California's Coast Fishing Report: October 18, 2025 - Rockfish, Halibut, and More Biting Strong

Artificial Lure here with your Saturday, October 18th, 2025 fishing report for the Pacific waters stretching along California’s coast. Sunrise hit us at 7:18 AM and we’ll see sunset at 6:23 PM. Today’s tides: the first high was at 1:58 AM, low tide at 8:09 AM, then another high at 2:36 PM, and an evening low at 8:55 PM, according to Tide-Forecast.com. Mild winds and gentle swells are expected, overall pretty flat seas by fall standards—prime conditions for anglers looking to work both the inshore kelp beds and head a bit deeper. October fall transition is showing its teeth with cooling temps and water clarity bouncing between green and blue, depending on where you drop the anchor. With calmer weather returning after last week’s blow, beach debris is clearing up and surf fishers finally have some clean water to work, especially between Santa Barbara and San Pedro. FishSniffer Magazine and 22nd Street Landing out of San Pedro report the bottom bite remains red hot with party boats returning loaded up on rockfish, whitefish, sanddab, and lingcod. Three-quarter day boats in Santa Barbara knocked out limits of classic autumn rockfish: vermilion, bocaccio, and starry eyes, with the occasional ling up to 16 pounds. Sizable sheephead are mixed in, particularly on structure and rocky outcroppings. San Pedro’s report card is stacked—Monte Carlo boats just this week had over 270 rockfish, 130+ whitefish, and halibut are starting to slide back onto the flats; try drift fishing squid or live anchovy on a dropper loop. The Native Sun got into some quality halibut, calico bass, and even a handful of bonito, signaling that the last pulse of warm water species is still in town. Up and down the coast, live bait—anchovies or sardines—has outperformed, but the plastic game remains strong. Swimbaits in sardine or mackerel patterns, metal jigs like the Ahi Assault or ColtSniper, and shrimp flies (especially tipped with squid) are all pulling numbers from Santa Monica Bay down through Newport and into San Diego. Deep-pointers are cashing in with 6 to 16 oz weights for the drop to 400-plus feet for big red rockfish and whitefish. Offshore, bluefin tuna are still haunting the banks west of San Diego. Point Loma Sportfishing just wrapped up their 3-day with 89 bluefin up to 170 pounds—these torpedoes are taking the usual spread: fly-lined sardines, slow-trolled mackerel, and heavy jerkbaits. For the big ones, take a shot with a popper at sunup. A couple of hot spots for today: head to the Palos Verdes Peninsula kelp line for a steady pick of legal calicos and late-season sheepshead, or run out to Rocky Point for rockfish and a chance at a kicker halibut. Northward, the Santa Barbara Channel reefs are stacked with quality lings and reds; the Stardust out of Santa Barbara Landing limited on rockfish almost every trip this week. Best advice: keep your rigs balanced—for inshore, 15–30 lb fluorocarbon leaders, and swap to braid top-shots when dropping deep. Best baits This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.