Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs

Don't cast near swimmers

Fish got a Christmas reprieve

25-inch halibut caught in Baja surf
25-inch halibut caught in Baja surf

Dock Totals Dec 21 – Dec 27: 1,576 anglers aboard 56 half day to full day trips out of San Diego landings this past week caught 9 yellowtail, 133 bonito, 77 calico bass, 120 sand bass, 7 halibut, 3,718 rockfish, 1,203 whitefish, 7 bocaccio, 8 lingcod, 132 sheephead, 5 sanddab, 4 triggerfish, and 63 spiny lobster (270 released)

Saltwater: No open party boats went out on Christmas Day, so the fish got a break. I’m pretty sure anglers got out there on kayaks, in private boats, and from the piers, jetties and shore. I did. I have been fishing from shore lately, targeting California corbina and halibut. The corbina have been biting sand crabs, while the halibut have been eating a chrome 1.5 ounce Krocodile spoon.

Sponsored
Sponsored

While I have seen some posts on social media of decent surf perch and corbina caught from southern California beaches, there are no surf perch to be found where I have been targeting; Bahia Asunción, Baja California Sur. Here in the 67-degree water on the lee side of the point and Isla Asunción, California corbina and halibut are plentiful. The halibut tend to be about 15 inches long, while the corbina have been on the large side, generally from 17 to 22 inches. My best halibut from the surf so far was a fat 25-inch fish caught on Christmas Eve.

Fishing from the beach has its advantages in Mexico, one of them being there is no license requirement. There is a temporary hold on Mexican fishing licenses for more than one-day panga trips, as the new administration takes over after the presidential election.

The day permits are $11 and the normal annual license is just over $50, so during the changeover of administrations an angler can spend more than the normal annual rate in five days. Annual Mexican licenses are valid for one year from the date of purchase. So, if you bought your annual Mexican license in 2018 after January you’ll probably be fine.

The beach here in Asunción is relatively empty, but the surf angler still need be aware of folks in the water. There are no lifeguards in this small Co-op fishing village, but there certainly are in Southern California, and San Diego lifeguards have the legal power to arrest.

While there may be no law on the books, casting near swimmers is not a good idea and one can be warned and even cited for doing so. Generally, a distance for swimmers of 75 feet as posted on most fishing piers, so apply that to surf fishing when swimmers are near. A former lifeguard chief tells me it is something that rarely gets enforced, as shore anglers tend to target rip currents and bathers are constantly warned away from those danger zones.

Fish Plants: 12/31, Lake Jennings, trout (1,500)

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Gonzo Report: Hockey Dad brings UCSD vets and Australians to the Quartyard

Bending the stage barriers in East Village
Next Article

Big kited bluefin on the Red Rooster III

Lake fishing heating up as the weather cools
25-inch halibut caught in Baja surf
25-inch halibut caught in Baja surf

Dock Totals Dec 21 – Dec 27: 1,576 anglers aboard 56 half day to full day trips out of San Diego landings this past week caught 9 yellowtail, 133 bonito, 77 calico bass, 120 sand bass, 7 halibut, 3,718 rockfish, 1,203 whitefish, 7 bocaccio, 8 lingcod, 132 sheephead, 5 sanddab, 4 triggerfish, and 63 spiny lobster (270 released)

Saltwater: No open party boats went out on Christmas Day, so the fish got a break. I’m pretty sure anglers got out there on kayaks, in private boats, and from the piers, jetties and shore. I did. I have been fishing from shore lately, targeting California corbina and halibut. The corbina have been biting sand crabs, while the halibut have been eating a chrome 1.5 ounce Krocodile spoon.

Sponsored
Sponsored

While I have seen some posts on social media of decent surf perch and corbina caught from southern California beaches, there are no surf perch to be found where I have been targeting; Bahia Asunción, Baja California Sur. Here in the 67-degree water on the lee side of the point and Isla Asunción, California corbina and halibut are plentiful. The halibut tend to be about 15 inches long, while the corbina have been on the large side, generally from 17 to 22 inches. My best halibut from the surf so far was a fat 25-inch fish caught on Christmas Eve.

Fishing from the beach has its advantages in Mexico, one of them being there is no license requirement. There is a temporary hold on Mexican fishing licenses for more than one-day panga trips, as the new administration takes over after the presidential election.

The day permits are $11 and the normal annual license is just over $50, so during the changeover of administrations an angler can spend more than the normal annual rate in five days. Annual Mexican licenses are valid for one year from the date of purchase. So, if you bought your annual Mexican license in 2018 after January you’ll probably be fine.

