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California Coastal Fishing Report June 18 2025: Halibut, Stripers, Rockfish Bite Red Hot
Published 10 months, 1 week ago
Description
Artificial Lure here with your June 18, 2025, Pacific Ocean California fishing report, made for anglers by an angler who lives and breathes these tides.
First, let's talk tides and sun. According to Tide-Forecast.com, we’re looking at a low tide early this morning at 3:40 AM, then a high tide at 9:55 AM, with another low tide at 4:19 PM and a final high right around 10:36 PM. Sunrise was at 5:41 and sunset’s coming at 8:33, so there’s plenty of light for those after-work casts. Moderate swings today mean you’ll find gamefish pushing in with the morning flood and working structure on that outgoing in the afternoon.
Weather’s been seasonable, with overcast mornings burning off by midday and afternoon breezes. That means surface action early, then drop deeper as the wind picks up.
Fish activity? Red hot for June. According to daily counts from NorCal Fish Reports and Sportfishing Report, the halibut and striped bass bite around Berkeley has been outstanding—boats like the California Dawn are reporting over 100 California halibut and striped bass per outing, with halibut pushing 18 pounds and bass in the 10–15 pound class. In Bodega Bay and Fort Bragg, limits on rockfish and solid numbers of lingcod (some up to 16 pounds) are coming in daily.
Heading south, Morro Bay and the Central Coast boats are flat-out stacking up the rockfish—boats like the Black Pearl and Avenger logged hundreds of rockfish (copper, red, vermilion, and bocaccio), plus steady lingcod action. Down Ventura way, the Island Spirit saw a mixed bag: calico bass, whitefish, halibut, even a couple barracuda in the catch.
For the offshore crowd, San Diego boats like the Tomahawk and Tradition have been hitting bluefin tuna up to 130 pounds and finding yellowtail in the mix. The early summer bluefin run is on—pack your heavy tackle if you’re heading that direction.
Best lures and bait right now? Drifting herring and anchovies is tops for halibut. Stripe bass are smacking swimbaits and hair jigs in the bay, especially during moving tide. For rockfish and lingcod, you can’t beat a double-dropper loop rig with squid or cut sardine, but big plastics like Savage Gear sand eel imitations are also cranking up limits for the plastics crew. Tuna chasers, bring those 200g flat-fall jigs and dark Madmacs—the bluefin are deep in the day, coming up at dusk.
Hot spots? For halibut and stripers, the Berkeley Flats and Angel Island channels are hard to beat. Up north, the reefs off Fort Bragg and outer Bodega Bay rockpiles are full of quality rockfish and lings. Down south, the kelp lines off Point Loma are holding calico bass and the 9-Mile Bank is starting to show tuna on the meter.
Thanks for tuning in and remember—tight lines, keep your hooks sharp, and subscribe so you never miss a report.
This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease dot ai.
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
This episode includes AI-generated content.
First, let's talk tides and sun. According to Tide-Forecast.com, we’re looking at a low tide early this morning at 3:40 AM, then a high tide at 9:55 AM, with another low tide at 4:19 PM and a final high right around 10:36 PM. Sunrise was at 5:41 and sunset’s coming at 8:33, so there’s plenty of light for those after-work casts. Moderate swings today mean you’ll find gamefish pushing in with the morning flood and working structure on that outgoing in the afternoon.
Weather’s been seasonable, with overcast mornings burning off by midday and afternoon breezes. That means surface action early, then drop deeper as the wind picks up.
Fish activity? Red hot for June. According to daily counts from NorCal Fish Reports and Sportfishing Report, the halibut and striped bass bite around Berkeley has been outstanding—boats like the California Dawn are reporting over 100 California halibut and striped bass per outing, with halibut pushing 18 pounds and bass in the 10–15 pound class. In Bodega Bay and Fort Bragg, limits on rockfish and solid numbers of lingcod (some up to 16 pounds) are coming in daily.
Heading south, Morro Bay and the Central Coast boats are flat-out stacking up the rockfish—boats like the Black Pearl and Avenger logged hundreds of rockfish (copper, red, vermilion, and bocaccio), plus steady lingcod action. Down Ventura way, the Island Spirit saw a mixed bag: calico bass, whitefish, halibut, even a couple barracuda in the catch.
For the offshore crowd, San Diego boats like the Tomahawk and Tradition have been hitting bluefin tuna up to 130 pounds and finding yellowtail in the mix. The early summer bluefin run is on—pack your heavy tackle if you’re heading that direction.
Best lures and bait right now? Drifting herring and anchovies is tops for halibut. Stripe bass are smacking swimbaits and hair jigs in the bay, especially during moving tide. For rockfish and lingcod, you can’t beat a double-dropper loop rig with squid or cut sardine, but big plastics like Savage Gear sand eel imitations are also cranking up limits for the plastics crew. Tuna chasers, bring those 200g flat-fall jigs and dark Madmacs—the bluefin are deep in the day, coming up at dusk.
Hot spots? For halibut and stripers, the Berkeley Flats and Angel Island channels are hard to beat. Up north, the reefs off Fort Bragg and outer Bodega Bay rockpiles are full of quality rockfish and lings. Down south, the kelp lines off Point Loma are holding calico bass and the 9-Mile Bank is starting to show tuna on the meter.
Thanks for tuning in and remember—tight lines, keep your hooks sharp, and subscribe so you never miss a report.
This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease dot ai.
This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI
This episode includes AI-generated content.