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This Week’s Surf Fishing Report
5/15/26
May 2026
May is the month of the sand crab. It’s the time when sand crabs, hiding in the sand for the winter, come to the surface and spawn. As these crabs grow they will shed their shell, just like a snake, until their new and larger shell grows in. This month begins the favorite feeding time of year for surf fish. The irresistible odor and color of sand crab eggs leads them to their forage and their soft tasty shell brings them back.
Billions upon trillions of sand crabs invade the beach this time of year and along with grunion runs, bring surf fish close to shore. Over the last few weeks, the water has cooled as the wind has turned it over, slowing down the sand crab’s progress. But look for this to change in the next weeks as South swells and warm water pushes up the coast and into California.
Have a great month at the beach and please send your fish reports to: fishthesurf@mail.com
Santa Barbara/Ventura: Wind and dirty water slowed fishing in Santa Barbara this week and along the entire coast. Although barred surfperch fishing remains consistent, both halibut and white seabass were a no show for legal fish this week. Look for conditions to degrade over the next five days and then improve considerably toward the middle of next week.
Ventura: Fishing slowed here too, but the corbina bite remained excellent along the Silver Stand and Ventura jetties. A legal halibut was reported caught on a Lucky Craft Flash Minnow between the jetties closet to the Ventura Harbor. Barred surfperch fishing remains good along this stretch from County Line to Ventura for anglers using a variety of baits including grubs, mussel, lug worms and sand crabs.
Malibu:Good reports out of Malibu this week. With one angler north of County Line reporting in with 2 legal calicos and a big yellowfin croaker while using fresh mussel. Along Carbon Beach (a.k.a. Billionaire Beach), good fishing for 13”+ barred surfperch for anglers using dried Lug Worms.
Tackle/Bait Santa Barbara: Hook, Line and Sinker. Ask for Ben and tell him Bill sent you–I promise he’ll take good care of you!
South Bay:Very slow this week in the South Bay with lots of kelp/grass in the surf. Anglers did report continued good, barred surfperch fishing for smaller fish. The red-hot mackerel bite continues on the Redondo Pier. If you’re looking for bait for sharks or strips for striper fishing, Redondo is the place to be.
T-Shirt SALE!
(Get’em While They Last–New Shirts on-the-way!)
Hand-made using the age-old Japanese Gyotaku process to capture the image of fish. This form of nature printing, where ink is applied to a fish, is then transferred to paper and then on to shirts.
Check out these cool Gyotaku shirts with a perch image pressed on to cloth from a real SoCal barred surfperch. So original, you won’t find another shirt like this anywhere in the world!
Orange County:Slower this week along the Orange County coast with tons of small, barred surfperch in Huntington Beach, a few yellowfin croaker on the iron and a legal halibut reported today caught on a lucky craft hardbait. Newport Beach was the hot spot this week kicking out two 22 & 24” Spotfin croaker caught on live ghost shrimp and one striper, caught near the Newport Pier, on a strip of mackerel. Crystal Cove reported in with one angler landing a 20” monster calico bass while using a dried Lug Worm.
Tackle/bait: Big Fish Bait and Tackle, Seal Beach
San Diego:All beaches along the San Diego stretch reporting in with slower fishing from Oceanside to Coronado, most with tons of grass and kelp clogging up fishing. Torrey Pines kicked out a legal sand bass and a 20″ spotfin, both caught on sand crabs. Along Black’s Beach one angler reported landing two big sargo and a big yellowfin croaker, all caught on live ghost shrimp. Many reports of anglers seeing tons of sand crabs and some really big beds below the high tide line along the entire San Diego stretch.
Tackle/bait: Pacific Coast Bait and Tackle/ Seaforth Landing
Wind and swell, whipped up by a low-pressure zone originating in northern Alaska, will produce strong winds and big swells this weekend on West facing beaches
Conditions To Watch This Month
Synopsis: Strong winds and big swells will take center stage for the next week as a strong storm, out of the Northwest, pounds the coast. After that look for much improved weather and a series of South Pacific swells, which will bring more warm clear water north. Water temps will rise by month’s end as northwest swells seasonably diminish.
Great tides will continue for the remainder of the month with the full moon and our next (no take) grunion run coming up on May 31st. May is often the last transition month before summer. Expect early morning-until noon marine layer and warming days as we move closer to June. This is also the transitional month for the tropical Pacific where we begin to see the forming of tropical storms and eventually hurricanes that make their way up the coast pushing warm, clear water into the California bight.
Water Temp: 60-67 from SB to SD. Water temps vary widely from south to north. Look for water temps to drop this weekend and into next week with a very strong wind surge offshore. Upwelling will occur and often slows fishing.
Tides: There will be large tidal swings due to the New Moon (today) on Saturday the 16th. The next will will include great tidal movement and an upcoming grunion run. What more could you ask for! Some major tidal changes of over 7′ in the next week. There will be good morning and evening high tides, minus tides for halibut and collecting bait near midday, and very strong currents along the coast.
Swell: This weekend, winds to 50 knots will blow off the coast and create a large, late season, Northwest swell. Look for surf on west facing beaches to increase today and become well overhead in size by Monday. The wind and wind swell will diminish late Tuesday. Behind this another Northwest swell will fill in. Surf will be a bit smaller but the long shore current by then should be very strong along the beach. CAUTION: Please be aware of big surf and strong current while fishing the beach, and especially along the rocks. The following week, expect small swells from the northwest and several large swells systems coming from the South Pacific…pushing warm water back this way.
Wind: Strong winds begin today with outer water winds over 40mph and winds along the shore to be 15-25mph out of the northwest in the afternoon. Stronger winds north of Los Angeles Beaches.
EL NINO Update: NOAA confirmed today that there is a coming El Nino and that it may be historically strong, but not as strong as expected. They have also predicted that there will be a substantial increase in tropical storms and hurricanes to our south.
GRUNION: Next run, May 16th 10pm, NO Take until July.
