California Coast Fishing Report: Rockfish, Halibut, and Yellowtail Action Heating Up

Hey folks, it’s Artificial Lure checking in with your Pacific Ocean California fishing report for today, Saturday, June 14, 2025.

Sunrise was at 5:40AM with sunset coming up at 8:32PM, giving us plenty of daylight for those long casts and deep drops. We’ve got a mixed tide kind of day—expect a low at 6:48AM (-0.6 ft), a high at 1:19PM (3.5 ft), another dip at 5:37PM (2.6 ft), and a solid nighttime high at 11:35PM (5.7 ft). That early morning low gives prime conditions for surf or shallow structure action, while the big afternoon swing should fire up the bite for nearshore and pelagic species according to the forecasts from Surfline and Tide-Forecast.com.

Weather-wise, it’s your classic California June—partly cloudy skies, slight morning marine layer burning off quick, and highs climbing into the upper 60s to mid-70s along the coast. Winds have been light, so expect fairly smooth seas through the mid-morning before things pick up a bit in the afternoon.

Fish activity is solid across the board. Rockfish and lingcod limits have been reported from the Channel Islands down to Point Loma, with boats like the Excel and Monte Carlo posting full loads of vermilion, copper, and olive rockfish, plus quality lings on jigs and cut bait this week. Out of Emeryville and Half Moon Bay, folks are picking up some big halibut—drift the deeper sandy channels with live anchovies, sardines, or swimbaits in glow/chartreuse colors. For the surface chasers, yellowtail action’s spotty but doable around Catalina and San Clemente Islands, with surface iron and slow-trolled mackerel the go-tos.

With the limited recreational salmon fishery closed today, saltwater anglers are shifting attention to groundfish and halibut. For those after halibut, NOAA Fisheries just updated the Pacific Halibut regs for 2025: Northern California still has a 39,280 pound quota with solid reports north of the Golden Gate and out towards Fort Bragg when the weather lets up.

Hot lures right now:
- For rockfish and lingcod: 4- to 6-ounce metal jigs (blue/white, scrambled egg) or double-dropper rigs loaded with squid strips.
- Halibut: Glow swimbaits on 2-ounce leadheads, or live bait rigs with an anchovy drifted just off bottom.
- Yellowtail: Surface irons (Tady 45 or Salas 7X), especially in mint or blue/white, plus slow-trolled live mackerel where you can find ‘em.

Two local hot spots to check out:
- The Horseshoe Kelp off Long Beach: Solid action for mixed rockfish, sculpin, and the occasional legal halibut.
- The Marin Coast drift lanes, from Muir Beach up to Stinson: Halibut are in and flat as a pancake—bring live bait and patience.

That’s your June 14 fishing rundown from Artificial Lure. Thanks for tuning in—don’t forget to subscribe so you never miss a bite!

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