Author: Erik Landesfeind

June is usually a month of mixed fishing results but this one summer’s kick-off has been one of the most inconsistent in recent memory. Before I get into the not so consistent action, I’d like to talk about the very consistent tuna bite that’s been happening below the border. For weeks now, everyone from the San Diego full-day boats to the long-range fleet has been parked over massive schools of bluefin tuna. Nighttime continues to be the right time and boats are regularly scoring limits of fish from 50-pounds to over 200-pounds. While not all of the schools boats find…

While it’s been pretty nice along the beach this week, the wind has been blowing steadily at the islands and offshore. The good news is that the wind, which peaked on Wednesday, is forecast to come down over the weekend and stay away for at least the next week. That being said, the damage already having been done, it might take a few days for fishing to bounce back in the hardest-hit areas. Two of the areas hardest hit were the Channel Islands and San Nicholas Island. While the wind is coming down across most of the bite, it’s forecast…

It’s been another excellent week of fishing for both ends of the Southern California Bight. Boats up north are continuing to score limits or near limits of big seabass and the bluefin bite south of the border continues. In the meantime, the fishing in areas continues between just okay to pretty good depending on where you’re looking. With continued good weather in the weekend forecast, you’re going to have lots of good fishing options so let’s take a look at what’s happening and where. The seabass bite at the Channel Islands continued this week with many boats scoring limits or…

The fishing along most of Southern California improved greatly after the wind stopped hammering our entire coastline. While there’s still some wind forecast for the northern end of the bight through Saturday, there’s zero wind in the forecast, not even in the afternoons, for most of next week. Hopefully, the stable weather, as well as of coming off the full moon, should not only stabilize the fishing but improve it in some of the areas that are lacking. One of the areas that aren’t lacking is up at the Channel Islands where boats are catching quality seabass and some boats…

With the availability of advanced cartography on both our plotters and phone apps, it’s easier than ever to find deep water structure spots. While knowing exactly where to go will cut down on time spent driving around looking for places to fish, even in the best areas that knowledge alone usually isn’t enough to translate into consistent angling success. Sure, you may get lucky and stumble into a wide-open bite, but if you don’t understand what was happening when the fish bit, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to repeat your success again. Take for example this reef that lies off…

In case you haven’t checked the weather report lately, it’s been windy as hell on the water this week. The wind storm is forecast to blow itself out by the weekend, but with sustained winds exceeding 20 knots on Thursday and Friday, I’m not sure how pretty the fishing picture is going to be once it stops. That being said, the fish aren’t going anywhere and should resume biting once conditions straighten out. The big news over the weekend was the good bluefin fishing below San Clemente Island. On Saturday every sport boat from the full day trips through the…

It’s been another pretty good week of fishing across Southern California and the big news continues to be the bluefin bite. As has been the case in recent weeks, the bluefin bite has been sporadic with big scores coming late last week, before things slowed way down and then started to pick back up again. To add to the confusion, the biting fish seem to be moving about quite a bit, and the fish that bit yesterday aren’t necessarily going to be biting in the same spot today. That being said, both the full day, overnight and 1 1/2-day trips…

Erik Landesfeind, BD Pro Team member, demonstrates how to rig up three of his favorite rockfish rigs using lures and bait. Erik first demonstrates how he likes to build a rig for lingcod when fishing a larger bait like big mackerel, sanddab, or other large live baits. He first snells an Octopus offset circle hook and leaves a long tag upon which he ties a Gamakatsu 4X strong treble hook which tucks in the back of the bait to stick the lingcod when he bites partway back on the bait. He also uses a Superline solid ring at the top…

It’s been another week of good fishing across Southern California. Starting up north, the seabass fishing at the northern Channel Islands was great this week with most boats reporting limits the last few days. Earlier this week they were forecasting lots of wind for that zone over the weekend, but as of Friday morning, the forecast has backed off quite a bit. My advice to anyone planning a trip up there soon would be to check the weather before heading out. Boats not targeting seabass have been reporting excellent rockfishing along the Santa Barbara coastline as well as at the…

