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Do you want to learn how to catch California corbina? Do you want to catch one of the most popular sports fishes in southern California? The California corbina belongs to the croaker family and is a challenging fish to catch as it is an aggressive fighter, is difficult to hook, and has inconsistent bite patterns. In this article, we share information about the California corbina and discuss how to catch corbina.
Table of Contents
How To Catch California Corbina
1. Surf Fishing
California corbina is often found in very shallow waters searching for sand crabs and clams. Use these, especially sand crabs as live bait to catch corbina when surf fishing. Sand crabs will give you the best chance of consistently catching corbina in large quantities. You can catch sand crabs during the summer using a net or a colander.
When surf fishing for corbina, look for rip currents, troughs, and deep pockets. Corbina can be found in rip currents, troughs, and deep pockets as they go in search of sand crabs. Rip currents expose sand crabs as it recedes and corbinas will be in the currents searching for the exposed sand crabs. You want to go after the corbinas that are hunting down the sand crabs.
You can go to the beach when there is low tide to identify the troughs and scallops while they are still exposed. When the tide rises later, you will know where the troughs are located and fish those troughs for corbinas there.
You can also spot deep pockets when the waves crash as they will crash less frequently when riding over a deeper pocket. Additionally, the color of the water in deep pockets will be a deeper blue color than the areas around it. It will also seem more rippled. When you identify a deep pocket, you need to fish for corbina in it. A 7-9 foot rod with a 4000 series reel and a 10 to 15-pound line and a Carolina rig can work well for surf fishing California corbina.
2. Sight-Casting
Sight-casting can be used to catch corbina as they can be found in shallow waters looking for sand crabs. Wear polarized sunglasses and search the shallow waters for California corbina. When you spot a fish you want to target, you need to stalk it to get a good direction it is heading and find the best opportunity to place your bait in its projected path.
You don’t want the fish to figure out that the bait showed up all of a sudden. This will make it very suspicious of the bait and may not bite. Corbina often exhibits inconsistent bite patterns.
California Corbina Tackle
You can use a 7-foot light to medium rod with a high/low leader and size 6 to 4 hooks. A monofilament or fluorocarbon leader can work and use a 4-6 pound test. You can use hooks from 6 to 4/0 depending on your rig. If you have a light line, you can go with a smaller hook.
Best Baits For California Corbina
1. Crabs
2. Clams
3. Small fish
4. Mussels
5. Marine Worms
6. Squid
California Corbina Fishing Tips
1. Corbina is rarely in water deeper than 20 feet.
2. The best way to catch corbina is from the shore using soft-shelled crabs, shrimps, and worms.
3. Keep the line tight so you can feel the bite.
4. Keep the rod tip high and keep moving along the beach until you get bites.
5. Wear polarized sunglasses to help you spot the fish from a pier or the shore.
6. Use small sand crabs as bait rather than large ones.
7. Sight-casting is one way to fish for corbina.
8. You can catch California corbina all year round, but the best time is from July to October when there is an influx of warm water and sand crabs.
9. Corbina bites better early in the morning in low light conditions or at night.
10. California corbina likes the shallow bays along sandy shorelines and oceanfront surf areas.
11. You can often find corbina swimming in inches of water while using their chin barbels to search for sand crabs.
12. California corbina is a schooling fish but most are found in small schools while some adults like to swim alone in the surf zone.
13. During low tides, look around beach piers for sand crabs as corbina will target that area in search of sand crabs as the tide moves inshore.
14. Live bait usually works better than lures when fishing for corbina.
15. Innkeeper worms are one of the best baits for corbina.
16. When surf fishing, look for rip currents, troughs, and deep pockets to fish for corbina. Corbinas are usually found in these areas searching for sand crabs.
The Bottom Line
California corbina is a challenging fish to catch as it is elusive and exhibits erratic bite patterns. It is a hard fighter and likes to search shallow waters for food. In this article, we discussed all things about the corbina and shared information to help you catch it.
If you fish for other fishes like jack crevalle, spotted seatrout, and snook, you can read how to catch jack crevalle, how to catch spotted seatrout, and how to catch snook.
