Written By: Steve Greanias (from http://www.swimbait.com/)

Most people see harbors as just a place to launch your boat, a place you have to pass through to get to the real fish. These often over looked bodies of water can hold big fish; you just have to know how to catch them. The great thing is you don't need a yacht to get at them, and you can fish them in almost any weather, even when it is too rough to go outside. Harbors have everything that inshore fish, mainly bass need. There is a myriad of forage such as perches, smelt, queenfish, and miscellaneous fry. There is also an abundance of structure in these harbors. Whether it is a dock piling, or a breakwall, there is plenty of structure to hold fish year round.

Harbor fishing in many ways is like fishing boiler rocks. There is a great variety of fish to catch here, from white sea bass to calico bass, and chocolate bass to Cabezon, they are all here. Some of the best times to target these harbors and breakwall are at night. The fish will bite year round, but I do best in the summer and fall months. Pick nights or days where the tide movement is the greatest. These inland bodies of water are greatly effected by tidal flows. For this reason you want to fish them as the high tide is coming in, and the water levels are rising. When fishing at night, I have found that the time best is during a full moon, there generally stronger tidal movements on a full moon, and the light levels greatly improve. I also have another suggestion for those nighttime adventures, get one of those headlamps that the spelunkers use, these are a Godsend when fishing at night.

Finding the fish is usually not a problem here; most of the structure is visible above water. There are three main areas that every harbor has that are worth fishing every outing. Bait docks are a must, always take a few cast at the main bait dock. No matter what time of year they seem to hold fish, it may not be your target fish but often times you will catch something. The bait docks also seem to hold an abundance of the demsersal species. These are fish that congregate on soft bottom, mainly your halibut, White Sea bass, and often times sand and spotted bay bass. The next things to try are your finger docks. Bays like Newport and Mission Bay have almost an endless supply of these docks, and they usually hold fish. The last thing to try, and my favorite are the breakwalls. You wouldn't believe the size of the fish you can pull out of these rocks. Most people make the mistake of thinking that it is too close to shore to hold big fish, well they are wrong. These breakwall provide the perfect environment for most rock dwelling fish like our Calico Bass, Sand Bass, and Cabezon.

The water inside here is usually dirty and shallow, for that reason I usually stick with two basic color schemes. Brown bait patterns are my hands down favorites here. Almost any dark color brown will work but I have done very well with a few specific ones. My number one go to bait, is the Big Hammer Olive Herring (#19), second would either be Halloween (#5), or Calico Hunter (#45). These brown baits match up with a lot of natural forage in these bays. There is a lot of tomcod, perch and juvenile bass present here, and brown baits mimic their colors well. The other color scheme I use would be a bright one, but I stay away from the standard chovy and sardine color baits. I go two ways, either a smelt or grunion pattern like Keylime (#4) or a Chartreuse like Invader (#40). When the grunion move in shallow to spawn in the spring and fall or there is and abundance of smelt in the water, that's when I go to the smelt type baits. During the day in stained water I will throw, chartreuse bait to attract a little more attention in the stained water. At night stay with the dark colors such as Smoke Red (#6) or Prizm Purple (#39). These dark baits provide a much more well defined silhouette in low light conditions and the sparkles pick up what little light is present.

There is a lot of lee way as far as sizes of the baits go. Generally the 4" baits get bit better but when you have a lot of big smelt or bigger brown baits running around you may want to step up to a 5" or 7." As far as leadheads I like using Fischco 1/2 oz or 3/4 oz. leadheads, you definitely don't need any heavier than either one of these, but you do need the correct size hook to match the bait you are throwing. All the jig head colors work, but I have found red to be the most effective, matched with almost any color plastic. I have also done really well with chartreuse and yellow heads. I think the success of these heads has something to do with the stark color contrast, between them and the baits.

As far as gear goes, I prefer bait casting reels with 8' to 9' graphite rods. You can get away with the spinning gear when fishing some pylons and the bait dock but the second you get to the wall put the toys away. When fishing the wall I would recommend a minimum of 15# line and often times 20# and 25#. When it comes to the rods I like a fast taper rod with a lot of power, and the length is key. When you set the hook you need to show that fish who is boss; and have him 10 ft away from his hole before he knows what happened. If you don't pull him out he'll pull you in. Breakwall fish are mean and they know every nook and cranny, you are in their home court so you need every advantage. Getting a jump on them can mean the difference from a trophy fish and 10 ft of frayed line with nothing on the other end.

The approach is fairly simple; David Fong's article "Calico Combat" outlines this style of fishing perfectly. You want to use the "slicing the pie" method when approaching the structure. Cast to the corners of the docks and work it under them. Try a few casts on the same pylon or dock corner at different angles. Make sure when fishing pylons and docks that you fish close to the bottom. Often times, slowly dragging a bait in the substrate is the best way to trigger strikes. Use the same technique at the wall, especially when on the corners. When fishing the middle part of the wall cast directly at it. Sometimes the best thing you can do is get the bait to land on a rock, then pull it off and start the retrieve. Also a technique called "bouncing" works well, but can get rather expensive. What you do is throw the bait up against the wall and retrieve it a few feet. Then stop, with the reel in gear let it settle down to the next rock level. Repeat this till you are off the rocks and then try it again. It is very important to fish this technique with the reel in gear, you are only letting the bait sink a few feet and you must be prepared for high energy strikes. The easy way to visualize this style of fishing is like walking down a flight of stairs.

Breakwaters are a great places to fish and often times overlooked. They are a great place, do to a quick excursion, or a place to get some fishing in, when other wise Mother Nature wouldn't allow it. Be sure to practice extreme prudence and caution when fishing the wall. Especially on rough days, wave surge can mean disaster. If you are fishing with a trolling motor I recommend leaving your gas motor running, just in case you need to get out of a tight spot. Give these harbors a try, it may surprise you what you can catch. Just remember to turn the handle, you can watch your rod bend later. Please keep in mind that these are home guard fish, if you want to keep enjoying these local treasures practice catch and release. Good Fishing.