El Capitan state beach

My brothers and I are staying at El Capitan and we seem to be having trouble locating fish. Out of 6 dives we have caught one halibut. We haven’t seen really anything except for short halibut. We Have dove at Mesa road Refugio and leadbetter. We want to find some calicos or more bottom fish. Any recommendations?

Nice butt is that yours?

Ubfortunately no it’s my older brothers

A couple years ago we camped at Refugio and I caught zilch, nada!
I wonder if the oil spill a few years ago has something to do with it?

Scotty

Ubfortunately no it’s my older brothers

I'm sure you'll get yours soon 

The fact that you got a decent hali is kind of shocking to me. Good job!
I grew up just south of there, yakked and fished many spots between Gaviota and Goleta and just never did well at refugio or El Cap. though the kelp always looked great there were just never any fish there.

My suggestions would be to head down to the Bacara Resort. They have a public parking lot and a trail down to the cobbled beach you can pull a kayak on wheels over. Punch through the surf and swing left to any kelp you can find. Calicos and Sugar Bass primarily, though I have pulled shorty WSB from there too.
#2 option would be anywhere along the Coastline you can find a trail down. There are quite a few "hidden" spots in that stretch. Still pretty worked over IMHO, but good for an adventure with maybe a lingcod or Cabbie as a reward.
#3 would be hunting for halis off of the Goleta Beach slough mouth. shallow water and flat sand, but shore casters get them there seasonally. There's a little tackle shop there at the pier that might have local info too.
Good luck!