By Paul Lebowitz

No one has more riding on an inshore Southern California fishing trip than the captains of the half-day sportfishing boats. These guys have paying passengers to please, day in and day out, no matter how challenging the conditions.

Figuring their know-how can benefit the private boaters and kayak anglers who share the inshore fishery with the half-day captains, I asked two long-time San Diego skippers to share their strategies for fishing the three ‘B’s: bass, barracuda, and bonito.

Captain JD McGriff has spent the past 12 years in the wheelhouse of the Fisherman III, H&M Sportfishing’s half-day boat. Captain Doug Reed skippered the New Seaforth half-day boat out of Mission Bay for 20-odd years. These days he is prepping for his first season running 1- to 3-day trips on his spacious sportfisher Renegade (formerly the Cat Special).

Both skippers were happy to share tips that will not only help a first-time passenger, but can also be used by private boaters and kayakers to find more fish.

Meet the Three ‘B’s
The three ‘B’s – bass, barracuda, and bonito – are really four. The reliable mainstay of the bunch is the kelp bass. It’s more popularly known as the calico bass after its checkered coat of green and brown blotches.

Calicos are most abundant between the surface and about 70 feet, and are found in numbers throughout the inshore waters of Southern California. Like freshwater bass, they relate strongly to structure. Calicos like to hover around kelp beds, underwater rocks and reefs. They’re the most dependable inshore quarry, because they’re always around somewhere in local waters.

Calico fishing sizzles once the fish come up top – an event that usually takes place when the water hits the high 60s - and only gains momentum as the spawn approaches. Reed gets excited when he describes calicos in spawn mode. “They’re on fire, and their gills are gold.”

The bonus ‘B’ for bass is the barred sand bass, more simply known as the sand bass or ‘sandy.’ They too are common inshore in Southern California, although they tend to favor slightly deeper water than calicos. It’s unsurprising that they are often caught on the edges of kelp beds by anglers targeting calicos. Sandies have an affinity for sandy bottoms adjacent to rocks. Sand bass are famous for their spawning aggregations. Early in July, give or take a week, great masses of the fish gather over sand flats off Tijuana, Imperial Beach, Oceanside, and Huntington Beach.

The concentrated fish are easy to catch, providing an ideal introduction to saltwater fishing for the first-time angler and quite tasty too. Or as Reed puts it, “Tie on a sinker and a hook and drop a bait down. When the pole goes ‘boing’ wind ‘em up.”

Currently, the California Department of Fish and Game (DFG) permits anglers to keep up to ten calico, sand, or spotted bay bass in any combination. Fish under 12 inches in length must be released. 

California barracuda are long, skinny, and have mouths studded with spiky teeth. Unlike the bass, they are a pelagic fish, meaning they generally migrate to follow favorable water temperatures and food sources. Waves of the fish usually hit Southern California waters beginning in spring once the water temperature reaches the mid-60s. Small, young barracuda are known as ‘pencils;’ thick ones are ‘logs.’

Some anglers disparage barracuda as ‘slimers’ (they are protected with a thick coat that sticks to anything they – and once you’ve handled one, you – touch). ‘Cuda are a blast on light tackle, especially in the middle of a wide-open feeding frenzy. They’re good table fare if they’re kept cool after capture, with somewhat oily meat. Barracuda must be a minimum of 28-inches long before they can be kept.

The final ‘B’ of the inshore bunch, the Pacific bonito, had been an infrequent visitor a few years back. The past couple of seasons have seen good numbers of these frenetic, high-tempo game fish. These silvery speed demons are aggressive surface feeders that really churn up the water when they’re chasing after bait.

Bonito are the smallest of the true tunas, a point they prove every time one of these hard-fighting fish is hooked.

Most of the ‘bonies’ taken in Southern California waters in the past few years have been on the smaller side, 1 to 3 pounds.Occasionally bigger ones come through. Connect with an 8 to 12-pound bonito and you’re in for some fun.

Like the barracuda, bonito have a less than stellar reputation as a food fish. The fact is they’re delicious when bled and chilled. For the best taste, cut out and discard the bloodline, the bitter tasting dark red meat. The DFG allows anglers to keep the first five bonito of any size. The next five must have a fork length of 24 inches or weigh 5 pounds or greater.       

