Hey California Surf Fishing! (CSF) It’s late April 2023! The water is warming up and we’re back in full effect for what we are predicting may become the best year in California Surf Fishing ever witnessed! We’re already off to a great start for record surf fishing in California!
Torrential rain over the winter has washed an abundance of small striped bass into the ocean. The bite has been hot at sunrise from Guadalupe all the way up to Monterey. It’s time to grab a jerk bait and hit your favorite hole at sunrise! Hopefully, these same fish will double and triple in size over the coming years. This year weather will be swinging from a record-wet winter to a predictably warm year this summer. Especially the coast of California. That ought to be really good for Surf Fishing in California!
We're also seeing massive schools of short White Sea Bass swimming north from San Diego on their way up to Northern California. So get educated, get geared up, and get out there! Please handle these very delicate sub-legal White Sea Bass with care. If you know it's undersized, we encourage you to keep it in the water so it does not get injured by banging it's head on the beach. If it's a big fish and you intend to keep it, by all means, enjoy! The minimum size for these grey ghosts is 28" so keep a tape handy!
Check our Facebook group at California Surf Fishing (CSF) for fishing reports, tips, and to keep up with what’s biting where. Feel free to ask any questions, pics, vids, or useful links you may have.
Now, let’s get on with sharing some of this year's best member catches so far!
Mike's Tackle Box with his buddy @quiambao1980 halued in about 25 Striped Bass one morning recently while fishing the Battlestar 115 Jerkbait, Silver Sardine up in Monterrey. I personally can't wait for Mike to drop this video on YouTube! Subscribe to Mike's Tackle Box.
Mike de Leon has been absolutely destroying the Striped Bass in San Luis Obispo County. All caught on Battlestar 115, Silver Sardine, and Glow White Sardine.
Chris Smith lost count of all the striped bass he caught at low tide!
Reynald Delos Santos Viloria tried the Got’em Baits, Crawdad, Motor Oil in San Diego and it got a 14 incher! A large specimen for such southern waters.
Michael Ortiz caught this nice big starry flounder while fishing with shrimp up in San Simeon.
George Gonzales caught this beautiful barred surf perch in Carlsbad.
Rick Bettencourt's party caught 6 small stripers and 5 big barred surf Perch on HoneyBadgers perch grubs 2.
Jason Hill and Gary Kazazian put the smack down on some Calico bass while fishing Texas Rig swimbaits with the Battlestar Tackle XLS weighted swimbait hooks and 4.8" Keitech Rib Baits.
Jason Hernandez caught this nice Barred Sand Bass.
Njustice Kayason with a less common catch in the surf; a Horn Shark!
Cor Re with a big Corbina.
Brian Liz Montoya with a mondo Barred Surf Perch!
Daniel Navarro with a 15" Barred Surf Perch caught on honeybadgers bait.
Stuart Mason Helmintoller with a nice big Striped Bass he caught and quickly released.
Mischa Roth with a really nice Barred Surf Perch.
Anthony Tripicchio fished through high winds in North San Fransisco and caught this 11" Barred Surf Perch. His PB!
Edward Tomilloso with his biggest (so far) barred surf perch of 2023, while fishing a Deadly Jerkbait Retrieve with the Battlestar 115. Check it out on YouTube!
Gerardo Hernandez with his first-ever Spotfin Croaker.
Jim Whitten with some trout he caught at the lake.
Jeperson Mykham says, "It's a good day when you get a good one."
Sean B Lloyd with a beautiful Barred Surf Perch caught at Silver Strand State Beach.
Look at the size of this Barred Surf Perch caught by Samuel Larios Cardenas Sr. World record perhaps?
Dennis Upchurch with a Calico Bass caught on a Battlestar 115 Jerkbait. He likes to pause the bait and let it float up for a few seconds between deep dives.
Gavin Czach with a nice Cabezon.
Neil Macapagal with a stringer of striped perch.
Vincent Alexander with twin cabezon caught while fishing with Mansera Outdoors at Point Sal.
Bill Gardner with the most adorable catch of the day.
Christopher King with a stringer full of nice big Surf Perch.
Dennis Upchurch brought his buddy surf fishing and they both caught some priceless memories.
Brian El-Mahmoud beating the skunk at San Onofre.
Our precious Lisa Lewis with a spotted bay bass.
Gerardo Hernandez with a massive White Sea Bass he caught in Baja CA on a Texas Rig Swimbait.
Our guy Steve Williams doing what he loves down in Oxnard. We love you too Steve!
Jason Hill with his jumbo-sized Calico Bass caught on a TX Rig swimbait with Battlestar XLS 3/8oz Weighted Swimbait Hook and a Keitech 4.8" Fat Swing Impact.
Cor Re with a nice big California Halibut caught in the surf
After "1500 casts" Jose Ramirez caught this halibut in Mission Bay.
This is Ricky Chao's first catch in the surf this season.
And we saved the best for last. Gary Kazazian, author of 'California Surf Fishing - The Hunt For Big Fish' caught his personal best 38" California Halibut in April of 2023. Gary is a fishing mentor to many, and this time we get to say, Congratulations Gary! Check out his Surf Fishing Guide Service. WOW! You can follow Gary and his twin brother Kaspar on Instagram at @CaliforniaSurfFishing.
Speaking of Instagram accounts, we have also started a new California Surf Fishing (CSF) Instagram account (not to be confused with Gary and Kaspars account with whom we are closely affiliated) You can follow our official CSF group Instagram account @casurffishing. This account is purely dedicated to commemorating our member's greatest catches! Support our group of fishermen who share their experiences and fishing reports on our Facebook group: California Surf Fishing (CSF).
