California Coast Fishing Update: Tuna, Bass, and More on the Bite

Good morning, anglers. Artificial Lure here with your California Pacific Ocean fishing report for Saturday, September 13th, 2025. We’ve got stable late-summer conditions, an active bite, and prime window for targeting both inshore and offshore species. First, let’s check the tides for the Los Angeles/Long Beach coast. High tide rolled in at 3:07 AM at about 3.2 feet, with a low tide at 6:47 AM just as sun rose at 6:35 AM. Another high tide peaks at 1:51 PM hitting 5.6 feet, then drops out to 0.4 feet by 10:05 PM. Sunset today is right at 7:01 PM. Those strong midday highs and evening lows mean you’ll see solid current movement, which always kicks up fish activity in the kelp beds and deeper structure according to Tide-Forecast.com and Tides4Fishing. Weather’s classic SoCal late summer: fog burns off after sunrise, becoming mostly clear with temps climbing into the mid-70s. Light westerly winds in the afternoon, maybe 10–12 knots, so the ride out should be comfortable and the drift manageable. Now for the count: Offshore, the bite has been hot for bluefin and yellowfin tuna! Pacific Queen returned from a 3-day this week with a whopping 94 bluefin tuna and 4 yellowtail for 23 anglers. Tomahawk tallied 13 bluefin on a shorter trip, and full day runs on Mavrik landed 9 yellowfin for just 2 anglers. Inshore, Dolphin’s PM trip grabbed 76 rockfish and 9 sheepshead, while Mission Belle pulled 30 whitefish, 12 calico bass, and a solid batch of rockfish according to Fisherman's Landing and Point Loma Sportfishing. Northern waters and nearshore—think Santa Barbara down through Ventura and into Long Beach—show continued strong bass and cod action, with local trips getting limits of sandbass and plenty of lingcod with some days reporting up to 26 lings and mix bags according to Stardust Sportfishing. In San Francisco Bay, limits of striped bass have been coming in day after day, with 3 halibut topping off yesterday’s 1/2-day haul, as reported by Lovely Martha. For gear, offshore boats favor *blue/white knife jigs* at night and *sardine-patterned Flat-Falls* or sinker rigs with live bait by day for bluefin. Yellowfin are hitting *smaller sardine* on flyline and Colt Snipers or Mint Tady lures on the surface. Inshore, target kelp and rocky structure with *swimbaits in anchovy or smelt*, *shrimp-tipped jigs* for sheephead, and *dropper loop rigs* loaded with squid or sardine for rockfish and whitefish. If you’re shorebound, pier anglers in the LA harbor are connecting with sandbass and shortfin corvina on small plastics and jerkbaits at dawn and dusk. Hot spots to check right now: - **Coronado Islands** for yellowtail and calico bass—action is steady, especially if you run south. - **Santa Monica Bay** kelp for steady rockfish and the occasional legalsized halibut. - **Long Beach Breakwall** and LA harbor mouth for sandbass, calico, sculpin and the odd bonito run. Remember, tides will be strongest mid-afternoon, perfect to time your drift or line up stru This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.