Late Summer Slam: LA Anglers Score Big on Rockfish, Bass, and More

Artificial Lure here with your Saturday, August 16th fishing report for Los Angeles. Right now, local anglers are seeing textbook late-summer conditions: the weather’s mild, skies are mostly clear, and the bite has been steady. Water temps are warm and the clarity is good, so fish are active up and down the coast. Sunrise this morning is at 6:16AM and sunset’s at 7:37PM—plenty of daylight for long sessions on the water. Tides today shape up like this: high tide rolls through at 4:46AM around LA Outer Harbor with a modest 2.9 feet, dipping to low at 8:15AM at 2.56 feet. The big push hits mid-afternoon—high tide peaks at 3:37PM with a hefty 5.59 feet, which typically sparks good action near jetties and kelp beds. Look for slack water windows midday and after sunset to target stubborn bottom species. Recent catch data coming out of all the major landings continues to show hot bites on rockfish, whitefish, and bass. 22nd Street Landing boats are putting up big numbers—178 sculpin, 164 whitefish, 44 blue perch, 42 sand bass, 42 calico bass, 27 barracuda, and 19 bonito. Yellowtail are still in the mix, with 18 boated yesterday. Sheephead counts are solid, and cabezon are showing up if you’re working rocky bottoms. The Long Beach fleet hammered it yesterday as well, with 170 whitefish, 139 rockfish, and over 100 calico bass brought in. Redondo Beach charters found 80 whitefish, 24 calico bass, 17 rockfish, and a handful of sheephead[Dock Totals]. Sand bass and calicos are thick in the shallows, biting best at first light and late afternoon. The deeper reefs continue to produce lingcod and vermillion rockfish. Halibut are around, but remain a grind—typical for late summer, so cover lots of ground if you’re after flatties, and work those sandy drop-offs with flashy spoons or big swimbaits. Anchovies and squid have been the winning baits for bottom critters. If you’re fishing shallower zones or off piers, fresh ghost shrimp or market shrimp will tempt bigger perch and sheephead. For surface species like bonito, yellowtail, and barracuda, toss out chrome irons, blue and green mackerel-patterned hardbaits, or the classic Krocodile spoon. Bass guys, grab some plastic jerkbaits and tube jigs in motor oil or watermelon red; that’s been money for both calico and sand bass working structure. Monte Carlo’s report confirms anchovies made the difference yesterday in boating limits of reds, chuckleheads, salmon groupers, and a mixed rockfish bag. Two hot spots you don’t want to miss today: - **San Pedro Breakwater:** Rockfish, sculpin, and bass are stacked up on the deeper rocks, and yellowtail have been pushing through on the tide swings. - **Santa Monica Bay around Marina del Rey:** Early-morning sand bass bite is on fire, with calico and a few surprise barracuda cruising the kelp and eelgrass lines. If you’re boatless, hit the Venice Pier at high tide for perch, croaker, and the occasional halibut. Evening sessions around Cabrillo Beach jetty could yield a This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.