Hey anglers, this is Artificial Lure with your June 21, 2025 SoCal fishing update, coming to you fresh from the heart of Los Angeles and surrounding waters.

Today’s sunrise was at 5:43 AM and sunset is rolling in at 8:06 PM. We’ve got a classic early summer weather setup—morning starts cool but heats up quick, with daytime highs pushing toward the upper 80s and low 90s, and a little sticky with some humidity on tap. The breeze can kick up, so keep an eye on the afternoon winds, especially if you’re boating out past the breakwall.

For tides, this morning’s first low hit at just after 1:00 AM, with a 3.37-foot high coming in at 7:11 AM. We had another low just before noon at 11:55 AM, and a hefty evening high tide peaking at 6:34 PM up to 6.25 feet. If you’re targeting structure-oriented species, those morning and evening swings are your golden windows.

Fish activity is cranking up with the water warming—surface temps are well into the 70s, creeping toward 80 in some sheltered bays. According to local sportboat fish counts, the local party boats have been putting up some numbers: out of Marina Del Rey, the New Del Mar and Spitfire are reporting solid hauls on rockfish, plus a nice showing of calico bass, sheephead, and whitefish. Yesterday alone, the New Del Mar saw 132 sculpin, 116 rockfish, and a handful of sand bass and sheephead. The Monte Carlo out of San Pedro reported over 120 calico bass, with 7 sheephead and plenty more rockfish to go around. Over at the breakwall off Long Beach, big numbers of bass and barracuda are coming over the rail—Sheephead are hammering strips of squid or shrimp-tipped jigs, and bass are going for plastics and anchovy-patterned swimbaits.

If you’re looking for hot spots, don’t miss the breakwall off Long Beach for multi-species action, and the kelp lines out of Palos Verdes are firing for calico and sand bass. For a more laid-back session, head over to Marina Del Rey’s inshore reefs for steady rockfish and sculpin.

Best baits right now are strips of squid for everything from sheephead to sculpin, live or frozen anchovies if you can get them, and old-school plastics—think 4-inch swimbaits in sardine or anchovy hues—for calicos and sand bass. For sheephead, tip your hook with some shrimp to sweeten the deal. If you’re fly fishing local ponds or rivers, surface poppers and small baitfish imitations are moving bass and bluegill.

Fish activity peaks at those tide changes, so time your outings to the early morning high and the big evening push. The bite’s only going to keep ramping up as summer locks in.

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