Channel islands harbor/Redondo/cabrillo

Myself and a couple friends are heading to socal in July. Gunna be camped near Ventura and fish channel islands harbor area the first day then head down to Redondo the next and Carrillo the third day. I am curious if anyone has any experience here at any of these locations and if we would have a decent shot at yellowtail/seabass out of those area in July. Hoping for some pointers as to what species we should Target other than yellows and seabass. Never fished down there so we are going in kinda blind other than what's on YouTube, thanks.

I grew up down there lived for awhile in Camarillo.  Sorry no consistent shot at YT that far north...They might get an occasional one during El Nino years but very very rare.  If you go further south of Channel Islands and more down to either Deer Creek or County Line you may find a stray WSB if the squid are in (easy to tell as you will see the squid boats at night).

Are you guys comfortable launching in the Surf?  If so I'd pass Channel Islands and head further south to Deer Creek or County Line and fish down there.  Its rocky right off the front so you can fish the rocks/kelp for rockfish.  The sandy areas you can get halibut.  Also if they are there, you have a shot at thresher sharks as well.  If you want to launch at Channel Islands harbor you can do so off the Kiddie Beach and its a short paddle out.  Best action I've had is to drift for Halibut just north at Hollywood Beach.

Redondo Beach probably has better fishing action.  Since its summer time you may get some Bonito in the harbor.  Again you can tell pretty quick if they are there by looking on what they are tossing from the pier.  Again out front of the harbor drifting for halibut is probably your best bet.

As for Carillo...do you mean Cabrillo in LA?  If so spend a little longer and drive 45 minutes further south and launch out of Newport Beach Harbor.  Better fishing.  Troll out front and in the mouth of the harbor and you should have a decent shot at picking up small bonito and barracuda.  The part I liked about Newport Harbor is that you can fish the docks/boats for Spotted Bay Bass and some Sand Bass.

Cool, thanks for the reply. We are gunna hit channel islands for about half a day just because it's close to where we are gunna camp so gunna try it the first afternoon. Redondo was the next day, looks like the canyon isn't too far of a paddle out and I was talking about Carrillo by San Pedro I think was the spot, could be wrong. Bummer about the YT, I was really hoping for a shot at one but I'll be relying on luck then lol.

Is there any decent calico or sand bass fishing within a reasonable distance launching out of Redondo? We are considering fishing Redondo both of our last two days instead of going to Carrillo. I really appreciate the info, thanks.

If you are camping in Ventura, a closer spot may be Rincon/Arco Island.  You launch at Pier Sholes Public Beach and paddle north to fish the island.  Its an easy shore launch as its very protected from the surf.  Not sure how the kelp is, but best bet is probably fishing around the island in the kelp and have a shot for some brown rockfish or the occasional halibut or calico.

If you want a shot of Calicos or Sand Bass then Cabrillo is probably your best bet.  I'd fish the ocean side of the breakwalls....Make sure you are using braid and toss swimbaits (I liked the 4" Big Hammers) to the rock/kelp clumps.  You will find the resident fish in their tight and once you hook them will head right to the rocks.

If you do the same technique at Redondo you can probably get a bass bite as well, I've just done a lot better on Halibut there.

Couple photos I found from Newport Beach

Sounds good, thanks for the info and I'll post pics after the trip if we get anything worth talking about. Still about a month and a half until we head down.