Fishing Rod Rack

There are lots of boats to charter from Santa Barbara to the Mexican border. Here’s one list:

It’s arranged roughly from north to south, so scroll down. The bottom two-thirds are southern Cal.

Most (if not all) carry live bait, though if you want to fish using only artificials, that’s fine, too. (Years ago I went on a couple of artificial-only bottom fishing charters out of Ventura County, where there was no bait on board, but that’s rare. If you’re chartering the boat yourself, you can set the rules, though if there’s no bait on board it can cut down on the catch in most situations.)

The boats carry anywhere from 4-6 people up to 30+, so unless you have a big group or want to go on a small boat, you’re likely better off buying a ticket on one of the “open party” boats (they run out of the same landings, and are actually often the same boats as in the list I linked to above). Most landings rent out tackle; some of the charter boats provide tackle as part of the package.

As to what you’ll catch and how big, that depends on the area, the distance run to the fishing grounds, and the time of year. In the cooler months it’s mainly rockfish and other bottom fish, which average from 1 to 2 feet long (1 to 5 pounds) for the most part. In the summer, warmer water fish move into the area: inshore there are bass and barracuda (generally under 10 pounds), sometimes yellowtail and white seabass (both up to 30 pounds or so), while offshore there are often albacore or other tuna available (10-30 pounds, sometimes bigger).

Most of the landings and many of the boats have websites where you can get more information — there are links in the SportfishingReport.Com website above, as well as current reports.

If you are in Orange or LA county and do not want to make the trip to San Diego I would recommend Bongo’s Sportfishing. They are located in Newport Beach and they provide everything except a fishing license and food. I have fished several times with them and done very well.

h&m sportfishing 619 224 1144
fishermans landing
point loma sportfishing
you can rent tackle from the landing where the boat is. cost depends on trip ie 1/2 day, 3/4 day, full day…..the biggest fish my boat ever caught was 612lb…….san diego is doing yellowtail, white seabass, rock cod right now. hopefully tuna will bite soon. the other landings i listed are in the phone book or online or you can try choice sportfishing online also they have a bunch of our boats i think.