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Artificial Lure's LA Fishing Report: Rockfish, Tuna, and Kelp Bed Lunkers - Sept 24, 2025
Artificial Lure here—coming to you with today’s Los Angeles area fishing report for Wednesday, September 24, 2025.
We kicked off with a classic SoCal fall morning, cool air from the coast and skies clearing up after some light marine layer burned off. Winds are light, maxing out at about 6 knots, and the ocean’s rolling with a gentle swell, perfect conditions for both shore and boat anglers. Sunrise came at 6:42AM, with sunset set for 6:46PM, so you’ve got a nice long day for chasing the bite. Tide-wise, per Tide-Forecast.com, we’re looking at a low at 4:36AM, peaking to a high around 10:49AM at 5.5 feet, then another low at 5:30PM just under a foot—great news for working structure and kelp beds in the morning[2].
Now, onto the fish. The action has been consistent and a little wild lately. According to 22nd Street Landing in San Pedro, the fleet in the last week has stacked up these counts: rockfish absolutely dominating (over 22,000 landed for the season!), whitefish impressive (12,303), and calico bass, vermilion rockfish, sheephead, and red snapper all making strong appearances. Tuna hunters, bluefin is still in play, with the recent Freedom 1.5 day trips decking up to 66 bluefin per trip, some pushing 120 pounds, though the numbers have dropped this week as they seem to be moving out with changing water temps. White seabass still showing up, along with steady halibut, barracuda, and bonito catches[1].
Davey’s Locker reports are similar: on their recent half-day trips, catches included 210 whitefish, 48 red snapper, 20 rockfish, and a handful of sheephead. These counts point to the bottom fish bite being hot right now, with whitefish and reds being thick over reef structure and drop-offs[3].
Top hot spots today:
- **Palos Verdes Peninsula**: The kelp beds and rocky points are loaded with calico bass, sheephead, and occasional halibut. Early morning high tide is best here—throwing swimbaits and lead-head plastics in natural colors has been deadly.
- **San Pedro Breakwall and Cabrillo Beach**: Sheephead and rockfish are going off near the structure. Local squidding has produced good results for white seabass at dawn and dusk.
- For offshore fans, the edge of Catalina and Santa Barbara Islands are still seeing bluefin and yellowtail, though you’ll need to run farther and use heavy gear.
Best baits and lures this week: Live squid remains king for seabass and halibut, especially on dropper loops. For rockfish and reds: strips of squid, cut mackerel, or shrimp-tipped dropper rigs. Artificial anglers—try 4-5” swimbaits, glow jigs, and lead-head plastics. On the surface, if the bonito and barracuda are busting, cast out chrome spoons or fast-moving jerkbaits. Tuna folks are pulling poppers and flat-fall jigs for deep fish when the surface action slows.
Water temps are hovering above 70°F—target your deeper reefs and structure, especially as the sun rises and fish move down. The morning high tide gives you movement, and the early low brings structure fish out onto the flats.
For boaters, charters out of 22nd Street Landing (San Pedro) and Davey’s Locker (Newport) are running multiple trips every day; recent full-day and 3/4-day runs scored nearly limits on both rockfish and whitefish, with the occasional lingcod and halibut showing as bonus fish[1][3].
Final tip: use lighter leaders and downsize hooks when the bite gets picky. And as always, respect the regs—white seabass, halibut, and calico bass have daily limits and size minimums.
Thanks for tuning in. Don’t forget to subscribe for tomorrow’s report and share your catches on the dock—let’s keep our SoCal fishing scene alive. This has been a quiet please production, for more check out quiet please dot ai.
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Published on 3 months ago