San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

Or buck a king tide in a float tube.

Got a tow back across the bay from a buddy with a drill/prop setup on his tube. This, after the third member of our group reminded me that it was probably a bad idea to "go all the way over there unless you want to get an Uber back to your truck."

Oh well.

Anyway, was out all day on the South Bay. What we learned today...besides the note above....

1. Spotties will bite the homemade chatterbait when longlined. At one point, I got fish on three casts in a row...cast...don't reel in 'til the spool's empty. Cast another rod while moving away from the bait.

This fish tore up the bait...it's kinda dangling there.
2. Spotties will always eat a tube bait (Green ScorcherZ head in a clear tube)...if they feel like biting.
3. Spotties will also eat the split tail trailer on other rigs. And my friend also roped 2 bonefish throwing a pink shrimpish one.

4. Learned some what worked/didn't work with slightly different variations of the chatterbait....in terms of which versions are worth duplicating. Both of these work...but the "neckbreaker" with the split ring attachment allows hooks to be swapped out to match the trailer....or if the hook get bent or rusty after a few trips.
Final tally for me was about 30 spotties and an 11 inch fish that will be a halibut someday. Not great for an all-day trip, but half the time was spent fighting the tide instead of casting.....

May be going out again on Friday. Flat tide will be easier to get around, but maybe not as many fish biting.

I like those with the split ring and weedless hooks, I’d buy them if I saw them for sale, do you sell them?

Don’t fight the Tide, use it. Launch on an incoming or outgoing Tide, let it wash you in one direction, when the Tide turns around, it will bring you right back where you started. Makes it so much more enjoyable.

Was a great day on the water even if it was a bit “slower” than usual this time of year. Was still able to land at least 30 bass. They were a big fan of the small size chatter baits paired with a 3 inch fluke as a trailer.

Ended with 5 bones with the biggest being 20 inches which was a great fight on a bfs setup. Two of the Bonefish were caught back to back using one of the orange twin tail baits poured by Carpkiller.
Bonus Goby, never caught one before

Bendo wrote: Tue Jan 06, 2026 8:15 am Don’t fight the Tide, use it. Launch on an incoming or outgoing Tide, let it wash you in one direction, when the Tide turns around, it will bring you right back where you started. Makes it so much more enjoyable.

Yeah, that was the plan. But we didn't get out of Emory Channel before the tide turned. On a king tide, if you're in deep water it doesn't take you back to where you launched.

I'll probably do the same trip on Friday, it won't be a problem.