Springtime Halibut, Surfperch, and Calicos off the California Coast

This is Artificial Lure with your Pacific Ocean, California fishing report for Saturday, April 19, 2025. First light came at about 6:20 a.m., and sunset is expected right around 7:40 p.m. The weather has been classic spring coastal—partly cloudy, with temps starting in the high 50s and topping out in the upper 60s. Winds are light from the northwest, staying under 10 knots for most of the day, so the surf is manageable and makes for good fishing conditions. Tidal movement features an early morning high tide followed by a dropping tide through most of the morning. This kind of swing usually gets the inshore fish feeding near structure and drop-offs. Now, onto the fishing. Halibut have been the main story up and down the beaches from Santa Monica to Huntington. The bite’s been best on the inside troughs during the last couple hours of the rising tide and just as it starts to drop. Anglers are hooking decent numbers of legal fish, with plenty of shorts in the mix. Most successful folks are running live bait like sardines, small mackerel, anchovy, and top smelt, or drifting fresh dead bait on a Carolina rig. If you’re looking for artificial action, long-casting sinking twitch baits and swimbaits rigged weedless and slow-rolled near the bottom are top choices—match the hatch with yellowfin croaker-style patterns or natural shad colors for results[1][5]. Surf fishers are also getting into barred surfperch on the open beaches, especially near river mouths and deeper troughs. Gulp! sandworms and bloodworm imitations fished on a hi-lo rig are hard to beat. There’s also been a good showing of corbina in the skinny water, and while they’re picky, small ghost shrimp or sand crabs dug at the waterline can do the trick. In the rocky and kelp zones off Palos Verdes and South Orange County, the bite for calico bass and a few sheephead has stayed steady, mostly on paddletail swimbaits, shrimp lures, and bucktail jigs tipped with squid strips[2][4]. For those targeting sharks, leopard sharks are around the flats and estuary mouths. Use a Carolina rig with a chunk of fresh mackerel or surf perch cut-bait on a wire leader for best results[5]. A couple of hot spots: try the Bolsa Chica State Beach jetty early for halibut, and hit the Santa Monica pier area as the tide starts to turn. Both zones have seen good numbers of fish in the last week. Overall, the action is solid and the spring transition is in full swing. Bring your best bait, work the structure and troughs during the moving tides, and be ready for a mixed bag. Tight lines from Artificial Lure—see you on the beach. This content was created in partnership and with the help of Artificial Intelligence AI.