California Fishing Report: Summer Bite Heats Up on the Pacific

This is Artificial Lure with your Friday, June 20th Pacific Ocean California fishing report. The summer bite is on, and conditions are shaping up for a big weekend on the water.

Starting with the tides: for most of coastal California, we’ve got a low tide at 5:40 AM, followed by high tide around 11:30 AM, then another low at 5:55 PM. In the Bay Area around Pacifica, expect low at 1:11 AM, high at 7:06 AM, a midday low at 12:24 PM, and a big evening high at 7:01 PM. Sunrise hit at 5:48 this morning, and sunset won’t roll in until 8:34, giving you a nice, long window for that dawn patrol session or to squeeze in some evening action as the fish get active again on the outgoing tide, as shown on Tide Forecast.

Weatherwise, June gloom remains in the mornings up and down the coast, burning off by midday. Winds have been persistent, especially afternoons, so plan to be off the water or tucked behind a kelp line once that breeze picks up. The Lovely Martha Sportfishing crew has noted that wind has made it bumpy but hasn’t slowed the bite much.

Now, for the bite itself. Southern California surf is bursting with barred surfperch right now—Surf Fishing SoCal SD says it’s the prime time, and halibut, white seabass, and calico bass activity remains hot into late June. Up in Morro Bay, party boats like Avenger and Black Pearl have been putting anglers on loads of quality rockfish—reports include over 400 rockfish in recent days, with bonus lingcod up to 7 pounds and some nice vermilion rockfish in the mix according to So Cal Fish Reports.

Down to Ventura, Island Spirit boated halibut, barracuda, calico bass, rockfish, and whitefish on recent half-day trips. BDOutdoors has also flagged yellowtail, dorado, tuna, and even white seabass showing up in the counts, so offshore and inshore action is solid.

Best lures and baits? For surfperch and halibut, throw 2-3 inch swimbaits in grunion or anchovy patterns, or Carolina-rigged Gulp! Sandworms. Calico bass are crushing 4-inch paddle tails in green and brown, and live sardines or anchovies are taking yellowtail and white seabass. For rockfish, nothing beats a double dropper loop with squid or cut anchovy, but flashy metal jigs are also scoring when currents pick up.

Hot spots to focus on: try the north end of Torrey Pines State Beach for surf species, or head up to Morro Bay’s reefs for steady bottom fish action. Ventura Harbor’s sand flats are holding halibut, and don’t overlook the rocky points off Palos Verdes for a mixed bag.

That’s the pulse from the Pacific today—take advantage of the strong tides around dawn and dusk, fish hard, and play the wind. Thanks for tuning in to today’s report. Don’t forget to subscribe for daily updates. This has been a Quiet Please production; for more, check out quietplease dot ai.