BONITO, beautiful pin-striped speed demons, have returned to Southern California waters in the past few years. These diminutive tuna pull hard for their size. PHOTO COURTESY CHRIS FIERRO

BARRACUDA aren’t picky biters. They’ll hit live bait, irons, and swimbaits. Once you get them on the line, reel straight in. Pumping the rod gives those sharp teeth a chance to cut the line. PHOTO COURTESY JIM SALAZAR

CALICO BASS, so-named in honor of their strikingly blotched coats, come to the top of the water column once the water hits the mid 60s. As the summer wears on and spawning time approaches, they become ever more aggressive.

BARRED SAND BASS favor the sandy areas next to rocky bottoms. Great clouds of the fish gather to spawn over sand flats off Tijuana, Imperial Beach, and Huntington Beach each July. Then the fishing is easy, perfect for hooking a first-timer.

THE TACKLE needed to target the 3 ‘B’s is pretty basic. Bring bait holder hooks from size 4 to 2/0, sinkers from 1/4 to 3 ounces, 5 and 6-inch swimbaits matched with leadheads, an iron jig or two, and maybe a few bonito feathers.

The three ‘B’s aren’t tough to catch (“basic stuff” in skipper speak). If they are around, they can usually be coaxed to bite using a handful of basic techniques. Live bait, swimbaits, iron jigs, even old-fashioned bonito feathers all produce.

Tackle Basics
You don’t need to bring out the heavy guns when you go after bass, barracuda, and bonito. Saltwater spinning combos, heavy freshwater bass gear, and light saltwater baitcasting and conventional outfits all fit the bill and provide good sport. Reed recommends spooling up with 20-pound test line. “It’s enough to pull a fish through the kelp if need be. It’s the stuff we put on the rent rods. It has no trouble getting bit,” said Reed. Then he conceded that some experienced anglers prefer to use lighter line, in the vicinity of 12 to 15-pound test, because they feel it brings them more hook-ups.

The three ‘B’s readily gobble live bait like sardines and anchovies. Match the hook to the size of the bait, not the fish you hope to catch. A selection of bait holder hooks ranging from size 4 to 2/0 handles most 3 ‘B’s fishing needs. In spring and summer, when the fish are usually holding near the surface, you don’t need to use much, if any, added weight. An assortment of small egg and rubber core sinkers in 1/4, 3/8, 1/2, and 3/4 ounce should suffice for calicos and barracuda. During the sand bass spawn, gear up with 2 to 3 ounces of lead.

The biggest advice for anglers fishing live bait? Keep a fresh one in the water. If the bait stops swimming, it’s either dead or snagged in kelp. Reel it back in and replace it with the liveliest bait you can find. Don’t let your bait run wild. If you do, Reed said “it’ll probably run a figure-8 around the stern” and snag a bunch of other lines.

Pay attention to your bait, and keep your eyes open and looking for fish. When you feel a calico bass bite, let it run a few feet. When the fish stops, put the reel in gear, let the rod load up, then swing and reel it in. If you are caught in the kelp, give the fish some slack. When the line starts moving again, you can usually pull the fish out.   

In years past, many anglers used wire leaders when bait fishing for barracuda. That strategy has fallen out of favor. Bait fish just don’t swim naturally when they’re dragging the heavy wire. If you must use a wire leader, McGriff suggests making it a short one, no more than 6 to 8 inches long. Novices lose a lot of hooks to the sharp-toothed ‘cuda. Reed offered a suggestion to convert more of those bites to landings.

“Feel that first bite. On the first nibble, the barracuda has grabbed and thrashed the bait.  When the rod tip bounces the second time start winding. Don’t let the barracuda run,” said Reed.

McGriff pointed out an error that all too often results in a disappointed angler. “When fighting barracuda we emphasize keeping steady pressure. Hold the rod at a 45 degree angle. Don’t pump and grind, we want no up and down motion.”

“Just wind,” said Reed.  

For bass and barracuda, every angler should carry an assortment of 5 and 6-inch plastic swimbaits, matched with leadhead jigs running from 1/2 an ounce to 1 ounce. Choose a variety of colors that match the natural forage. A basic selection should include blue, green, orange, and brown. Work swimbaits past or over kelp stringers, and mix things up if you aren’t getting bit.

Don’t forget the iron jigs. Under the right conditions, these wedge-shaped metal lures fool all three of the ‘B’s, but are particularly recommended when the barracuda are biting. This is the time to break out a wire leader if you value your jig. Blue and white, scrambled egg, and mackerel are the ever-popular colors. Both McGriff and Reed singled out the Tady C, AA and A-1 as good models, but jigs manufactured by other producers are also winners.

