BAY SLAY

an insider look at some of our best

bays to fish with some of the best

local captains from around the country

VIDEO FEATURING: CAPTAIN ERIC RISEN

SAN DIEGO BAY

STATE: CALIFORNIA

KEY SPECIES: Halibut, Spotted Bay bass, calico bass, c0rbina, corvina, assortment of sharks and rays.

TACKLE:

Reel: Penn Fathom Low profile 200/ ROD: Carnage iii inshore CARINIII815C70

REEL: PENN CLASH SPINNING REEL 3000/ rod: battalion ii inshore BATINII612S76

San Diego Bay is the third largest of the natural bays in California, plainly put it’s big and deep. The main channel of the bay being able to handle in and out passage of the largest cruise ships and military battle ships. The bay holds a ton of infrastructure that has been developed for military as well as all its urban operations to support its shoreline metropolis. All this man-made infrastructure equates to fishable structure.

The range of habitats is as diverse as the fishery from sandy shallow flats, deepwater rockpiles to military docks and servicing area. As for the fishery, San Diego doesn’t have the bay fishery that the east coast in general enjoys, meaning it lacks the bigger gamefish that makes inshore so much fun in those areas. What it lacks in quarry size it makes up in variety and accessibility. In San Diego Bay you’re pretty much able to put together a day on the water 365 days a year in search of various species to target.

Fishing techniques vary, but a great aspect of the fishery is being able to rely predominantly on artificial lures. While live or fresh bait is king, it’s not always a necessity and variety of GULP scented baits and Berkley hard baits, can often equal or out fish baits. Another great component around the San Diego Bay fishery is that for being next to one of the largest cities in the United States the fishing pressure is relatively light. The fishery is very healthy and as conservation efforts have been implemented around species we are seeing our stocks improving all around.

Lastly, one of the great and favorite things about fishing San Diego Bay is versatility. San Diego is in the Southern California Bite and as things warm up, we tend to see migrations of several species into our waters this is speaking predominantly for the offshore areas. It does also apply for the inshore areas at times, and we often get surprised with unexpected visitors into San Diego Bay which includes and is not limited to bonefish, barracuda, bonito and more.