hi, i just moved here from england a few months ago. got my fishinglicense sorted last week and now i want to start targeting whatever fish theres worth catching. pitty you dont have cod but eh nevermind.
i'm not much of an artificials user, since theres not much shore fishing of that kind in england except when the macks are running.
i tried huntington harbour the other day and got a tiny ray on squid, anchovy and sardines didnt do anything.

i would really appreciate somekind of reply.

thanx and have a brilliant 4th of july

chris

Chris, give Newport Bay a try, you can rent a skiff with live bait. Call Daveys Locker, its a lot of fun, post a report after you go........

chris, for halibut and bass, try alamitos bay or huntington harbor. the halibut love live smelt, and i've hit bass on just about everything (anchovies, smelt, mussels, squid, plastics). for perch and corbina, try fishing the surf at bolsa chica or sunset. i'd suggest ghost shrimp, mussels, or chunk anchovies. for shark and rays, try squid and chunk bait at night at any of the local piers (seal, huntington, or balboa).

good luck!

hi, thank you so much for your replies.
i think i'm gona check out seal beach tonight. and rent a skiff sometime next week.

chris

Chris,
Welcome to California. I'd hook up with ya for a fishin' trip but I live 500 miles north of you. I did live in your area for 5 years though.
Where in England are you from? My family is from the Stockton area which is in N.E. England along the coast... more or less.

We do have cod albeit a different kind of cod than you probably have back home. Well, ours aren't really true cod but they taste similar. They're called rockfish here.

If you're fishing from shore or from a tube, a lot of guys like to catch live smelt for bait, then drift for halibut. You can get info on catching the smelt and 'buts on www.baytubers.com. They get some really nice ones. Another option is surf perch fishing. Use small plastic grubs or sand crabs to catch them.

There's a lot of options available here. E-mail me if ya want more info. I've fished this state for 30+ years and will tell you anything you want to know.

Chris Youlden

if you don't mind me asking, what are the prices on the skiff rentals? and live bait?

Hey Chris and welcome to the greatest place on earth. If you would post how you plan on fishing (for example: casting from shore, float tubing, by boat, ect.) you will get a much more specific response and a lot of great of information. I like to float tube and occasionally fish by boat in the Long Beach, Belmont Shores, and San Pedro areas. If you would like to meet down on the beach for some early morning float tubing with live smelt, just say so and I can meet you down there sometime. It's not hard to find good and knowledgable fishing partners on this forum. They are all a buch of great people with a lot of information to share.

Fish-On!
Terry G.

hi,
thanks for your replies. i went fishing at huntington beach harbour on warner on friday. had some good knocks and then fowlhooked a stingray which stung me in my effin finger. i havent sworn that much in my entire life. that was worse than toothache and on top of that it made me freak out. i could feel the numbness travel up my arm. i honestly thaught it would go to my heart and i would die. it eventually went away after i drained the wound out with hot water and vinegar.. ahh

then on saturday i tried newport harbour of the boulder next to the beach. got a good bass on squid. this guy next to me was catching hallibut nearly every cast with live smelt. of course i didnt have anything to catch smelt so i was bummed.
whats the easiest way to catch them?

right now i'm just fishing of shore, dunno about floattubing on my own just now but i'm definitely gona get one of them in time.

chris

Coquet,

I feel your pain. Glad to hear you are ok.

Regarding the smelt: Just use the search function and look up Quietman's post on catching smelt. Very informative.

cheers, i just got something at walmart i read about on the baytubers website ( thanks chris).
i'll do that search now.

chris

www.baytubers.com is a great float tubing site. it is based in california and has great forums!



joe

Your welcome. :)

i havent been able to get on here for a while.
thanks to peoples help i've managed to get somewhat familiar with the fishing around here.
i caught my first yellowfin croaker today, looked like a wrasse to me.
over the last few weeks i caught a leopard shark, 2 sandsharks, plenty of rays and sandbass, a kelpbass?? or something, 4 halibut, perches and a mermaid on my picture.

chris

Chris, if you have some heavy gear...Give it a try with a whole squid in Newport Bay. My girlfriend wanted to go night fishing so we launched my boat In Newport bay last night and hooked up to 8 and landed 5 Bat Rays 3 of them were in the 100lb range, we really had a blast and the rain and lightning made it even more legendary, we really got our butts kicked on 40lb test, I caught some crazy eel thing with teeth that was around 3 feet long, time flew by and we didn't get back to the launch ramp till 3 A.M..lol. It was a fun trip and its nice to leave the bass gear at home sometimes and try something different. The only dissapointment is the $15 launch fee in Newport, $15 for a couple hours and my girlfriend couldn't even find a restroom to use before we launched. We pulled up to Davies locker at 1 a.m and she used the head on the Freelance......Good Luck.....Warren