To work a jig, cast out, count it down for a few seconds, and then start cranking at moderate speed. You should be able to see the jig ‘swim’ enticingly from side to side if you’ve got it right. Experiment with depths and retrieve rates until you hook up. Generally, go slower for bass, and faster for marauding bonito.

Bonito feathers are no longer a common sight in tackle boxes. They still catch fish. Feathers don’t have any built-in action; anglers need to impart some ‘English’ to draw strikes. According to Reed the secret is the “crank and jerk.” Using a high speed reel (6-1 or better retrieve ratio), tie on a couple of feathers, give them a long cast, and then burn them back as fast as you can crank. Give the rod a quick jerk every few turns. Private boaters have the option of trolling bonito feathers. Keep the rod in hand to work the bait.  

Finding the Fish
It’s a big ocean. Fish, even the three ‘B’s, aren’t distributed evenly out there. Thank goodness. That means a skilled angler can weigh the clues to find more fish.

The ever-changing ocean environment complicates the process. Inshore waters are influenced by a vast number of variables. Consider an incomplete list: water temperature and color, current direction and speed, tide and moon phase, structure (bottom topography, substrate, kelp, and so on), time of day, depth, what bait is in the water, etc. That’s a lot for an angler to ponder.

How does a half-day captain approach the problem? After all, they need to find fish, and fast, as they only have a few hours on the water with their fish-hungry passengers.

“For the most part, I count on areas that have proven to be reliable at certain times of the year. They are my trusted standbys,” said H&M’s McGriff. The spots mark ledges, ridges, or other structures. A-ha, location, location, location. It matters even when the fish are feeding up top, on the surface.

McGriff explained. “The bait is going to be on the structures. Pinnacles and peaks are the start of the food chain due to upwelling.” Naturally, if schools of small bait fish gather around structures, the predators will follow.

Captain Reed had his spots too. As many as he wanted. “You fish for 20 years, you can have numbers every 50 feet,” chuckled Reed. For private boaters and kayak anglers, building up a personal inventory of good spots is sound advice.

What are the key structures? Ridges and pinnacles, the edges of any bull kelp, and the edge of the surface kelp. Bottom structure doesn’t need to be big. Even a small 2 or 3 fathom hump can hold fish.

Ok, let’s say our captains are rolling up on some good structure spots. What else do the half-day skippers look for?

“I read the signs,” said H&M’s McGriff. “Are there birds working or bait jumping? I’ll meter around, maybe throw some bait and see if any fish pop up. On the way up the line or along the kelp I look for temperature and clarity breaks. Is it a couple of degrees warmer over here? Schools of bait will sit on the edges. Sometimes a little bit of change, maybe 1 or 2 degrees, will be enough to pull the trigger on the bite.”

How about water color? It plays a role. “We like clean green. That’s emerald green water where we can see the bait on the hooks. Blue is the ultimate,” said McGriff. 

Reed worked the same way. ”We started where we saw fish. It’s pretty basic. A lot of it goes back to current.”

Current. Both skippers mentioned it time and again. Not much happens without water movement. It gives the predators, our 3 ‘B’s, something to orient on. They swim into the current in search of their next meal. When fishing live bait or using chum, sportboat captains and savvy private boaters set up on the up-current edge of the structure they want to fish, usually kelp. The water movement carries the scent of bait into the canopy, hopefully drawing fish out of the kelp and up to the boat.    

Is the current running the wrong direction? Then look for a pocket or opening in the kelp canopy. “When there’s no current, the bait just lays there. When you get a current, the fish build up,” said Reed.

A current stiff enough to lay the kelp over and submerge the canopy can ignite a hot calico bass bite, as can good water movement through the bull kelp. Reed fondly remembers one spot in particular.

“There was this one little area of bull kelp I’d visit almost every day. The regulars would rib me about going there again, but there was always good bass fishing if the current was right. When the bull kelp was driving, sometimes it would be just sick, a fish on every cast,” said Reed.

Bull kelp grows on a large stalk, with branches that radiate from one big ball. “It looks just like a set of antlers,” said Reed.

What about the pelagics, the barracuda and bonito? How do the skippers know when they are around?

“Hopefully we see birds diving on bait schools. That can indicate fish are pushing the bait up. Sometimes the barracuda and bonito show themselves,” said McGriff. He also spots them on his sonar. Barracuda, bonito, and mackerel show up as distinct check marks and boomerangs.

Reed added some advice about the proper conditions for barracuda and bonito. They need to be stable. “A quick temperature drop backs things off.,” said Reed, who added that temperature crashes give bass lockjaw too.