While the weekend’s full moon had a negative impact on some fisheries, overall its been another good week of spring fishing. Better yet, a few recent catches indicate that we might be at the beginning of a more “normal” summer season. I put normal in parenthesis because it’s been long enough that we’ve seen the old normal that it may no longer be recognizable. Anyway, the first sign of “normal” came with a few scores on nice barracuda along the Ventura coast last week. In the past, that area has been the first place that the barracuda show up before…

It’s been a mixed bag of weather across Southern California this week. With hot temperatures over the weekend followed by cool overcast and sometimes windy weather the rest of the week, it feels like a cross between winter and June Gloom. Intrepid Sportfishing Whatever the case, spring has arrived and water temps are grudgingly starting to creep above 60-degrees in some areas. While that’s good news, these water temps are a very far cry from the mid-’60s that have been this season’s norm the last half-decade. For any of you that have been holding off on going fishing to wait…

Well, it’s been another mostly windy week across much of Southern California, but the good news is that the fish are biting nonetheless. This week’s top story continues to be the bluefin tuna bite that’s happening within 1 1/2-day range of San Diego. The boats that made the run south this week found lots of fish and got some of them to bite, putting fish to 160-pounds on deck. These fish are biting well on flat fall jigs in the dark and then are switching over to both fly-lined and sinker-rigged sardines. If you’re heading down on a trip this…

Though the wind continues to be a factor up north and on the outside, it’s been another week of improved fishing across Southern California. The bluefin are finally starting to cooperate down south, the yellows are biting at the Coronado Islands, and boats fishing from San Diego to Santa Barbara are starting to catch something other than just rockfish. It looks like we’re going to be stuck in this Catalina Eddy weather pattern through the weekend but the outside winds back off mid-next week and the improved conditions should make for even better fishing. Starting down south, the 1 1/2-day…

It’s amazing what a week of semi decent weather can do for the fishing in Southern California. For the first time in weeks, we were able to string together almost a week’s worth of nice days and the fish responded despite water temps in the low to mid-fifties in most areas. We’ve got a lot to cover, so let’s just jump right into the reports. Starting up north, the weather laid down enough last weekend to make long runs possible. Matt Kotch and I took advantage of the weather window to launch out of Santa Barbara on Saturday morning and…

Erik Landesfeind created this video to show the tackle, lures, and presentations you’ll need to target shallow water rockfish on a private or sport boat.

I wish that I had some great fishing to report on today but this has been one of the windier weeks in one of the windier months we’ve had in a very long time. March tends to be windy in general but this seems like the first real March we’ve had since the Blob showed up back in late 2014. While the rough conditions have kept most of the fishermen home this week, I believe that the change in weather patterns from previous years indicates that something bigger is happening. With the coldest water temps we’ve seen in years along…

It’s been yet another week of mostly bad weather and things aren’t looking to promising for next week either. That being said, the weatherman definitely missed last weekend’s forecast by a mile. They were calling for wind up north and outside, with calm weather along the beach and down south. Sounds like the guys up north had very fishable weather while we got rain and 15 plus knots of wind in San Diego Bay. This weekend’s forecast is looking similar with wind at the Channel Islands, Nic, SBI, and Clemente. Cat looks windy but fishable, the Coronado’s and the local…

BD’s Erik Landesfeind is optimistic about the weather and the fishing that SoCal anglers might expect for the coming weekend. He sums up recent fishing reports and offers his predictions.

Erik Landesfeind sums up the SoCal rockfish season opener. Great fishing was had despite some wind and Erik predicts what the weekend will hold in store for anglers chasing a variety of rockfish.

There are three basic gangion designs that will cover every circumstance you’ll encounter while targeting rockfish. It doesn’t matter if you’re on a private boat or fishing on a sport boat, using the right gangion will make a huge difference in the amount of fish that you catch.

Erik Landesfeind explores the vast improvements in marine electronics and their charting features which can greatly improve your fishing game for any structure-oriented fish like rockfish.

I recently took a trip to a stretch of coast I’d never fished and just hopscotched from one piece of structure to the next, catching limits of reds and wasting zero time looking around. It’s so easy that it feels like cheating.

Erik Landesfeind has great news for the fishing and not as great news for the weather. The rockfish opener is one to watch, but new rockfish regulations and good fishing will make it worth the trip.

Erik Landesfeind keeps his finger on the pulse of SoCal fishing using first-hand fishing experience and his network of fishy friends.