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LA/SoCal Winter Coastal Fishing Report: Rockfish, Whitefish, Halibut on Tap
Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your SoCal coastal fishing rundown for LA and the near ‘hood.
We’re riding a pretty soft winter tide this morning. Tide-Forecast’s Marina del Rey table shows an early-morning low around 4:40 a.m. and a mid‑morning rising push, with another swing this afternoon. That incoming water after sunup is your window. Over in Long Beach Inner Harbor, Tides4Fishing notes a similar pattern: low pre‑dawn, building to a solid late‑morning high, then draining into an evening negative low. That’s classic winter structure‑fishing tide.
Sunrise along the LA beaches is right about 6:35 a.m., with sunset just before 4:45 p.m., so you’ve got tight daylight. Think gray‑light to mid‑morning and last‑light into the evening for your best bites.
Weather‑wise, we’re in that cool, clear winter groove: chilly at dawn, light offshore or variable breeze, then a little onshore puff in the afternoon. Figure mid‑40s to low‑50s at first cast, climbing into the 60s. Pack the hoodie and the fingerless gloves; the water’s cool and the fish are glued to structure.
According to SoCal Fish Reports’ latest dock totals, the local boats have slid into full winter mode. Marina del Rey’s Betty‑O put 21 anglers on about 130 rockfish. New Del Mar’s half‑day run stacked sculpin and whitefish, with a handful of sand bass and halibut mixed in. Down the hill, Long Beach Sportfishing’s El Patron posted big numbers on blue perch, whitefish, and rockfish, while the Eldorado and Toronado piled on rockfish, vermilion, sheephead, and more whitefish. Redondo’s half‑day runs have been classic winter beach stuff: sand bass, sculpin, sheephead, blue perch, calico bass (with a bunch released), plus a bonus bonito here and there.
So the story: **bottom fish are wide‑open** if you’re on hard bottom or stones, with steady action on rockfish, whitefish, and sculpin, and a decent pick on sheephead and mixed bass. Pelagics are pretty much a side note now, but the odd bonito is still sniffing around.
Best offerings right now:
- **Bait:**
• Squid strips for rockfish, whitefish, and sculpin.
• Fresh or frozen anchovy/sardine chunks for sand bass, calico, and the stray halibut.
• Shrimp or mussel plus a little crab shell for sheephead on the stones.
- **Lures:**
• 2–4 oz chrome or glow **iron** and bucktail jigs tipped with squid on the deeper stuff.
• Small swimbaits in sardine or anchovy colors on 1/2–1 oz heads for breakwall bass and halibut.
• Leadhead with a Gulp! jerk shad along the harbor edges at first light.
A couple local hot spots to hit today:
- **Redondo Canyon edges / Rocky Point:** Jump a half‑day out of Redondo or work the stone piles off Rocky Point. The boats have been boxing good counts of rockfish, sculpin, and sheephead, with calico chewing in the shallower stuff when the current ticks just right.
- **Long Beach / San Pedro breakwalls and outer harbor structure:** Those recent Eldorado and Toronado rockfish and whitefish scores tell you everything—you park over hard bottom in 150–250 feet with squid strips and you’re going to stay busy. In closer, pitch swimbaits and plastics along the wall for sand bass, calico, and a chance at a legal ‘but on the sand pockets.
In the bays and harbors, scale down: 8–12 lb fluoro, small sliding egg sinker, size 2 hook, and a strip of squid or ghost shrimp. You’ll find spotted bay bass, perch, and the occasional croaker cruising the channels on that flooding morning tide.
That’s the bite for LA and the neighborhood today. Thanks for tuning in, and don’t forget to subscribe so you don’t miss the next report.
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Published on 2 weeks, 4 days ago