The beach here in Asunción is relatively empty, but the surf angler still need be aware of folks in the water. There are no lifeguards in this small Co-op fishing village, but there certainly are in Southern California, and San Diego lifeguards have the legal power to arrest.

While there may be no law on the books, casting near swimmers is not a good idea and one can be warned and even cited for doing so. Generally, a distance for swimmers of 75 feet as posted on most fishing piers, so apply that to surf fishing when swimmers are near. A former lifeguard chief tells me it is something that rarely gets enforced, as shore anglers tend to target rip currents and bathers are constantly warned away from those danger zones.

Fish Plants: 12/31, Lake Jennings, trout (1,500)

Comments
Sponsored

The latest copy of the Reader

Here's something you might be interested in.
Submit a free classified
or view all
Previous article

Too $hort & DJ Symphony, Peppermint Beach Club, Holidays at the Zoo

Events December 19-December 21, 2024
Next Article

Memories of bonfires amid the pits off Palm

Before it was Ocean View Hills, it was party central
Comments
Ask a Hipster — Advice you didn't know you needed Big Screen — Movie commentary Blurt — Music's inside track Booze News — San Diego spirits Classical Music — Immortal beauty Classifieds — Free and easy Cover Stories — Front-page features Drinks All Around — Bartenders' drink recipes Excerpts — Literary and spiritual excerpts Feast! — Food & drink reviews Feature Stories — Local news & stories Fishing Report — What’s getting hooked from ship and shore From the Archives — Spotlight on the past Golden Dreams — Talk of the town The Gonzo Report — Making the musical scene, or at least reporting from it Letters — Our inbox Movies@Home — Local movie buffs share favorites Movie Reviews — Our critics' picks and pans Musician Interviews — Up close with local artists Neighborhood News from Stringers — Hyperlocal news News Ticker — News & politics Obermeyer — San Diego politics illustrated Outdoors — Weekly changes in flora and fauna Overheard in San Diego — Eavesdropping illustrated Poetry — The old and the new Reader Travel — Travel section built by travelers Reading — The hunt for intellectuals Roam-O-Rama — SoCal's best hiking/biking trails San Diego Beer — Inside San Diego suds SD on the QT — Almost factual news Sheep and Goats — Places of worship Special Issues — The best of Street Style — San Diego streets have style Surf Diego — Real stories from those braving the waves Theater — On stage in San Diego this week Tin Fork — Silver spoon alternative Under the Radar — Matt Potter's undercover work Unforgettable — Long-ago San Diego Unreal Estate — San Diego's priciest pads Your Week — Daily event picks
4S Ranch Allied Gardens Alpine Baja Balboa Park Bankers Hill Barrio Logan Bay Ho Bay Park Black Mountain Ranch Blossom Valley Bonita Bonsall Borrego Springs Boulevard Campo Cardiff-by-the-Sea Carlsbad Carmel Mountain Carmel Valley Chollas View Chula Vista City College City Heights Clairemont College Area Coronado CSU San Marcos Cuyamaca College Del Cerro Del Mar Descanso Downtown San Diego Eastlake East Village El Cajon Emerald Hills Encanto Encinitas Escondido Fallbrook Fletcher Hills Golden Hill Grant Hill Grantville Grossmont College Guatay Harbor Island Hillcrest Imperial Beach Imperial Valley Jacumba Jamacha-Lomita Jamul Julian Kearny Mesa Kensington La Jolla Lakeside La Mesa Lemon Grove Leucadia Liberty Station Lincoln Acres Lincoln Park Linda Vista Little Italy Logan Heights Mesa College Midway District MiraCosta College Miramar Miramar College Mira Mesa Mission Beach Mission Hills Mission Valley Mountain View Mount Hope Mount Laguna National City Nestor Normal Heights North Park Oak Park Ocean Beach Oceanside Old Town Otay Mesa Pacific Beach Pala Palomar College Palomar Mountain Paradise Hills Pauma Valley Pine Valley Point Loma Point Loma Nazarene Potrero Poway Rainbow Ramona Rancho Bernardo Rancho Penasquitos Rancho San Diego Rancho Santa Fe Rolando San Carlos San Marcos San Onofre Santa Ysabel Santee San Ysidro Scripps Ranch SDSU Serra Mesa Shelltown Shelter Island Sherman Heights Skyline Solana Beach Sorrento Valley Southcrest South Park Southwestern College Spring Valley Stockton Talmadge Temecula Tierrasanta Tijuana UCSD University City University Heights USD Valencia Park Valley Center Vista Warner Springs
Close

Anchor ads are not supported on this page.

This Week’s Reader This Week’s Reader