Night Surf Fishing Malibu 03-14-2014

Having not fished in almost a month, I was more than ready to hit the salt. So my main fishing buddy Brian and I headed to Malibu, CA to do some afternoon / evening fishing to see what we could catch. We arrived at 5:30 PM, low tide was a -0.05' @ 2:17 PM and high tide was a +4.17' @ 8:25 PM, sunset was at 6:03 PM and bait was squid.

I started off the catching for the day with a small 7-8" grass rockfish at 5:45 PM. Fishing was pretty slow after that until I got the next catch of the night at 7:33 PM, which was a nice 35+" leopard shark. In re-looking at my pictures below and how my measuring tape was not laid out properly it may have actually been big enough to keep (36"+) but if it is close I typically will release it just to be safe...those tickets are expensive (I hear) and the regulations are all their to ensure sustainability in the ocean fisheries. My next and final fish for the night was a fantastic, fat 19+" calico (kelp) bass which I caught at 7:54 PM. What a fish! Into the water bucket to keep it alive until I bleed it just before leaving and back to fishing, but no more fish for me tonight.

Brian got in on the catching at 9:00 PM, getting an 11" or so grass rockfish (see motion pic below). He followed that up with another grass rockfish at 9:10 PM which was about 8-9 inches. That closed out the catching for the night and we packed up and headed home at 9:30 PM, both happy fishermen. All fish were released except for the calico bass. Another great day / night of fishing in Southern California, gotta love it!

 Brian above

 Me Being Me

Surf Fishing Malibu 02-07-2014

Being bored and not feeling like doing much I decided to take a quick trip to Malibu, CA to do some surf fishing. I arrived at 11:43 AM, low tide was a +0.7' @ 11:08 AM and high tide was a +2.73' @ 6:36 PM. Bait was squid as always.

Fishing was pretty slow, but I did manage to catch one fish at 1:16 PM which was a 27" Leopard Shark, which was of course released since the minimum size to keep a Leopard Shark is 36" to keep. No action other than that. I packed it in and headed home at 2:40 PM, happy I had at least caught something during my short outing and, as always, refreshed from being at the beach.

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 01-29-2014

Having not fished in five days, I had the itch. So I checked the tides (and it was after a new moon) which were a low of -1.47' @ 2:32 PM and a high of +4.12' @ 8:47 PM. So headed for my favorite city Malibu, CA and arrived at 2:06 PM, about a half hour before the low. I love this particular spot at minus tides as I can walk out to where I am often fishing and scope out the terrain for future trips and I can cast way further out than I usually can.

Thinking the fishing would be hot because of the new moon, I was disappointed for the first three hours of not getting anything. But the whole day was changed at 5:02 PM when I miscast over a rock. When this happens I typically reel in fast as to not get snagged, which I did this time as well except I waited a second and my bait got HAMMERED. I knew right away it was a nice fish, either a big calico of medium sized shark, but I also knew I had to get whatever it was over that rock I cast over so I started reeling in like a mad man (like I usually do really, lol). This sucker fought me the whole way in trying to rock me and not coming to the surface, so I knew it was a Calico. After the battle was over and I climbed carefully to shore from the rock perch I was casting from I was able to celebrate and soak in the beauty I had just caught. A 20+" Calico Bass that weighed 4 pound 2.2 ounces after bleeding when I weighed it at home. What a fish! Biggest Calico I have caught to date for sure!

No more fish after that, but that one fish was enough for the day for sure. I was also treated to another gorgeous sunset and took a lot of "terrain" pictures while out knee deep in the trenches, lol. I headed home from one of my little paradises in Malibu, CA / sunny Southern California at 6:47 PM a very satisfied and happy fisherman. Bait was squid as usual.