Over the winter the large amount of rain washed away many of my best bait spots. A friend told me about a spot in the bay where he kept seeing guys collecting bait so I thought I'd give it a try. I'd had heard a rumor of good fishing there too so I took my rod and hoped for the best.

Behdad with a nice spotfin.

Using an 8' rod matched with a 2500 spinner filled with 6lb mono I cast out with the greatest of hope.

Here were my rewards for two days of fishing (it was crazy good!!)

Corbina, Yellowfin Croaker, Spotfin Croaker, Halibut and Turbot--All fish were caght on the carolina rig. When you are fishing in a bay where there is very little current be sure to use a very light sinker and a 20"' to 30" leader. If you find an area with much more current go with a heavier sinker and shorter leader.

Because fish group in places like troughs and holes I always cast out then begin to walk slowly down shore (about 1 step every 30 seconds) and slowly drag my bait over a larger area. After walking 100 feet I cast out again and start over.

For me, bay fishing has always been best in the spring and fall. It seems that may be when the fish that hide inside calm water in winter make it out and back into the bay.

Next week holds some great morining high tides. Look for good corbina fishing and good crab catching. I would fish about 2 or 3 hours before the high tide and try for corbina that are sliding up with each successive wave to eat crabs.

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Good reports have been coming in for the last two weeks with the first corbina of the season being reported in several areas. Halibut fishing remains good with most fish being taken in or near the estuary openings in Huntington Beach, Newport Beach, San Diego and upper Santa Monica Bay. Also, and almost without saying: The perch bite remains great with quite a few 2 pound plus fish taken.

Last week we had a great on-the-beach seminar with the Fibber’s Fishing Club at Bolsa Chica State Beach. We took a few minutes going over rigging and how to hook both sand crabs and ghost shrimp then hit the surf.

Had a nice bite on perch and yellowfin croaker with everyone getting in on the action.

Weather conditions are just what we expect this time of year with morning fog and a south wind. We have just begun to get swells from the south and in just one day it really cleaned up the green water. The combination of both the south wind and south swells are great news because they push warm, clear water up from Mexico and bring the fish out to eat.

The later days of this upcoming week have some good tides. Look for good fishing and good bait catching for the next couple of weeks. I would again concentrate on fishing halibut around the upcoming grunion runs (check out the link to grunion runs and info on my front page) and pick up some sand crabs and fish for corbina near the estuary and harbor outlets. This is the time of year that they begin to move out of the warmer back bays and into the surf to feed on sand crabs.

I’ve announced the first summer on-the-beach surf fishing seminar. It’s at Crystal Cove State Park, Laguna, on Friday June 3, 2011. Go to my site and sign up now if you wish to get a reservation. The event includes bait and instruction and is free--so it will fill up fast!

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