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"SoCal Fishing Forecast: Tuna Limits, Rockfish Riches, and a Picture-Perfect Fall Day"
Good morning anglers, Artificial Lure here with your Los Angeles fishing report for Sunday, September 28, 2025.
**Weather’s absolutely perfect today**—temperatures are starting in the mid-60s just after sunrise and creeping up into the mid-70s by midday with calm winds and crystal-clear skies, so get your boards and rods ready early. The water’s showing gentle clarity and just enough movement to spark interest in the kelp lines and rocky points. According to the hourly forecast from Hawthorne Airport, you’re looking at a picture-perfect SoCal fall day with no rain and only a breeze in the afternoon.
**Sunrise hit at 6:45 AM and sunset will be at 6:42 PM tonight,** with nearly 12 hours of prime daylight fishing ahead. The falling tide from late morning into early afternoon is lining up well with the bite windows—plan your casts accordingly for that moving water.
**Fish are biting, and the action is strong up and down the LA coast.** Recent returns from the 22nd Street Landing fleet in San Pedro report *epic numbers*—33 bluefin tuna on a single 2-day run just this week. Tuna limits have been the name of the game all September. The Pride and Freedom boats have both been loading up with bluefin in the 15–40 pound range; last Monday’s open party trip nailed 45 bluefin, and earlier reports had limits of tuna for 30 anglers, plus some solid rockfish and big red snapper in the mix. Don’t skip the rockfish if the tuna are being picky—nice mixed bags have been coming over the rail, including bocaccio, vermilion, and plenty of California scorpionfish. The year’s running hot for barred sand bass, halibut, and kelp bass too, with the landing’s totals showing high counts versus previous seasons. Sheephead, whitefish, and even the odd yellowtail or two are still showing up in the counts from Catalina runs and shorter island hops. According to LA’s “Reel Talk: Your Daily Catch Report” podcast, the rockfish and calico bass bite is especially peppy right off Palos Verdes and around Rocky Point, with live bait and swimbaits both drawing strikes.
**Hot spots today:** Try your luck beneath the cliffs at Rocky Point, where calico and sand bass have been tight to the structure, or make for the flats outside Cabrillo Beach for a shot at halibut and aggressive white seabass. The Horseshoe Kelp beds are still holding a good mix of bass, barracuda, and hungry bonito eager to grab a flashy spoon or trolled feather.
**Best baits and lures:** For tuna, bring sardines and mackerel, rigged on a fluorocarbon leader and smaller circle hooks. Artificial poppers, flat fall jigs in glow colors, and surface irons have all been especially deadly on bluefin and yellowtail. If you’re heading to the rocks or kelp, natural-color swimbaits, 5–7” plastics, and weedless jigs are getting it done. For the bass, fish tight to the cover and bounce those plastics along the structure—or try a morning topwater walk-the-dog-style presentation for the bigger calicos if you’re out early. Nightcrawlers, cut squid, and mussels are consistent choices for the bottom-dwellers like sculpin and sheephead, while halibut are taking whole sardines and white swimbaits fished slow and close to the sand.
**For freshies**: If you’re chasing largemouth bass at local lakes, same rules apply—early morning, work soft plastics tight to rocks and weed lines. Catfish are active at twilight on cut baits and nightcrawlers.
That’s your Sunday snapshot from the docks to the islands—plan for beautiful weather, an early start, and bring a mix of baits and artificials to match the shift from surface action to bottom bite as the day rolls on. Huge thanks for tuning in. For the latest, make sure you subscribe and never miss a bite. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease dot ai.
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Published on 2 months, 4 weeks ago