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Written by Nerdy
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This is an intro to fishing both San Diego and mission bay. It is to answer a lot of frequently answered questions around these boards. First, ill start with San Diego bay.
San Diego bay is the place to be for catching a much larger number of fish as well as a greater variety of species. The most common target is spotted bay bass, which can be targeted throughout the year. Many lures will catch spotties, but the most popular are swimbaits (usually small sizes, like 2-4 inches, with a ¼ to ½ ounce leadhead), spinnerbaits, and crankbaits. For large numbers of spotties, the south bay flats are usually productive. These flats are located south of the bridge between the channel and the opposite side of the bay. The depth is shallow, anywhere from 2-12 feet deep, depending on the tides, so be careful while running across them, especially at low tide. Gear used to tackle fish in this area is usually pretty light; anywhere from 2-8 pound is usually the most popular. Anything over that is overkill for these spotties. The most common methods of retrieve are the simple cast and retrieve method. Simply cast your lure out, let it settle to the bottom, and start a medium to slow retrieve with intermittent jerks and pauses. A lot of bites come in this time, as well as the fall of the initial cast, so be ready. If you get bored with the spotties, throw out a hunk of squid on heavier line, 15-20 pound, and you might be lucky and hook into one of the large sharks or rays in the area. They are fairly common south of the bridge.
North of the bridge also holds many fishing options. For spotties, the shallow waters around moored boats, the Bali Hai shoal, and the north island flats are all productive areas. However, the north of the bay receives the most attention during the months of November to April when the sand bass migrate into the bait in large numbers. To catch these fish, the deeper waters, usually 25-60 feet, are the main target depths. Swimbaits fished in the wind and grind method are by far the most popular lures. The wind and grind method is simple. Simply cast out your lure and let it freespool. Then, wait for your spool to become almost completely empty. Once its almost empty, engage your reel, and retrieve at a medium-fast pace. If you feel a heavy weight, its probably a fish. In order to hook it, you’ll need to reel in all of the stretch out of the line before you set the hook. Popular lures for this method are larger swimbaits, 4-6 inches, on a larger head, ½ to 1 ounce, large spoons, and other various plastics. To fish the spoons, vertically jig them erratically with a yo-yo method. The gear required for sandbassing is usually upgraded to 10-20 pound line and a heavier action rod.
Now, onto mission bay. Mission Bay is a spottie paradise with less of a variety of species to be caught. The spotties do, on average, run much larger than those in San Diego bay. Mission bay is much shallower than San Diego bay, but is fished much like the flats of SD bay. However, the spinnerbait and crankbait are usually more productive in mission bay. Mission bay averages about 12 feet deep, making shallow water presentations the best option. Deep diving cranks, 10 – 12 feet, and heavy spinnerbaits, ½ to 1 ounce, are the most common lures used here, and both are usually fished on a steady retrieve with pauses.
Throughout Mission bay, there are scattered weed beds, sand flats, and marinas, so exploring this bay is a good option, especially if you’re not getting bites. Common areas to fish are Bahia point, Sail Bay, and Quivera basin. Now, one thing to consider is that in Mission bay, you will often catch less fish than you would in SD bay.
I hope this helps some of you guys out and gets you on some fish.
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Last Updated ( Tuesday, 08 April 2008 )
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