This is Artificial Lure with your Pacific Coast California fishing report.
Let’s start with the ocean. According to 976-TUNA and Saltwater Fish Reports, the Southern California bite has stayed surprisingly steady between storms. Pierpoint Landing’s six recent trips with 128 anglers stacked up 366 fish: about 188 sand bass, 132 bluefin tuna, 19 yellowtail, 12 barracuda, plus a mix of rockfish, calico bass, and sheephead. Marina Del Rey Sportfishing and the Monte Carlo boats have been heavy on whitefish, sculpin, and calico bass, with one short halibut and a couple of short seabass in the mix. The Coral Sea out of Santa Barbara Landing just put 25 anglers on 10 lingcod, 104 whitefish, and 250 rockfish, so the Channel bottom is still very much alive.
Tides along much of the Central Coast and Monterey area are running a typical winter mixed pattern. Tide-Forecast and NOAA both show a predawn low followed by a solid mid‑morning high, then another soft low in the afternoon. Sunrise is right around 7:15 a.m. and sunset near 5:20 p.m., so your best window today is that first push of incoming tide through midmorning, then again on the evening swing if the wind lays down. Holiday storms have driven some higher‑than‑predicted king tides on the Central Coast according to New Times SLO, so expect a little extra water and some current in the usual pinch points.
Weatherwise, most of the coastal stretch is in a classic winter pattern: cool mornings, light offshore or variable breeze early, then a northwest wind bumping up in the afternoon. Boats are reporting “gorgeous, beautiful weather… hardly a breath of wind, flat calm ocean” on those short windows between fronts out of Long Beach and San Diego, but conditions deteriorate quickly once the afternoon wind line moves in. Plan to be off the exposed stuff by midafternoon.
Fish activity: inshore structure and nearshore reefs are carrying the load now that boat‑based rockfish is closed further north in the Northern and Central Management Areas, as noted by Fishing the North Coast, but still open from shore and in SoCal zones where seasons remain. Sculpin, whitefish, mixed rockfish, calico and sand bass, sheephead, and the odd halibut are the day‑savers close to home. Offshore, when the weather cooperates, the bluefin and a few yellowtail are still being put on the deck out of Long Beach and San Diego landings, though counts are spotty and very weather‑dependent.
Best baits and lures: party boats are leaning hard on dropper‑loop rigs with squid strips or whole squid for sand bass, whitefish, and rockfish, with shrimp and cut finbait pulling sheephead and the pickier bottom grabbers. For calico and sand bass in cleaner, warmer pockets of water, a 4‑ to 6‑inch swimbait in sardine or anchovy colors on a leadhead is money; think natural greens and browns when the water is clear, brighter patterns if it’s off‑color. A few captains have mentioned that when the current goes slack, downsizing to lighter line, smaller hooks, and a strip of squid or shrimp gets bit when the bigger gear won’t.
On the artificial side, a slow‑rolled glide bait or larger swimbait over shallow boiler rocks and kelp edges has been producing better‑than‑average calico when the surface is calm. Keep a metal jig or colt sniper‑style iron tied on if birds start working or meter marks push up — it only takes one fast window for yellowtail or school‑size bluefin to pop up on the outside edges.
A couple of hot spots to circle on your mental map:
• Santa Monica Bay hard bottom and artificial reefs off Marina Del Rey, in 80–140 feet, have been steady for sculpin, whitefish, mixed rockfish, and a nice sprinkle of calico and sand bass on squid‑tipped dropper loops.
• The Santa Barbara frontside islands and local reefs — especially where the current wraps points and ridges — are kicking out limits‑style rockfish with a side of lingcod and big whitefish for boats like the Coral Sea. If you can time that mid‑morning high tide with a soft weather window, it’s about as close to a “sure thing” as winter gives you.
That’s the scoop for today from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next report.
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