About La Jolla Submarine Canyon

La Jolla Submarine Canyon is a steep outer-exposed drop-off off San Diego, where mixed bottom falls away from roughly 60 to 600 feet within a short run of the coast. Yellowtail move through in summer with a July to September peak, while the deeper structure holds lingcod at their strongest from October to February and a year-round aggregate rockfish presence. Pacific halibut work the shallower edges from February through July, and white seabass push in from March to July. Along the canyon walls and rocky ledges, anglers target rockfish with dropper loop bait fishing using squid, mackerel strips, and anchovies, and drop vertical jigs for lingcod down the deeper faces. For halibut over the sandier margins, drift fishing with live anchovies, live sardines, or soft plastic swimbaits covers the transition zones as the tide moves bait across the drop.