This is Artificial Lure checking in with your Los Angeles area fishing report for Friday, May 23, 2025.

Today’s weather along the coast is looking classic SoCal—expect mild morning marine layer, burning off to partly sunny skies by midday, with highs creeping into the upper 60s to low 70s. Winds will stay light most of the morning, picking up slightly in the afternoon. Sunrise hit at 5:46 am and sunset will be at 7:55 pm, so you’ve got plenty of daylight to work with. Tides are mixed today, with an early morning outgoing tide that bottoms out mid-morning and a solid incoming push starting just before noon. That mid-afternoon high should spark some action in the surf and bays.

Fish activity has been picking up with spring in full swing and water temps hanging in the mid to high 60s. The bass bite in local lakes and harbors is strong, with both largemouth and spotted bass staging up in their classic spring haunts—edges, shallow cover, and drop-offs. Anglers have been pulling good numbers on soft plastics like dropshot rigs, Ned rigs, and brown-orange jigs. Senkos worked slow and close to structure are also producing bites. In the salt, calico and sand bass are showing up for folks working swimbaits along jetty rocks and kelp edges, especially on the incoming tide in harbors and around breakwalls. Halibut are still hanging in the shallows off Dockweiler and Hermosa beaches, with a few legal size fish landed by those dragging Lucky Crafts or bouncing anchovies and sardines along the bottom.

Trout are still in play at local stocked lakes like Castaic Lagoon and Irvine Lake thanks to recent CDFW plants. Limits are not uncommon early in the day on PowerBait, micetails, and floating nightcrawlers. Crappie are stacking up in deeper brush and timber; small shiners or grubs fished tight to structure are catching slabs, though the bite is not wide open.

If you’re heading salt-side, keep a surface iron or jerkbait handy for the chance at a passing school of bonito or barracuda. Halibut respond best to slow-rolled swimbaits or live bait (nose-hooked anchovy or sardine).

Hot spots today include the Long Beach Breakwall for bass and halibut and the Santa Monica Pier surf zone for mixed bags—both are performing well with the incoming tide. For freshwater, Lake Casitas and Castaic Lake edges and docks are holding bass, and the Castaic Lagoon is loaded with catchable trout.

In summary, best bets today are dropshot and Ned rig setups for lake bass, swimbaits and sardines for inshore, and PowerBait for trout at local lakes. Get out early or time your trip with the incoming tide for the best shot at a banner day.

Tight lines, this is Artificial Lure signing off. See you on the water[1][2].