Erik Landesfeind

Erik Landesfeind is BD's Southern California Editor and has over 30 years of experience saltwater fishing for a range of species in both California and Mexican waters. Erik is also an active freelance writer and the author of the weekly column So Cal Scene, which BD publishes every Friday. In So Cal Scene, Erik keeps all of the BD readers up to date on what's biting in Southern California. Erik divides his fishing time on local boats, long-range trips and Mexico excursions. For the past eight years, Erik has been competing in the SWBA (Saltwater Bass Anglers) tournament series and has multiple tournament victories to his credit. His sponsors include Batson Enterprises / Rainshadow Rods, Robalo Boats, Tilly's Marine, Abu/Garcia, Penn Reels, Navionics, Raymarine, MC Swimbaits, Uni-Butter Fishing Scent and Bladerunner Tackle.

Articles: 629

Erik Landesfeind Articles

Fishing Fishing Gear Fishing Line Fishing Lures Fishing Reels Fishing Rods Fishing Tackle How To Fish

Calico Bass Essentials,Tricks & Tips with Erik Landesfeind

At the root of it we’re all anglers but when you start to dissect the practice as a whole those that take it seriously are highly specialized and that really just comes down to what your personal preference in fishing style is. Your specialization may …

Fishing Reports

Southern California Bight Fishing Report with Erik Landesfiend 4/28/22

A lot is going on in the Southern California Bight in regard to fishing and conditions. In this installment, Erik Landesfiend breaks down our current wind cycle and its effects on our local fishing, talks CCA fishing tournament, breaks down our local fishing scene, and …

Fishing Fishing Reports

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BIGHT: FISHING REPORT | 03/24/2022

The weather is finally starting to cooperate here in the Southern California Bight, which means we’ll finally be getting some coverage out in our local waters. There have been some whispers of yellowtail, bluefin, white sea bass, rockfish and bonito. Erik Landesfeind one of our …

Fishing Fishing Reports

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BIGHT: FISHING REPORT | 03/17/2022

We are rounding out the third week of March and for many of us who call the Southern California Bight our backyard, we are waiting in anticipation for the main fishing season to kick off. Well, it sounds like that time is finally here with …

Fishing Fishing Reports

FISHING REPORT ROUNDUP WITH ERIK LANDESFIEND: WEEK OF 3/10/2022

ROCKFISH BITE WHEN WEATHER COOPERATES It’s been another week of hit and miss weather and it doesn’t look like that’s going to change anytime soon, so I’m going to start this week with a weather report. Starting up north, the weather looks sport boat fishable …

Fishing Fishing Reports

ROCKFISH OPTIONS

After having to sit out this year’s rockfish opener due to a bad back and busy work schedule, I was really looking forward to catching some this weekend. Sadly, after consulting the weather forecast, which is calling for 30 knots of wind across the inner …

Fishing Fishing Reports

CALICO AND SAND BASS BITE BEFORE THE STORM

There was some pretty decent wintertime bass fishing to be had over the weekend, but this week’s storm was likely strong enough to hit the reset button on the conditions in the hardest-hit areas. While we didn’t get much rain, there was quite a bit …

Fishing Fishing Reports

MIXED WEATHER WITH MIXED BAG FISHING

It’s been an interesting week of weather across Southern California with warm Santa Ana’s interspersed with cold west wind and thunderstorms. The good news is that the weather is forecast to settle down for the weekend and I doubt Tuesday’s storm was significant enough to …

Fishing Fishing Reports

WARM WEATHER AND BITING FISH IN THE FORECAST

After spending the last two weeks beating our heads against the wall at Clemente, it felt really good to sleep, make a ten-minute run instead of a two-hour run, and enjoy a fun day of mixed bass fishing along the coast. While it took looking …

Fishing Fishing News

YOU SHOULD KNOW ABOUT THE COASTAL CONSERVATION ASSOCIATION: CALIFORNIA CHAPTER

Maybe it’s a byproduct of the information age we live in, but it seems that we’re constantly being bombarded with a barrage of ads for special interest groups, non-profits, and political organizations. As such, it’s human nature to turn a blind eye to even those …

Fishing Fishing Reports

GOOD WINTER FISHING IN SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA BIGHT

It’s been another week of good winter fishing across Southern California. Well, at least for those who aren’t too hard headed to adjust to what the fish are biting. Case in point, I’ve made two trips to San Clemente Island over the last couple of …

Fishing Fishing Reports

GOOD WEATHER OUTLOOK FOR THE WEEKEND. GET OUT THERE!

