San Diego & SoCal Fishing Forums

Vantuna Research Group published their 2022 survey a few months back. You can read the 82-page report here. They conduct this trawl and seine survey twice a year, every few years, so it's interesting to see the seasonal differences within a year, as well as trends over time. Additionally, they survey 4 areas of SDB (North = Shelter Island. North-Central = Tidelands. South-central = Between Fiddlers and Cays. South = South of Cays.) so you can see distribution of the species throughout the bay.

Executive summary of the 2022 report:

The Vantuna Research Group at Occidental College surveyed the estuarine fishes of San Diego Bay in April and July 2022 for the Port of San Diego. The goals of the current study were to update previous studies, as well as quantify spatial and temporal utilization of the fishery populations in San Diego Bay.
A summary of the results is as follows: Composition and Abundance During this study, 19,630 (56 species) fishes weighing a total of 373.1 kilograms (kg) were recorded during April and July 2022. The most numerous species comprising 33.9 percent (%) of the catch was Slough Anchovy (Anchoa delicatissima), followed by Topsmelt (Atherinops affinis; 27.2%), Kelp Pipefish (Syngnathus californiensis; 8.3%), Giant Kelpfish (Heterostichus rostratus; 6.6%), and Arrow Goby (Clevelandia ios; 6.5%; Table 3). In terms of biomass, Round Stingrays (Urobatis halleri) dominated the catch comprising 35.4% of the biomass, followed by Spotted Sand Bass (Paralabrax maculatofasciatus; 16.1%), and Topsmelt (13.5%). These species are typically among the most dominant species in surveys of San Diego Bay.


Some of my takeaways from the report:
Anchovies and smelt dominate the total fish numbers and lures/flies mimicking them should always be in your arsenal, however their distribution varies and should be taken into consideration. Anchovies in the south, smelt in the north.
Certain areas are better for specific species. Some we already know, like bonefish in the south, midshipmen in the north. This data suggest that bigger corvina are near Tidelands. Spotties are distributed pretty evenly.
Some species are more seasonal than others. Arrow gobies stand out as a much more abundant bait during the summer. More bonefish, bigger corvina in the spring.
An overall downward trend of number of fish caught over the past 27 years, but up from 2019. Biomass has decreased as well, but not as much as number of fish caught, so larger fish are being sampled?
What's going on with pipefish?
The Port of San Diego has more studies, dating back to the 1990s,located here.

Haven't caught a lizardfish in the bay in years, the bay used to be infested with them. Same with needlefish. Next to nothing in the counts too.

Very interesting report, thank you! My take-away, there's a bunch of different fish in the bay..and a mess of stingrays! Don't miss the lizard fish! Still a lot of spotties, not as many sandies as I would of guessed!

This is fascinating, thanks so much for posting. Anyone know what caused the huge drop off in bait fish from 1996 onwards? Was there some significant change to the bay in 1996-1997?

I've been catching lots of lizardfish in and around Harbor Island and Shelter Island on a sabiki recently, but they barely register on the catch list.

Interesting read, thanks for sharing

Rattus wrote: ↑Fri Sep 29, 2023 8:21 am This is fascinating, thanks so much for posting. Anyone know what caused the huge drop off in bait fish from 1996 onwards? Was there some significant change to the bay in 1996-1997?

I've been catching lots of lizardfish in and around Harbor Island and Shelter Island on a sabiki recently, but they barely register on the catch list.

I've only been here since 2013 but could the power plant removal in south bay have something to do with it? I guess it was removed right before I got here february but it must have been shut down for a bit before then too.

Just read it was shut down in 2010.