering bait was fishing.

Perch killer wrote: Mon Jul 07, 2025 9:44 pm Thanks Butch. FYI, Crystal Pier opened for fishing yesterday and heard a few spot fins were caught from the pier.

I wonder if they caught one with a #8 Owner Mosquito hook in it's lip? ... If so, I left it under the pier for them...
Butch

Midnightpass wrote: Tue Jul 08, 2025 9:14 am

Perch killer wrote: Mon Jul 07, 2025 9:44 pm Thanks Butch. FYI, Crystal Pier opened for fishing yesterday and heard a few spot fins were caught from the pier.

I wonder if they caught one with a #8 Owner Mosquito hook in it's lip? ... If so, I left it under the pier for them...
Butch

Hope it's still there and waiting for you next year !

Perch killer wrote: Mon Jul 07, 2025 9:42 pm

FishNdive wrote: Mon Jul 07, 2025 12:08 am Nice! I've never caught a corbina, usually I get a bunch of different croaker and perch. I also have never used bloodworms, nor fished at mission beach. I am usually torrey pines or further north. Major newb question, how do you hook bloodworms? Do you put it through the center of the body or the end? Do you run the hook through so the worm goes on the whole hook?

For me it depends on what type/size of hook I'm using. I had a 4 mosquito as was also baiting sand crabs & don't like to waist time changing hooks to match bait. Run it through top of worm about 1/4 to 1/2 below head & then through mid section with hook point barely exposed. Idea is to cover up as much of the hook as possible as corbina & croaker have keen eyesight. If I'm also using larger crabs or mussel I'll go with a 4 baitholder or a 2 to and run the hook the traditional way, top down through the body. If the fish are really biting, don't think it matter show you hook them, just cover as much of hook as possible IMHO.

Thanks for the tip, I used to be real careful about covering the whole hook with the crab so just the tip was poking out, then I started sticking one small crab on the hook and it didn't seem to matter much, the fish still ate it. Even 2 or 3 little ones on a big hook. I guess it depends on how hungry the fish are. I'll go back to basics, use smaller hooks and cover em up more with the sand crabs.

Nice job with the corbina catches, report, and inspiration!

Everydog wrote: Thu Jul 10, 2025 8:43 am Nice job with the corbina catches, report, and inspiration!

I don't usually quote my posts. Who does?
However, I meant the inspiration part. I did. Thank you!
Went out and caught my first bean yesterday after reading this thread and thinking I had it decoded.
Luck was part, of course. I got it in salad on the second cast on a stack of three soft sand crabs. It was 21 inches on the dot and fat. The odds of that being someone's first corbina are not good! It should have loaded up with 50 pounds of weeds and broken off. It came in clean. It had another hook down its gut with a few feet of about 8-pound test hanging out of its mouth. This wasn't North County, or South Mission, but I did meet some friendly regulars, who I'm guessing are locals, and I feel best not discussing their beach details.

Excellent 1st corbina... Great catch at anytime... Fun, aren't they?
Butch

Midnightpass wrote: Fri Jul 11, 2025 9:03 am Excellent 1st corbina... Great catch at anytime... Fun, aren't they?
Butch

It was all the pound-for-pound fight and the adventure and fun one would interpret from your posts, Butch.
Honestly, until recently, I thought beans could only be caught with the skinny water stealth method.


Edit: Can't imagine getting one like that or bigger from washing machine conditions on 4 4-pound test.

@Everydog, nice going on getting that tank for your 1st bean, especially with the difficult salad conditions. Well done !

Perch killer wrote: Fri Jul 11, 2025 4:16 pm @Everydog, nice going on getting that tank for your 1st bean, especially with the difficult salad conditions. Well done !

Thank you, PK. Thanks for sharing so some of us, probably including lurkers, can fish with confidence and have better trips.