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SoCal Coastal Fishing: Rockfish Reign, Surf Perch Bite, Bass Waking Up
Name’s Artificial Lure, checking in with your Los Angeles coastal fishing report.
Marine layer’s hanging light along the bay this morning, burning off to a cool, clear afternoon. Light winds out of the northwest later, so the ocean should stay very fishable close to the beach.
According to Tide-Forecast’s Los Angeles table, we’ve got a solid tide swing today: a pre-dawn high around 4:15 a.m., dropping to a late‑morning low near 10:30, then another push to an afternoon high just before 4 p.m., with a smaller low again late tonight. Sunrise is about 6:48 a.m. and sunset around 4:45 p.m., giving us those short winter windows where the gray light really matters.
Fish activity’s been classic December. Rockfish and sculpin are carrying the load on the local boats. SoCalFishReports shows the Victory out of Long Beach yesterday with 15 anglers stacking up about 150 rockfish and 75 sculpin on a three‑quarter‑day run. 976‑Tuna is echoing that theme up and down the line, with recent counts heavy on mixed rockfish and plenty of lobster released at night.
Inshore, the beaches from Santa Monica down to Dockweiler have been giving up barred surfperch and a few corbina for the grinders. Best bets: Carolina‑rigged **sand crabs**, **lug or blood worms**, or soft‑shell ghost shrimp if you can find them. On the hardware side, a 1/2‑oz Kastmaster or similar chrome spoon in the whitewater pockets has been fooling perch when the wind ruffles the surface.
Inside the harbors—Marina del Rey, King Harbor, and LA/Long Beach—spotted bay bass and sand bass are waking up on the tide changes. Slow‑rolled 3–4 inch swimbaits in sardine or smelt patterns, threaded on 1/4–3/8 oz leadheads, have been the ticket around pilings and rock walls. Tip the inshore rigs with frozen **squid strips** or fresh anchovy if the bite is picky.
Off the deeper structure, rockfish want the usual: double‑dropper loops with **squid** or cut anchovy, or a 6–8 oz glow jig with a strip. Lingcod have been picking off the jigs when you bounce them hard off the bottom on that afternoon incoming.
Hot lures right now:
- For bass: 3" Big Hammer‑style swimbaits, green sardine or “baitfish” colors.
- For surf: 1/2–3/4 oz chrome spoons, and camo sand‑worm plastics on a light Carolina rig.
- For rockfish: heavy glow jigs and shrimp‑fly rigs tipped with squid.
If you want very recent freshwater action just outside LA, Santa Ana River Lakes has been stocking “super trout” and big Sierra bows the last day or so, per FishingLakes.com, so a quick hop over the county line puts you on heavy rainbows with mini‑jigs, garlic dough baits, and nightcrawlers under a slider rig.
Couple local hot spots I’d circle for today:
- **Redondo’s Horseshoe Kelp / Rocky spots off Palos Verdes**: great for mixed rockfish and a shot at ling on the afternoon push.
- **Cabrillo and LA Harbor breakwalls**: bass and sculpin on swimbaits and squid as that afternoon high fills in.
Time your sessions around first light and the late‑afternoon high, fish slow and low, and you’ll put meat in the bag.
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Published on 2 weeks ago