San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

It seems nice that these big low tides are lining up with the afternoons.
I may test one or two... hoping for low winds; waves are reasonable.
Any thoughts?

I'm a believer that you should try anything once. Fish those low tides and let us know how it goes!

jwacky wrote: Thu Dec 04, 2025 2:49 pm I'm a believer that you should try anything once. Fish those low tides and let us know how it goes!

Oh, I know it can work, including from experience. The mussel would catch, but I am thinking of plastics, which are more iffy. Maybe both.

I am definitely intrigued by the small waves and the low tide... in my head, its like pier fishing from the shore. You can the bait/lure WAY farther into the water than you ever would in normal conditions! I just typically only have morning availability to fish, and the extreme high tides can be a bit challenging down here.

jwacky wrote: Thu Dec 04, 2025 2:59 pm I am definitely intrigued by the small waves and the low tide... in my head, its like pier fishing from the shore. You can the bait/lure WAY farther into the water than you ever would in normal conditions! I just typically only have morning availability to fish, and the extreme high tides can be a bit challenging down here.

I haven't made too much of high tide; sometimes pretty good with perch, croakers, corbina. Unusual luck seems possible with low tides and accessible structure, or with more species, such as black perch, Sargo, bass, halibut, and others. Someone more knowledgeable can counter or add to some of that. It depends on the area for sure.

Give it a go... I bailed this morning because of the tides and predicted surf up here, but you never know, I'll usually just fish when ever I can, independent of tides...
Butch

Midnightpass wrote: Fri Dec 05, 2025 8:13 am Give it a go... I bailed this morning because of the tides and predicted surf up here, but you never know, I'll usually just fish when ever I can, independent of tides...
Butch

That is generally how I am too, Butch. I fish early mornings when I can and if the conditions are ideal, great. If they're less than ideal, it'll be a learning experience

Still a little leery eyeing those weekend morning high tides down here and leaning toward calling it an equipment maintenance day, ha. Maybe I'll take the kiddos to sushi for lunch and pick up some fish for a poke dinner, and enjoy someone else's fishing efforts.

I just go fishing when I can. High or low. It's just fun getting out there.

Yesterday, I threw 5 inch Swimbaits into the deep holes right along the Surfline at low Tide.. Think of the days you see the Surfers walking in and they have to get back on their board and paddle to shore. Also recognized by the breaking surf quits well before the shoreline. I got a couple 18 to 20 inch Halibut on this last trip. There are times I’ve landed 15 pound Halibut, Big Winter Corbina and Yellowfin Croaker out of these Troughs or Holes. Certainly worth a try plus the giant Full Moon rising was epic.
Note: I was Fishing in North Newport Beach but it holds true from Ensenada to Santa Barbara. The full story is in the Orange County Section.

I walked south Mission Beach just before sunset with the family. Really wanted to check out peak low tide, and it was pretty crazy to see!! We were able to walk out what felt like forever. Those large birds we typically see nose diving into the water way off in the distance were easily within casting distance (although I did not bring anything to cast).

There was one person fishing, said he’d been catching perch. I saw him pull in one as we made small talk. Another lady was digging for clams.

I’m definitely fishing the extreme low tide in January when these conditions return!

jwacky wrote: Fri Dec 05, 2025 10:58 pm I walked south Mission Beach just before sunset with the family. Really wanted to check out peak low tide, and it was pretty crazy to see!! We were able to walk out what felt like forever. Those large birds we typically see nose diving into the water way off in the distance were easily within casting distance (although I did not bring anything to cast).

There was one person fishing, said he’d been catching perch. I saw him pull in one as we made small talk. Another lady was digging for clams.

I’m definitely fishing the extreme low tide in January when these conditions return!

That was a negative low tide, that was pretty low.

Everydog wrote: Thu Dec 04, 2025 4:37 pm

jwacky wrote: Thu Dec 04, 2025 2:59 pm I am definitely intrigued by the small waves and the low tide... in my head, its like pier fishing from the shore. You can the bait/lure WAY farther into the water than you ever would in normal conditions! I just typically only have morning availability to fish, and the extreme high tides can be a bit challenging down here.