The header shot was taken on the FISHDOPE app and shows Saturday looking pretty nice. So, other than a little bit of wind blowing off Ventura and hitting Anacapa, the rest of the So Cal Bight is open for business. Good luck if you’re heading …

Fishing Fishing Gear Fishing Line On The Line

SEAGUAR’S TACTX: BRAID WITH A PURPOSE

As an outdoor writer, I often get asked to test drive the latest and greatest products and when it comes to fishing line, the “latest and greatest” often ends up being indistinguishable from the products that have been on the market for years. As a …

Fishing Fishing Reports

A Week of Mostly Good Winter Fishing

It’s been another mostly good week of wintertime fishing in Southern California. I added the word “mostly” because at this time of year the fishing can change day by day at any given location and if you’re lucky to time it right you can have …

Fishing Fishing Reports

Decent Fishing to Ring in the New Year

Happy 2022 everyone! Due to the holidays, it’s been a while since my last report, but trust me when I tell you that you haven’t missed much. With the amount of weather we’ve had the last few weeks, there wasn’t much happening even when it …

Fishing Fishing Reports

Steady Fishing Despite Unsteady Weather

Watching the clouds roll in and the palm trees sway outside my office window this Thursday morning, makes me glad that I’m not out on the water today. While today’s storm isn’t forecast to bring all that much rain, there’s another, and much bigger, system …

Fishing Fishing Reports

Stable Weather and Good Fall Fishing

Despite the weather changing from hot and dry to cool and damp, the winds have remained reasonably calm on the water over the last couple of weeks and the fishing has been as good as you’d expect it to be at the beginning of December. …

Bluefin Close-up

Bluefin Close-up

Fishing Reports

Good Weather and Good Fall Fishing

It’s been another week of good weather and good fall fishing across Southern California and, with Santa Ana conditions through the weekend, that’s likely to continue. Before I get into the details of what’s been happening, I’d like to take a moment to talk about …

Pacific Bluefin Tuna

Pacific Bluefin Tuna

Fishing Reports

Bluefin Bite Rebounds

Though far from being wide open, the bluefin bite has rebounded at the Cortes and Tanner Banks. Sport boats fishing on 1 1/2 to 3 day trips had multiple shots at good size fish that have been biting both during the night and day. There …

Tuna Jumping

How to Become a Better Tuna Fisherman

Regardless of the species targeted, there are some fishermen who’s consistent success makes them stand out from the crowd. Among those who don’t experience the same level of success, it’s easy enough to attribute the track record of these better fishermen to the fact that …

Paddy Fishing - Liberty Sportfishing

Paddy Fishing - Liberty Sportfishing

Fishing Reports

Another Slow Week of Fall Fishing

While the fat lady hasn’t sung yet on our offshore fishing season, you can definitely hear her warming up in the background. It’s been a while since any big bluefin were landed at the outer banks and while there were a few smaller fish caught, …

Califco Bass Swimbait

Califco Bass Swimbait

Fishing How-to Videos Fishing Tackle Video

Modifying Lead Heads for a Better Hook Up Ratio

For as voracious as deep water bass and rockfish can be, anyone that’s spent time fishing them with a big plastic on a lead head can tell you that the bite to hook up ratio is often surprisingly low. While I’d always chalked that up …

Bight Sportfishing Swordfish

Bight Sportfishing Swordfish

Fishing Reports

Offshore Action Stumbles Along

Be it due to the weather or a lack of angler participation, our offshore season is starting to feel like it’s winding down. Aside from the bluefin biting out west, it’s been at least a month since there’s been anything worth targeting in US waters. …

Seasons Sportfishing

Seasons Sportfishing

Fishing Reports

Tough Fishing After Wind Storm

Well, we had our first dose of strong northwest wind of the season earlier this week, and as expected, it had a negative effect on the fishing. While there hasn’t been enough coverage since the wind to get a handle on exactly what’s happening, looking …

This site uses cookies to help personalise content, tailor your experience and to keep you logged in if you register.
By continuing to use this site, you are consenting to our use of cookies.

Accept Learn more…