When fishing San Diego Bay, I like to fish in the more
remote areas, south of the Coronado Bridge.
We generally launch from the Chula Vista Marina off I-5 at the J
Street/Marina Way exit and arrive at the prime fishing area only 5-10 minutes
from the Marina. When fly fishing the
bay, I prefer to use a 6-weight fly rod with a 250-grain shooting head with a 6-pound
test fluorocarbon leader. The water
depths vary from 3 to 15 feet on the flats to 25 feet in the channels,
depending on the tide. In water less
than five feet deep, a floating line with a 6-8 foot leader can work well. Water less than 10 feet without much grass on
the bottom can be fished very successfully with an intermediate line and 6-8
foot leader as well. The shooting head
is always the number one option.
The fly of choice is the Clouser Minnow and its many
variations in hook sizes 2, 4 and 6. My
favorite colors are olive/white, orange/white, tan/orange, olive/black, black,
chartreuse/white and many more. Surf
style flies work well, also.
Light tackle fishing is done with light spinning or bait
casting gear, using 6-8 pound test line.
Small lead heads combined with Berkley Gulp Shrimp or curly tails work
well. The Little George lure, fished
slowly, can be a great set-up.
Fishing in the bay, as in other areas, is affected by the
tides and water movement. I try to fish
with a 3.5 to 4' tidal exchange with incoming slightly better than outgoing tide. However, many fish have and can be caught on
smaller tides.
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