California Fishing Report: Halibut, Rockfish, and Yellowtail Bite Strong Across the Coast

Hey anglers, Artificial Lure here with your Pacific Ocean, California fishing report for Sunday, May 25, 2025. The sun's coming up around 5:50 AM today with sunset expected at 8:05 PM, giving you plenty of daylight hours to get out on the water. We've got cooler temperatures today compared to earlier this week, with offshore conditions showing a mixed bag, while nearshore waters remain a bit murky along most of the coast. Recent reports show excellent action all up and down the California coast. In the north, the Pacific halibut season opened earlier this month, and anglers out of Eureka are landing some nice specimens. Just a few days ago, the Sea Weasel II out of Full Throttle Sportfishing brought in 4 Pacific halibut on a half-day trip. Down in Morro Bay, rockfish action remains hot with the Black Pearl reporting 75 bocaccio up to 4 pounds, 80 assorted rockfish up to 6 pounds, and 24 vermilion rockfish on a recent trip. They also managed 2 lingcod up to 8 pounds. The Endeavor had similar success with a nice mix of bolina, copper rockfish, and lingcod. Santa Barbara area boats are scoring well on sand bass and kelp bass. The Coral Sea landed 86 sand bass, 24 kelp bass, and 220 rockfish, while the Stardust even picked up a halibut along with their bass and rockfish count. Los Angeles boats are finding quality fishing too. The Spitfire out of Marina Del Rey brought in an impressive 24 halibut on a three-quarter day trip. If you're looking for variety, the Pursuit out of 22nd Street Landing had a mixed bag with barracuda, sculpin, sheephead, blue perch, calico bass, and whitefish. For you overnight anglers, the Amigo and Ghost from 22nd Street Landing have been scoring on yellowtail and white seabass. The Ghost reported 13 halibut and 7 white seabass on a recent trip. As for hot spots, I'd recommend trying the waters around Catalina Island for yellowtail using surface iron or live squid when available. The Channel Islands are also fishing well for rockfish and lingcod using dropper loop rigs with squid strips. For halibut, try the sandy areas outside Marina Del Rey using live sardines or anchovies. For those heading north, the Kings River is fishing great right now with March Browns expected to hatch any day. Tight Line nymphing is producing well in that area. Remember folks, the salmon season remains closed except for a special two-day opening coming up on June 7-8 with a 7,000 Chinook quota. If you're hoping to target salmon, mark those dates on your calendar. Tide-wise, we've got a high tide of 5.2 feet at 9:15 AM followed by a low of 0.8 feet at 3:45 PM, making the morning hours prime time for most species. That's your report for today, May 25th. Tight lines everyone! This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.