Speaking of Facebook Groups, the Fishing Ventura County FB group held a derby in March.
"Another derby in the books for FVC! It was a barn burner ending, with a buzzer-beating perch to take the perch division and a beast of a corbina to take the biggest fish division. We had two no-shows, so the pot was $560. A lot of fish were caught, and a blast was had! Will be putting together a slide show with all the pics taken, so if you have some, send em over. Thank you, everyone, for coming out!
Final results:
Chris Hurtado 12” barred surf perch
Winner Perch Division-$280
Gilbert Torres 20” corbina
Winner Biggest Fish Division-$280
(Both Categories)
Congratulations Gentlemen!
We at the CSF group are proud to advocate this great group of surf fishermen who share a passion not only for fishing but for strengthening the surf fishing community.
Another group that is doing a great job of building community, inspiring, and educating is the More Than Fishing group. They will be hosting the 2023 MORE THAN FISHING SURF FISHING TOURNAMENT JUNE 17 – 18, 2023 in PACIFICA, CA.
BIGGEST STRIPED BASS: $3,000.00
SECOND PLACE: $1,000.00
THIRD PLACE: $500.00
Geo Saniatan, the creator of Got 'Em Baits and YouTube channel GeoFish, has just launched a new perch bait, and it's shredding the perch and striped bass! Check these out. They look really yummy! You can buy them exclusively at BeenThereCaughtThat.com.
We are really stoked to announce the launch of a brand new Battlestar 115 Jerkbait color pattern, the MimiFishFish, Glow Pink Stardine. I met Mimi and her dad Rich last fall when we fished Point Parisma together. I suggested the idea that if Mimi would design a new color pattern for the Battlestar 115, I would produce it as a promotion for her YouTube channel. On the first day in stores, this bait was already smoking the Striped Bass and Halibut! We are excited to see what comes up on this bait this year! Buy one to fish with, and another to keep as a collector's item. This lure is hot!
We are also fully stocked on all of the other colors, so now is a good time to re-load your tackle box .
SILVER SARDINE
GLOW WHITE SARDINE
GLOW CHERRY CHOVY
GLOW SEXY SMELT
FRESH SHAD
GLOW GREEN MACK
GLOW RED HEAD
We are also fully stocked on Battlestar XLS Weighted Swimbait Hooks.
Available in 3 weights; 1/2oz, 3/8oz, and 1/4oz, so you can adapt to any conditions in a snap!
If you haven't discovered the power of the Modified Texas Rig, make this your year! No other rig is as weedless, able to fish through dirty water, and even be casted directly into kelp beds and reef rock. And, when combined with the right technique, no other hook is as Snag Resistant as the Battlestar XLS Weighted Swimbait Hook! Now you can fish long stretches of heavy structure beaches for Halibut, White Sea Bass, Calico Bass, Rockfish, Cabezon, Lingcod, and Striped Bass, without snagging! When used with a soft plastic rib bait, you also get the best hookset and lading ratio! It's a real game changer and we're excited for the California Surf Fishing Community to discover its power, and show us the fish! So this year, I will be publishing more videos on YouTube VINCE GOES FISHING to introduce this system and the specific techniques that the best fishermen in the surf are using to catch trophy fish! Subscribe to learn more!
Ask your local tackle shop for Battlestar Tackle!
Now available at:
Eric’s Tackle, Ventura
Hook Line Sinker, Santa Barbara
Been There Caught That, Santa Maria
The Outdoorsman, Arroyo Grande
Bob Sands Tackle, Van Nuys
Hyun’s Tackle Shop, Ventura
Blue Water Hunter, Santa Barbara
New Coastside Bait & Tackle, Pacifica
Bayside Marine, Santa Cruz
Central Coast Kayaks, Pismo Beach
We got a new shipment of California Surf Fishing (CSF) Performance Fishing Jerseys in stock! We now have all sizes available: S, M, L, XL, 2XL, 3XL, 4XL, in Black or Light Blue.
I am happy to announce the new Vince Goes Fishing blog is now up and running. It's another way to curate the VGF video catalog and other content. Subscribe by email at VinceGoesFishing.com
Speaking of blogs, have you subscribed yet, to Gary Kazazian's blog? I just love reading his stories of epic catch days in the surf! I know you'll love it too! Check it out!
I'd like to celebrate some particularly exciting surf fishing videos from some of our favorite YouTubers. In this video by DIE HARD FISHING, Adam discovers the Battlestar 115 Jerkbait!
This next video by Mike's Tackle Box is a celebration of Mike's best catches in 2022!
In one of the most exciting videos of the year, Edward Tomilloso of Hook2Cook discovers an absolutely deadly retrieve technique for fishing the Battlestar 115 Jerkbait when targetting trout.
I'd also like to share one of my own YouTube videos. I was really excited to discover Pocket Fishing for Rockfish here in San Luis Obispo. It really reminds me of Halibut fishing south of Point Conception. How refreshing! I can't wait to do a lot more of this in 2023, to share with you the power of the Modified Texas Rig, specifically when using the Battlestar XLS Weighted Swimbait Hook. Enjoy this episode of VINCE GOES FISHING.
Final Thoughts
I really believe 2023 is going to be a record year of surf fishing in California. I know we at Californi Surf Fishing (CSF) are all excited to share our catch reports, and also see what other are catching along in the surf. Please share your catch reports in the Facebook Group, and please include the county, conditions, and the bait you used. Tell the story of your catches in detail so we can "step into your boots" and experience it vicariously! Thanks for the thrill, everyone!
Fish Safe, Fish Legal, Fish Hard!
$1 CSF Stickers are in stock and shipping!