San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

Fished for the first time in a month, about 2 hours leading up to sunset a bit south of powerhouse park. A few large sand crab beds, still couldnt find any that were big enough. Skunked but did see 2 seals in the water, maybe they scared everything away… waves were also pretty rough, not the best conditions. Anyone else finding good size sand crabs?

Thanks for the report... Get 'em next time...
Butch

Still just micro crabs last time out at PB & Mission last week in April. Hopefully, start showing soon.

What bait / lures were on offer?

pseudoMoGil wrote: Sat May 09, 2026 10:54 pm Fished for the first time in a month, about 2 hours leading up to sunset a bit south of powerhouse park. A few large sand crab beds, still couldnt find any that were big enough. Skunked but did see 2 seals in the water, maybe they scared everything away… waves were also pretty rough, not the best conditions. Anyone else finding good size sand crabs?

I've seen anglers with good size sand crabs but they all said they had to dig elbow deep for them.

Question from a surf fishing novice. So, if larger sand crabs are not available to anglers (and presumably corbina, croakers, etc.) at the moment, what *are* the fish feasting on? Bean clams? Marine worms? All of the above and more? I've seen bean clams mentioned on this forum and am curious if anyone has attempted to collect enough of them and put them on hooks with any success for corbina / croakers?

kastmaster wrote: Sun May 10, 2026 9:39 pm Question from a surf fishing novice. So, if larger sand crabs are not available to anglers (and presumably corbina, croakers, etc.) at the moment, what *are* the fish feasting on? Bean clams? Marine worms? All of the above and more? I've seen bean clams mentioned on this forum and am curious if anyone has attempted to collect enough of them and put them on hooks with any success for corbina / croakers?

They're feeding on the micro crabs. And yes they do eat all the above.

Most times I find 2-3 smaller crabs on a hook work better than 1 large crab… One year fishing Pacific Beach all I could find were small crabs, but most were soft shell, from molting.. I’d put on 2 soft shells, and then pin them on with a harder shell crab to keep them from falling off… Worked great and caught lottsa fish…
Never found a way to use the bean clams for bait…
Butch

Midnightpass wrote: Mon May 11, 2026 5:30 am Most times I find 2-3 smaller crabs on a hook work better than 1 large crab… One year fishing Pacific Beach all I could find were small crabs, but most were soft shell, from molting.. I’d put on 2 soft shells, and then pin them on with a harder shell crab to keep them from falling off… Worked great and caught lottsa fish…
Never found a way to use the bean clams for bait…
Butch

basically, the same for me. the smaller ones stacked as sandwich always worked better. the big ones are only good if you can find a soft shell where they can inhale it whole. The fish seem to be able to suck off the eggs on the bigger ones and leave the body behind. Not sure how they do it so consistently without getting hooked.
when the crabs aren't around or too small, I usually harvest mussels and fish with those. It's never been as successful as fresh sand crabs though.

Deep next to Pier Pilings or Rocks. Otherwise wander the Beach and jump on the Groups that Pop Up.