Seek for bait fishing tips

Hi, Guru

I would like to introduce fishing to my kids by bait fishing. I think they are small and fun to hook for them. My thoughts are
- going out calm water with kayak, but should be near the shore.
- bait fishing for small fish. These could be any of popular baitfish such as anchovies, herring, pinfish, sardines, mullet, small mackerel, bonito.
- got to be active fishing, pulling in bait fish every ~5 minutes.  . Otherwise, it will be last trip for them. 

Questions are
- where are possible locations for bait fishing - harbors, bays, jetties or kelp beds ?
- Which seasons are good for bait fishing ( it may depend on what type of bait)?

Thanks.

I know the kelp beds at Ocean Cove are LOADED with little blues and black. Unfortunately you have to wait until the season opens.
Using a sabiki I was getting the little ones literally almost every 20 seconds. One time I did count to 45 though. I stopped after 5. Once these were gone ( munched on my lings) I did it all over again. The ones I ended up not using went back.
If you can find kelp with few predators, i.e. seals, otters, I think a sabiki will be fine.

One thing you could do is fish for kingfish (white croaker) in capitola in the summer.

They litter the sandy areas there, especially the area just beyond the kelp bed and
moorings for the boats.  A single small hook with sliding sinker and a bit of squid
or even a perch grub works. They are very obliging those fish, they bite the second
the hook hits the bottom.

They can be eaten, but if not cleaned quickly they apparently have iodine/ammonia smell.
Never ate one, but they sell them for $3 per lb sometimes. but maybe for catfood?

I took my wife there last year on free fishing day,
she caught about a dozen kingfish in 30 minutes from the
kayak and was very pleased.    
You can drift for lingcod or halibut with small kingfish afterwards for a break.
I have also pulled up a lot of anchovies there in the summer, the issue there is
they are not on the bottom and the sabiki rigs have too many hooks to be safe for
kids.

I might take my kids there this summer, but remember, it is cold ocean water, and thus dangerous.
If I don't do it, this would be why.

you can even rent a skiff at the wharf (it is $120 for the day, ouch) and fit everybody in the
boat @ once.

I don't know of any freshwater solutions for this issue.  

One thing you could do is fish for kingfish (white croaker) in capitola in the summer.

I got the idea. Do you have yak launching and parking info for Capitola where you fished. How much deep did you go? GPS points would be sufficient if you would have.

I know the kelp beds at Ocean Cove are LOADED with little blues and black. Unfortunately you have to wait until the season opens.
Using a sabiki I was getting the little ones literally almost every 20 seconds.

I knew the ocean cove we fished together once. But, I did not remember the kelp beds. are they on the left side after exiting the cove? For these small fish,does it matter with the season open/close? Do you use sabiki + squid or just sabiki is sufficient? Thanks.

eric, you can launch @ the base of the wharf in capitola. or you can pay to launch your kayak
right off the wharf itself where they launch the skiffs. you can drive on to the wharf to do this.
They have malibu two's (double kayak) for rent there too. 

I have no GPS or depth finder, but the kingfish are in a sandy patch that is just southeast of where
the boats are moored in the summer. It is only 200 meters from shore.  The water is probably about
30 feet deep. you will find it easily. 

BTW, kids do not need fishing licenses and anybody can fish without a license from the wharf.

I have not done this myself but I bet you could catch a lot of fish around the Half Moon Bay jetties. I know Joel caught a lot of small blues while trying for perch. You can rent gear and kayaks from HMB Kayak Company. If you are up for a longer paddle you can head out to the green bouy and fish the kelp beds.

I know the kelp beds at Ocean Cove are LOADED with little blues and black. Unfortunately you have to wait until the season opens.
Using a sabiki I was getting the little ones literally almost every 20 seconds. One time I did count to 45 though. I stopped after 5. Once these were gone ( munched on my lings) I did it all over again. The ones I ended up not using went back.
If you can find kelp with few predators, i.e. seals, otters, I think a sabiki will be fine.

I thought you could not catch and use rockfish for bait.

I can not a regulation that states they can't be used for bait. the only live bait restriction I can find is section 27.10 the states:

27.10.  Live Bait Restrictions.
Tilapia may not be used or possessed for use as bait in ocean waters.

I think as long as they are legal to posses you can use them as bait.

It's legal to use rock fish as bait, but you have to count any rock fish that you use for bait toward your daily bag limit.

Almost impossible to enforce, but I KNOW we're all ethical fisherman here, right?

The kelp beds at Ocean Cove are just north.
No need for anything but a sabiki and a 1 oz. weight.
I always wondered why tilapia could not be used as bait, then I did some research.
Seems these things are like the superman of survival. Even the eggs can be out of the water for a month and still survive. These things pretty much take over once they are introduced anywhere.

The Santa Cruz wharf and surrounding kelp paddies usually hold a ton of fish in the spring and summer months (chovies, sardines, jacksmelt, macks, kingfish,shiner perch and occasionally squid)  Plus its a very protected spot and busy enough to not get that I'm in the food chain feeling.  Trolling the sabiki will get them all.  Once you scrape a few lively baits together you can drift for butts or drop the kids off with the wifey to play at the boardwalk. One word of caution, be sure and check the E-Coli report at the lifeguard staion on the pier.  Once in a while a string of small tides will coincide with a bird gathering at the mouth of the river and create some funky water coditions.  It happens alot of places but it gets posted immediately at the wharf.   

The Santa Cruz wharf and surrounding kelp paddies usually hold a ton of fish in the spring and summer months.
Once you scrape a few lively baits together you can drift for butts

Hi, thanks for the info. Bear with me for stupid questions:
The Santa Cruz wharf = The Santa Cruz Pier?  how deep is where Kelp beds are?
Where are good spots for drift fishing for Halibuts? How far out from the wharf?

No such thing as a stupid question.

Yes, wharf=pier.  Kelp paddies are about 1/4 mile off shore directly in front of the boardwalk, up around the lighthouse point and out deep in front of the pier.  Water is anywhere from 15-25 ft.  There is a designated swim area that you're not allowed to fish in (its marked with orange inflatable buoys) around cowell's beach.  You're probably just as likely to find large schools of bait working around the pier, be sure and stay out of casting distance though. You can target butts at the 1 mile buoy, its almost directly out in front of the pier and pretty sure its marked on most GPS charts.  You might also pick one off in the sand just south of the lighthouse reef, actually the entire area between the lighthouse and the pier may work depending on the bait situation.  Of course all this is dependant on the MLPA outcome, I think I seen a potential map with the lighthouse area marked as a reserve.     

Thanks for the great details. Where will be good yak launching and parking places for Santa Cruz Wharf?