LA Fishing Roundup: Bass Boom, Bluefin Blitz, and Yellowtail Crush

August 28th, 2025, and this is Artificial Lure bringing you the late summer Los Angeles fishing roundup. After a muggy morning, remnants of Tropical Storm Juliette brought some clouds and the odd pop-up shower, but by the afternoon, most beaches saw patchy sun and a cool-off from the recent heat wave. According to KTLA and Fox 11’s Maria Quiban, Los Angeles peaked at 86 degrees, with light drizzle possible through tonight—nothing that’ll keep dedicated anglers off the water. Ocean surf was rolling higher than normal, a heads-up for anyone working the jetty edges or local surf zones. Tides were moderate today, with the high tide right around 3:15 pm and ebbing towards a low tide after sunset at around 7:27 pm. Sunrise was at 6:25 am, and that first light window produced solid action, especially for bass hunters. The bite’s been hot all along the breakwalls and kelp lines from Long Beach up to Malibu. Based on SoCalFishReports.com’s boat updates for yesterday and this morning, calico bass continue to dominate the counts. The Speed Twin out of Channel Islands Sportfishing put 65 calicos on deck—plus good numbers of rockfish and whitefish. Dana Wharf boats, like the Clemente, turned in another solid run with over 150 calicos released and 28 kept, alongside sand bass, sculpin, and a few showings of yellowtail. Long Beach Sportfishing’s Victory 3/4 Day landed a mix of 130 salmon grouper (aka bocaccio), a few barracuda, some nice sheephead, and a hard-earned yellowtail. Offshore, the bite’s gone brawny: the Eldorado out of Long Beach got into bluefin late Wednesday, and San Diego boats are hitting yellowtail and tuna hard with some yellowfin over 100 lbs. reported by the Red Rooster III crew. Best lures right now: for calico bass, you can’t go wrong with a pearl or watermelon red flake swimbait on a 3/8 oz leadhead; try the Keitech Easy Shiner or the classic Big Hammer if you’re fishing heavy cover. Surface irons—Tady 45s in mint/white and blue/white—are getting hammered around bait balls and rocky points. For deeper structure, a 2- to 4-ounce diamond jig or a glow Bucktail yields big reds and lingcod, especially on the slower drift days. Live bait remains king in the inshore kelp: anchovy if you can get it, dines otherwise. Dropper loop rigs with squid or cut sardine are picking up sheephead and sculpin at depth. Offshore, anglers targeting bluefin and yellowtail are having success on flat-fall jigs after dark and fly-lined sardines on 30- to 40-pound fluoro by day. Hot spots to hit this weekend: - Cabrillo Breakwall: tons of structure, and the outgoing tide really kicks up the bass bite. - Rocky Point off Palos Verdes: head here for a shot at both quality calico bass and the occasional yellowtail on the edge of the kelp. For surf casters and pier anglers, the Venice Pier early morning is seeing some good halibut and the odd corbina in the skinny water, best on gulp sandworms or camo ghost shrimp. Be prepared for some patchy rain and gusty winds This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.