Best bait for saltwater sand bass

Question

i have all kinds of baits and lures but i really want to catch a big mouth sand bass. i also want to know some very good fishing places in southern california

Answer 1

Best bait for sand bass, bar none, is live squid -- the 6 to 8 inch "market squid" -- but that's seldom available. Next best is a live sardine, or a live queenfish, or a live anchovy. Inshore (from piers or in harbors), smaller baits will work (but as there's the 12-inch minimum size limit, you don't want to go too small.) Offshore, for the bigger 2-7 pounders, you can use bigger baits. My biggest (27 inches, something around 9 pounds) ate about a 10-inch sardine. Fish these baits on the bottom with enough weight to keep them down -- depending on the current and the depth, that can range from 1 to 6 ounces.

For dead bait, a strip of squid on a lead-headed lure like a Big Hammer will often do the trick, or the lure without the squid. Cast it out, let it sink to the bottom, and bounce it in, or work it along just above the bottom. If the fish are picky and you're fishing right on the structure, this can be the best way to get them, but keep your line tight and pull as soon as you're bit or the fish'll take you right in.

When the fish are spawning (in the summer), there are big aggregations of them in 100 or so feet of water over sandy bottoms, and you can really load up on them, and the bait or lure doesn't matter much -- they'll eat just about anything; the rest of the year you'll do best fishing near or on structure in 50-150 feet.

Anyway, the 12-15 inch sandies are good eating, but the big ones can get pretty chewy. They also take a while to grow (4-5 years to keeper size, and the big ones can be over 20 years old), so take only what you need to eat, and release the big ones if possible.

As far as good fishing places, there are boats running out of most of the harbors in So. Cal. which go after the sandies when they're biting. This link has the daily catch counts and links to the landings for boat-by-boat breakdowns of the catches.  

Answer 2

try to search good tutorial site ... i mostly prefer http://www.marinews.com/fishing_listing....   marinews.com for my fishing queries .. you can also try this ..may be this help you..

Thanks,

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Answer 3

     You can buy a special rig for saltwater specks/sand bass. It's literally called a saltwater speck & sand bass rig, when I've seen it. It's just a pair of leadheads on two leaders with one leader about 8'' long and the other 12'' or so. You can find a ton of color variations on the body, as well as different tails and streamers. Supposedly, they work well in the surf. I haven't tried fishing one a whole lot, but they are extremely cheap - couldn't hurt to pack one along.

Answer 4

Yesterday we caught limmits of sandbass a 3 pounder and a 12 POUNDER! we also caught rockfish and we used an anchovie and used a 3 ounce al the way to the bottom it was the best we were fishing on kayaks at rodondo beach in the king harbor right by the end of the jetty good luck

Answer 5

Good baits for sand bass are strips of squid.  They can also be caught by jigging lures off the bottom.  Out of the San Diego area, the sandbass will sometimes congregrate for mating season directly off the jetty at Mission Beach and off the "Pipe" near the Mexican border.