About Topanga Beach Kelp

Topanga Beach Kelp is an outer, exposed kelp reef off Santa Monica, where a kelp-covered bottom rises through water 15 to 45 feet deep. The reef holds California Halibut, which peak from March through July, alongside White Seabass in the same March-to-July window and Calico Bass and California Sheephead that turn on from April into late summer. Halibut respond to drift fishing with live anchovies, sardines, or smelt across the sand pockets between kelp stringers, while Calico Bass hold tight to the structure and take swimbaits and leadhead jigs worked through the growth. California Sheephead feed close to the rocky reef base, where bottom fishing with live shrimp, squid, or cut mackerel reaches them. Later in the year the spot shifts toward Kelp Greenling, which peak from August through November over the same reef.