South Coast Fish Report

Provided by Dana Wharf Sportfishing

Water temperatures pushed up a bit this week, and 69-70 degrees appears to be pretty steady along the coast here.

Bass fishing was a bit slow this week, with some really washed-out stretches of beach due to the swell we’ve had. We still found some areas that were producing for calico bass on flylined baits. Artificial lures also got bites, including swimbaits, surface iron and, once again, the A-rig, which was the hot fish catcher on the non-bait side.

There were also some sculpin and a little bit of rockfish in the mix on a few days as a fallback option.

We’ve been seeing some yellowtail off the beach on kelps anywhere from 3 to 10 miles offshore. A few fish caught this week weren’t small, as this grade of fish has been an impressive 15 to 25 pounds. With that warm water pushing in, we’ll definitely be keeping tabs on the offshore stuff. We anticipate more fish filling in. As a side note, the New San Mateo got a hook into a dorado Saturday on its way to the island. The hook pulled, unfortunately, but it’s still a super cool sign of things to come.

At Catalina, it’s been a nice mix of bass, bonito and some yellowtail. Flylined sardines have been best on the yellowtail for sure. The yellows seem to be a mixed grade, with some smaller fish under 10 pounds and some better-grade fish pushing 29-plus pounds.

At San Clemente Island, the Fury has been having some solid shots at yellowtail. The fish there have been in the 15- to 30-pound range, with some real quality mixed in. It hasn’t been an everyday deal, but it’s been good enough to spend the mornings on it before transitioning to some great calico bass fishing as well. There have been limits of bass for anglers wanting to keep fish and take them home, but there has also been plenty of catch-and-release action. Sinker anglers have had nice counts of whitefish and sheephead, too. Along the kelp lines, the bonito have provided some fun surface action as well.