Surf Fishing During Sunrise In Malibu 02-05-2014

Having not fished in about a week, I had the itch so I headed to my favorite local fishing area, Malibu, CA. I arrived at 6:28 AM which was about 20 minutes before the scheduled sunrise at 6:49 AM. The time just before and during sunrise (and sunset) are typically great times for pictures and I was treated to yet another spectacular sunrise on this day. To the fishing and details. Bait was squid, low tide was a +1.09' @ 8:01 AM and high tide was a +2.99 @ 1:43 PM. First fish of the day was a small 6" grass rockfish at 6:36 AM, that I did not even bother taking a picture of (well, I really just forgot to be honest, lol). Next fish up was an 11.5" buttermouth perch at 6:42 AM. Hot doggy, fishing is starting out hot! After releasing the perch (PDF link) since I do not like the texture of them fishing slowed considerably. That is fishing, one minute it is hot, the next it is not, lol. My next and final fish for the day was another grass rockfish, which was about 11" and caught at 9:40 AM. I did catch another grassy at some point, because I made note of it, but I forget the time and size. I moved around a bit and kept fishing even though it was slow for another hour and a half not catching anything else. All fish released this day, I will get the bigger models another day. Another great day of fishing in sunny Southern California. Some pretty cool pics below if I do say so myself, lol. Enjoy!

 

Surf Fishing Malibu 01-04-2014

I surf fished in Malibu alone from 6:21 AM till 10:01 AM. Low tide was 1.45' @ 5:47 AM and high tide was 5.46' @ 11:03 AM. Bait was squid. My first catch of the day was an unusual one, a just short of legal sized lobster (I always have my gauge with me, and of course I released it because it is illegal to take lobster via hook and line) at 7:14 AM. The next catch was a nice 13" grass rockfish caught at 7:25 AM which I kept. I then caught an 11" or so black sea perch aka butter mouth perch at 7:50 AM, which was hit by something on the way in because it's tail was damaged and bleeding a bit (see pic). After releasing the perch (I do not like to eat perch) my final catch of the day was a 10.5" grass rockfish at 8:26 AM, which I released to get bigger and make babies :). I should have left at this point, but like to fish a minimum of four hours when fishing is good...well the extra hour and a half I stayed resulted in three lost weights, four lost hooks and zero fish, lol. Oh well, still a great day of fishing in Malibu!

Surf Fishing Malibu 09-20-2013

Decided to hit up Malibu alone since Brian was busy and I couldn't sucker anyone else into joining me, lol. Arrived at my spot for the day at 5:35 PM and left around 8:30 PM (short session for me, as the best laid plans don't always work out. I was counting on fishing till high tide with a nice bright full moon lighting the waters, however the thick layer of clouds did not allow much light through and the bite died at sundown). Low tide was at 4:40 PM at 0.16 and high was at 10:43 PM at 4.77. Anyways, fishing was pretty decent with me catching the first fish at 5:47 PM, which was a medium sized butter mouth perch. Next fish was an 11" or so grass rockfish at 6:04 PM. The next, and last, fish caught was another 11" or so grass rockfish caught at 6:29 PM. Had a few other nibbles before sunset at 6:55 PM, but not even a bite after that. It was nice to catch some fish though :). All fish released, bait was squid as usual.

Surf Fishing Malibu 09-05-2013

After going almost a week without any fishing, I was more than ready to hit the water. I fished from 6:25 AM till 10:55 AM. Low tide was a 0.26 at 3:50 AM and high tide was a 4.69 at 9:57 AM. Bait was squid. Fishing was pretty slow, but it was nice to be out on the water. Caught my first fish of the day at 8:13 AM, which was a 10-11" cabazon (didn't measure it, just eyeballed it). My second and last fish for the day was a small and interestingly colored buttermouth / black perch at 8:49 AM. Fishing may have been slow, but it was nice to at least catch something after so long :).

Surf Fishing Malibu 08-25-2013

Running a little behind on my posts since Google decided to change the photo editor in Picassa...grrr.

Anyways, I got to Malibu around 5:55 AM and Brian arrived a little after 7:00 AM and we left around Noon. We fished the incoming tide most of the day with a low tide of -.037 at 4:44 AM and high tide of 5.11 at 10:53 AM. Bait was squid all day.

I caught my first fish at 6:10 AM which was a 22" leopard shark. I didn't catch anything else until 8:27 AM, which was a decent sized black aka buttermouth perch. Brian got his only fish of the day at 10:28 AM which was a huge 20" Johnny Bass aka Olive Rockfish, best fish of the day by a long shot. I closed out the catching with a small cabazon at 11:29 AM. Kind of a slow day of fishing, but at least we caught some fish :). Everything but the bass were released.

Surf Fishing Malibu 11-25-2012

Fished the Malibu spot from about 5:45 AM to 11:00 AM. Caught a small leopard shark, a 16.5" Yellow Fin Croaker, a small grass rockfish, a nice sized buttermouth perch and a 12" or so cabazon. All caught on squid.