Fished local kelp from Ledbetter to Goleta and general One Mile area yesterday. A few sublegal calico and sandies at outer beach kelp (35'), but lots more c&r action on legal and sublegal sandies and halibut(only 1 @19") from 35 to 60' in the general One Mile area. Numerous missed swings also. All fish were caught vertically jigging chovy color swimbaits 1 to 2 feet off the bottom. Although there was a lot of bait jumping all day, I did not fish the column because nearly all fish were metered at within a few feet from the bottom.

Could this be the start of the winter run or is it too soon?

Ask Larry about the beginning of the winter bass bite, I think he did ok today... ;-) I would say the winter bite is starting to take shape (and it's better than the frickin summer bite).
-Brian