I haven't made too much of high tide; sometimes pretty good with perch, croakers, corbina. Unusual luck seems possible with low tides and accessible structure, or with more species, such as black perch, Sargo, bass, halibut, and others. Someone more knowledgeable can counter or add to some of that. It depends on the area for sure.

Yes, it depends on the area for sure. Extreme low tides are definitely my go-to for halibut, but only because that is where I prefer to fish for them. However, due to my schedule, I haven't been able to do it lately, but I found one area that only fishes tides between 2feet and 4 feet. Outside of that, I don't even bother.

Alldaylong wrote: Wed Dec 10, 2025 5:06 am

Everydog wrote: Thu Dec 04, 2025 4:37 pm

jwacky wrote: Thu Dec 04, 2025 2:59 pm I am definitely intrigued by the small waves and the low tide... in my head, its like pier fishing from the shore. You can the bait/lure WAY farther into the water than you ever would in normal conditions! I just typically only have morning availability to fish, and the extreme high tides can be a bit challenging down here.

I haven't made too much of high tide; sometimes pretty good with perch, croakers, corbina. Unusual luck seems possible with low tides and accessible structure, or with more species, such as black perch, Sargo, bass, halibut, and others. Someone more knowledgeable can counter or add to some of that. It depends on the area for sure.

Yes, it depends on the area for sure. Extreme low tides are definitely my go-to for halibut, but only because that is where I prefer to fish for them. However, due to my schedule, I haven't been able to do it lately, but I found one area that only fishes tides between 2feet and 4 feet. Outside of that, I don't even bother.

Great thread! These are some of my favorite tides of the year. It seems logical to think that because the water is so far out you can cast farther...and that is true when fishing halibut but one of the reasons I love the minus tides is because I can get at an angle to fish around the front of jetties, harbor entrances, etc. that I normally can't reach....and the other reason is that there is no better time to collect big mussel, sidewinder crabs and other baits from the rocks then when they are exposed.

While chucking it way out there seems to be a common thread, I try and stay well back and fish the holes and troughs near the shore, especially ay low tide. I see the Guys with waders going chest deep and throwing way out. I fish inside them, often casting at 45 degree angle if not sideways even with the beach. I learned early, often spooking fish in the skinny water. Nothing better than a big Halibut leaving a wake as he rushes your Swimbait in a foot of water. This happens way more in the early morning before the Sun comes up, or with dark clouds. The big fish do move out into deeper water when they don’t feel comfortable in the bright Sun. Sometimes they just bite all day regardless of Tide or Sun. If you go enough you have seen this happen. I like night fishing although the Stingray shuffle becomes doubly important. I have caught Legal White Seabass at will, as well as Corvina, Halibut, Yellowfin Croaker and some tough Grey Sharks on the Swimbaits. Everything is larger at night. The big Dogs come out to play. Get a good Tide App and Surfline or other Surf App so you don’t get caught up in the Big Surf which can stir up strong currents that create the hole and troughs we can fish later. By the way, I don’t wear waders. Just don’t want to get dragged out and die. We live in So Cal by the way, my water temp today was a nice 65 degrees. Refreshing.

From Friday. This one came about 3 feet from the sand, right at the drop-off, probably no more than 2-3 feet deep. This trough ran about 40 yards parallel to the beach adjacent to a small reef. I believe baitfish use these depressions to move up and down the shoreline and just beneath the white water, avoiding getting tossed around by the waves, and halibut knows it. Had another about the same size come loose right after, but that was it for the rest of the session. Seems like there is always a window, normally short, when conditions line up for the halibut to feed.

I went back this morning, and the sand has filled in quite a bit from Friday due to the lack of swell in the last few days, and it will probably be completely gone in a couple of days. So it's time to walk the beach again in search of new waters

Advance scouting of target area pays off. Nice going there bud !