Imperial Beach Flats
32.58°N · 117.15°W
Now 25 · 9 PM PDT
24-Hour Conditions
All times PDT
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Current regulations
In effect nowWhat you can keep at this spot today
- Daily limit
- 5 per day
- Possession
- 5 in possession
- Size
- Minimum 14"
- Annual quota
- Not published
- Other
- Open year-round. Bag/possession limit is 5 fish in any combination of kelp bass, barred sand bass, and spotted sand bass (Paralabrax species); no more than 4 barred sand bass may be taken. Minimum size 14 inches total length or 10 inches alternate length.
Source: CDFW · Groundfish Management Area Southern · synced today
Seasonality
52-week view · today highlightedWhen Barred Sand Bass is best at this spot
Nearby Spots
View all on map →Other productive spots within easy run
Imperial Beach Flats is an outer-exposed sand flat off Santa Monica, California, running from 10 to 40 feet deep across open, unstructured bottom. The flat holds California Halibut through its March-to-July peak, with White Seabass following the same spring window and Barred Sand Bass building from March into the June-through-August stretch. Anglers drift live anchovies and live sardines across the sand for halibut, while Leopard Shark move in from April through August and take squid or mackerel soaked on the bottom. Sculpin stack up from June into September and respond to a dropper loop baited with squid, and California Barracuda run the flat from April through September, taken on trolled tube lures and spoons or cast metal jigs. Surfperch fill the winter gap with a January-through-March peak over the same shallow sand.
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