San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

New to surf fishing. I've been out a few times now and have managed to avoid the skunk. Went out to Torrey Pines for the first time this morning targeting corbina and spotfin. Fished from 5:30-9:30 and managed two. My first ever corbina and a new pb halibut. Still hunting for that legal. Both we caught on sand crabs. Shocked to catch a 20in hali on a sand crab of all things. Any tips for catching spotfin?

A hali on a sand crab is indeed surprising. Heard of them being caught on Gulp worms, frozen anchovies & a few other baits but a sand crab is a real rarity. Big crab ? Re catching spotfins, just keep doing what you're doing. They will hit a lot of different baits, mussel, blood worms & ghost shrimp work well.

I had a by catch Hali on a gulp sand crab. Heard of a couple others caught in the past. No legal ones though.

Also on Sand Crabs - Sand Bass, Calico Bass, Spotted Bay Bass, Striped Bass, Whitefish, Sheepshead, Striped Sea Perch, Walleyed Surf Perch, Opaleye, Sculpin, Lizardfish, Tomcod, White Croaker and Cabezon. Plus all the regulars.
Any more oddballs you have caught?

Perch killer wrote: Sun Aug 17, 2025 4:27 pm A hali on a sand crab is indeed surprising. Heard of them being caught on Gulp worms, frozen anchovies & a few other baits but a sand crab is a real rarity. Big crab ? Re catching spotfins, just keep doing what you're doing. They will hit a lot of different baits, mussel, blood worms & ghost shrimp work well.

It was a med/small sand crab. Perfect size for a #6 mosquito hook. I've been wanting to give ghost shrimp a try, both in the bay and surf. Ill have to build myself a pump and give it a go sometime. Would you fish them the same as the sand crabs? Carolina rig with a slow retrieve to keep tension or a high low rig with pyramid sinker? Thanks for the tips!

Bendo wrote: Sun Aug 17, 2025 5:17 pm Also on Sand Crabs - Sand Bass, Calico Bass, Spotted Bay Bass, Striped Bass, Whitefish, Sheepshead, Striped Sea Perch, Walleyed Surf Perch, Opaleye, Sculpin, Lizardfish, Tomcod, White Croaker and Cabezon. Plus all the regulars.
Any more oddballs you have caught?

Wow, definitely a lot of oddballs there. Just the halibut for me thus far. I haven't spent much time in the surf to have caught any more oddballs. Just the regulars.

They will come. I got Whitefish last year. They are normally fairly deep water fish associated with rocks. There nickname is Razorgilled Bottom Dorado. That sort of says it all. I caught about 12 that day.
As far as answering the question about Ghost Shrimp, I use them on a Carolina style rig but the important thing is a proper sized hook that you can thread the Shrimp on from the tail and out their mouth. Otherwise the bait stealers have a field day.

I caught my PB (a little over 27") surf halibut on a 1st cast sand crab... I don't throw lures much and don't really chase halibut... I'm usually after corbina, SFC and YFC...
viewtopic.php?p=12437&hilit=halibut#p12437

Butch

Crazy Halibut, I got my biggest Newport Striped Bass on a Sand Crab, sight fishing Corbina, it ran in and stole it! I about fell over, landed it on Six pound test. It took a couple amazing runs, I was with some buddies that day. “ There he goes again”….