SoCal Saltwater Slam: Barracuda, Bass, and Sheephead Bite on the LA Waterfront

Alright anglers, this is Artificial Lure with your Los Angeles fishing report for Saturday, June 21st, 2025. Today’s shaping up to be a classic SoCal summer day. We’re looking at a sunrise at 5:43 AM and sunset rolling in at 8:06 PM. The tidal swing is solid for morning action: Low tide hits at 1:03 AM at just 0.19 feet, giving way to a high tide at 7:11 AM peaking at 3.37 feet, then another low tide at 11:55 AM at 1.8 feet, and finally a substantial late afternoon high at 6:34 PM topping out at 6.25 feet. If you can, time your outings for those dawn and evening highs—those moving water periods are primetime for active feeders, especially around piers, jetties, and structure. Weather’s what you’d expect mid-June: warming up quickly after sunrise, daytime temps soaring into the 90s, with humidity creeping in. Pack your sunscreen and plenty of water out there. Let’s talk what’s biting. According to Captain Experiences, local boats are putting anglers on solid mixed bags of sculpin, sheephead, and whitefish, with good numbers still coming out of both four and six-hour trips. The breakwall off Long Beach is firing for calico bass and barracuda, and don’t sleep on the sheephead, which are hungry for a well-presented strip of squid or a shrimp-tipped jig. Reports from So Cal Fish Reports yesterday show steady catches of rockfish, sheephead, lingcod, whitefish and some calico bass—so bottom bouncers and structure hounds are having a great week. For you lure chuckers, morning high tide is the ticket if you’re working plastics or hardbaits for bass along the rocks and harbor entrances. Swimbaits in natural sardine or anchovy patterns and 3-5 inch jerkbaits work well for calicos and sand bass. Barracuda are crushing flashy spoons and chrome surface irons at first light, especially near the breakwalls and harbor mouths. If you’re headed out with natural bait, nothing beats live anchovies or sardines on a dropper loop for whitefish and rockfish. Sheephead are keyed on crustaceans—bring squid or fresh shrimp if you want that big “goat.” For the surf casters, try bloodworms or sand crabs for perch and occasional corbina as the water warms up. Hot spots right now? The Long Beach breakwall tops the list for mixed bag action—barracuda, bass, and sheephead abound. The Santa Monica Pier is a great choice for shore-bound anglers, with mackerel and some decent halibut reports coming in this week. To recap: capitalize on those dawn and dusk high tides for best fish activity, bring both bait and artificials to match what’s working, and don’t forget your sun protection for those hot SoCal days. Thanks for tuning in to today’s report. Make sure to subscribe so you never miss your daily dose of fishing intel. This has been a Quiet Please production, for more check out quietplease dot ai. This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.