Kayak Fishing the South Bay beaches of L.A. - any help here?

[Fish Taco]

Hi all,

Just joined this forum today (see my introductory post earlier) and was wondering if anyone who kayak fishes the South Bay area of L.A. can pass along any helpful information to a new guy moving into the area in the coming months.

My family is targeting finding a home somewhere in the 3 beach communities of this area (Manhattan, Hermosa, Redondo) and slight chance we may also take a peek at RPV or Rolling Hills but prefer to be nearer to the beach and within walking distance of a lot of things in the community. Schools and commute is the primary reasons we are targeting this area (it sure ain't the "cheap" home prices either! Yikes!)

Anyway, as I explained in my previous post... I'm interested in getting to know the "ins & outs" of kayak fishing this area... some things I'm looking to find out are:

• Access - where is the best place to launch? Is it free or fee based? I have a rather heavy yak that I trailer on a Yakima Rack N Roll trailer so trailer access to a ramp is important, or short distance with my Wheeleze beach kart will work too.
• Best places to fish - outside offshore of breakers, or inside Redondo Harbor okay too? I'd love to target halibut, but love all the SoCal has to offer as well (3Bs - bass, barracuda, bonito; as well as WSB or anything else for that matter)
• Is beach launching from this area crazy? I know this ain't La Jolla Shores with it's notoriously small waves... this is surfer country and there is a reason for that, right? What's the skinny on this?
• Is it easy enough to launch in Redondo Harbor and just paddle outside the breakwall into the Pacific if it's not too snotty? Does anyone go outside much and how far does one safely venture?
• How about Marina Del Rey harbor... what's the skinny on that? Same situation as Redondo Harbor?

These are just a few of the many questions I have popping up in my head at the moment. Any input from anyone familiar with kayak fishing this area would be VERY helpful and REALLY appreciated.


Thanks so much!


...from the "new guy"

[KirkG.]

I know there are people who fish up north around your area so hopefully they will post up and correct me. I think some good areas you might be looking into would be Newport Harbour and Dana Point. I have fished both of these areas and I enjoy them. Easy launches and you can stay inside the harbors or move out to the ocean areas without too much drama. I'm not sure of your freshwater asperations but there are plenty of lakes around too that you can get to without too much of a drive. Good luck on the move and keep in touch, welcome to the site.

KirkG.

[Fish Taco]

Originally Posted by KirkG.

I know there are people who fish up north around your area so hopefully they will post up and correct me. I think some good areas you might be looking into would be Newport Harbour and Dana Point. I have fished both of these areas and I enjoy them. Easy launches and you can stay inside the harbors or move out to the ocean areas without too much drama. I'm not sure of your freshwater asperations but there are plenty of lakes around too that you can get to without too much of a drive. Good luck on the move and keep in touch, welcome to the site.

KirkG.

Thanks for your encouragement and input Kirk. I do know about both Newport Harbor and Dana Point but have never fished either of them. In fact, we were originally hoping to relocate near the Dana Point area but as it turns out the commute would be just too far for my wife to drive... love that area though (and would've been a great location for my yak fishing!).

I can sure drive to these two locations though without too much problem and fish them when time allows... Newport seems especially interesting inside the harbor.

I do in fact like to fish freshwater too. Can you give me an idea of which lakes were you referring to?

Thanks for the welcome, and I'm sure I'll see you around the forum.

Tight lines!

[flatinfifth]

Fish Taco,

My brother and I fish tournaments and do a great deal of kayak fishing but we primarily fish the San Diego area. That said, there is some great spotted bay bass fishing in Redondo Harbor as well as MdR. Other harbors to try are Los Alamitos, Long Beach, Huntington Beach Harbor, Newport (tough at times) and Dana.

By far our favorite place to fish inshore/offshore is Dana Point. There is some awesome structure fishing for Calico and Sand Bass less than a mile offshore as well as some incredible kelp bed fishing south and north of the harbor. We rarely go more than two miles offshore and less than 4 miles south of the Harbor. You have to get your head on straight anytime you go into the deep blue my friend. Always a good idea to go out with someone else, particularly the first few times. I try to never go alone. The usual things are a must: PFD, VHF radio, water, flares, bilge pump, spare paddle, signal mirror and extra change of warm clothes. Read up for a while like we did and then head for adventure; it's been an awesome five or so years.

If you are new to kayak fishing in the salt water, stay in touch with the latest on Bigwatersedge.com as well as Kayakfishingaddicts.ning.com I'll post our next adventure as soon as we can get out; we've had a very ill mother that we've been tending to for the past few months. I have also grabbed the helm of the Orange County Kayak Fishing Group, meetup group but as of now, I can't plan anything due to the same reasons stated above.

IF you stay in touch at the above listed sites, you'll be in the loop. Next tournament is at Tidelands in San Diego, March 16th. More info at http://kayakfishingaddicts.ning.com/...urnament-trail

Also look up some of the footage we have up on YouTube by looking for user:
Flatinfifth.

Best of luck,

Angel Figueras

[interangler]

I think some good areas you might be looking into would be Newport Harbour and Dana Point. I have fished both of these areas and I enjoy them. Easy launches and you can stay inside the harbors or move out to the ocean areas without too much drama.

[interangler]

Originally Posted by interangler

I think some good areas you might be looking into would be Newport Harbour and Dana Point. I have fished both of these fishing areas and I enjoy them. Easy launches and you can stay inside the harbors or move out to the ocean areas without too much drama.

Thanks for exploring some more areas!

[Desy 104]

Hello. I am new to these issues, I will be happy with any information.