About Catalina Island - Isthmus (Cat Harbor)

Cat Harbor sits on the protected inner side of Catalina Island's Isthmus, a kelp reef over rocky bottom running from 20 to 60 feet within Santa Monica waters. Yellowtail draw anglers from May through October, worked on live sardines, mackerel, or anchovies, while White Seabass show from March into July and respond to live squid drifted along the structure. Calico Bass hold in the kelp and rock from April through August, taken on swimbaits and soft plastic grubs, and California Sheephead work the same bottom April through September on live shrimp, squid, or crab. Rockfish stay available year-round with a dropper loop of squid or cut mackerel, and Lingcod move in from September through February for vertical jigging with metal jigs and leadhead swimbaits. The sheltered exposure keeps the reef fishable when outer coasts are blown out, concentrating fish over the rock edges within the 20-to-60-foot range.