About Dana Point Kelp Beds

The Dana Point Kelp Beds form a stretch of submerged kelp structure running across depths of 30 to 80 feet off the Southern California coast. California Halibut, White Seabass, and Yellowtail anchor the calendar here, with halibut and seabass peaking March through July and yellowtail holding from May into October. Anglers work the halibut by drift fishing live anchovies, sardines, or smelt across the sandier margins, while White Seabass respond to live squid, sardines, or mackerel worked through the kelp edges. Yellowtail come on live sardines and mackerel or on heavy iron dropped along the deeper columns, and the kelp itself holds Calico Bass that take swimbaits and soft plastic grubs from spring through summer. Rockfish stay active year-round on the bottom, with dropper loops of squid and cut mackerel producing over the harder structure, and Lingcod and Cabezon fill out the colder months from fall into winter.