Fishing near San Diego in January

Thanks again for all the tips and suggestions. I am looking forward to some sun and warmer weather. Happy Holidays!

Here's the update - I fly fished a couple hours on two afternoons, both at high slack and the outgoing tide. I fished from the shore both times. The first trip was a northeast cove on Fiesta Island in Mission Bay. The second day was the north jetty on Mission Beach. I caught only one fish right at high slack in the cove. I am not what species the fish was but it was 11 inches, slender, forked tail, blue on top of body, silver below lateral line with herring-like mouth. It was caught on a small pink body fly with silver wrap and weighted eyes and looked like a small fish. I used an 8-weight with a clear intermediate sink tip. I also tried several clouser-type flies in various sizes and colors. I also used a T-300 sink tip off the jetty but got no certain tugs. I did see one fish caught on the jetty by a gear angler. The ocean waves seemed a little too large to fish off the beach - I saw a lot of surfers.

Additional info:
The tackle shop at Dana Landing, in Mission Bay, sells fishing licenses but cash only.
Single and tandem sit-on kayak rentals are readily available in the bay including near the tackle shop and at Paradise Point Resort, where I stayed. Average day rental is $60. I chose not to rent a kayak because I could not find a Hobie mirage drive kayak or a fishing kayak. The rental car, a Honda Fit, had no racks so renting and strapping to the top wasn't in the cards.
Fastlane kayaks, the Hobie dealer at Dana Landing and the tackle shop were willing to offer fishing tips and locations.
The wind came up in the afternoon consistently. It was windy enough that I chose to cast with the wind, not into it.
I saw very few kayak anglers, unlike two years ago when I saw them in the bay almost daily.
The warmest daytime temperatures were high 60s. I do not know the temperature of the bay.
San Diego was still easy to get around, the traffic relatively light and staying at the resort was very convenient with a variety of activities for the family.

It was a fun trip with the family but next time I am going to try getting out to the ocean or SD Bay.

Jacksmelt maybe? (not actually a smelt, but a large silverside). Not uncommon in Mission Bay this time of the year. 

That's it. Nicely done.

Nice catch.  They'll take a fly, not bait.  They are probably lurking the shoreline over the Eel Grass beds, 5 to 15 feet deep, looking for mysid shrimp.  They are very good to eat, if you don't mind working around the bones.

Nice catch.  They'll take a fly, not bait.

They'll certainly take bait.  Small bits of squid or shrimp work well.  They'll also take small shiny spoons.  Where there is one, there is a school.  They are ravenous on the sabiki and often times you'll see schools follow the sabiki to the surface.  I've found they prefer a faster presentation.

-Allen

Yeah, okay...they'll take bait, if you feed them. Buy why bait up a tiny hook when they'll attack a sabika rig.

I'm still thinking light fly gear walking the shores of the bay sounds like the most fun.

Yeah, okay...they'll take bait, if you feed them. Buy why bait up a tiny hook when they'll attack a sabika rig.

I swear a baited sabiki rig (with tiny squid strips) is way more effective than a non-baited one.  I fish for these quite a bit, mainly for use as CA Halibut bait.  I've tried a lot of different things to catch them.  Trolling a baited sabiki is the most effective rig I've found.

I'm still thinking light fly gear walking the shores of the bay sounds like the most fun.

Maybe on a 3 weight!

-Allen

Nice catch.  They'll take a fly, not bait.  They are probably lurking the shoreline over the Eel Grass beds, 5 to 15 feet deep, looking for mysid shrimp.  They are very good to eat, if you don't mind working around the bones.

That's exactly right on the habitat I was fishing and where the guys at the bait shop recommended. I played around with retrieves and I think I actually caught this one as I was lifting up the line to make another cast - which means the fly was moving fast. I was hoping to catch a few more so after catching the first one, I went back to the car and got the camera. Of course after that I caught nothing - maybe the fish down there are camera shy.

The west side of Fiesta Island near the southern tip, was recommended for halibut but I didn't feel like fighting the wind so I didn't try that area.

Try calling KayakFishingSupplies, they support NWKA with discounts, they fish as well as sell gear in San Diego.