I'm planning to rent a skiff with a buddy of mine this weekend in Newport Harbor. I have no clue on where to start fishing. Any suggestion? Any particular location? How about tackle? What type of lure should I bring to catch fish?
Any suggestion will greatly be appreciated.

Here are some really basic tips for the bay...

Line- 4-8lbs
Lures- sm.plastics 3-4" w/ jigheads from 1/4-3/8oz colors-green/chart/clr.red flake/wht freshwater spinnerbaits

Fishing spots- fish are everywhere, popular spots are the coast guard dock, shell fuel dock, pch bridge (fish around the green marker, fin & tonic boat. Almost all moorings hold fish. Some keys things to remember, keep moving around, if your picking up eel grass, your in a good location. Also really important to fish moving water. Incoming tide is best. If you really get desperate and want to catch fish, try trolling bomber model A all chrome crankbaits, just be sure to pinch the barbs down. Also if it's really sunny, pitch in the shadows tight to docks. Good luck and post a report.

Don

Thanks for the tips. I've stocked up on the 3" green/chart/clr.red flake with a few dart type jig heads yesterday at fisherman's access. Does poppers work well in the bay? Just curious on how the top water action would be.

You can also try using 3 or 4 inch Big Hammer swimbaits. I like to use #5 Halloween in the morning and #16 Clear with red flake later in the day. Keylime is also a really good color. The PCH bridge and the boat docks are always good spots. I also like to fish the open channels thats were I seem to get the bigger bass because the water is a little deeper. Good Luck

Henry Ortega

I will be there renting a skiff too possibly. I will be the one with the electric motor on the back of it. I may go tomorrow too, maybe. I use heavier line 10-15 lb test and I cheat. I use the live bait they give you when you rent the boat. I flip the docks and pilings for the bay bass,halibut ect. The other guy gave some good advise on the plastics and the crankbaits, when the live bait is not available I use the bomber 7a in the firetiger and the green and brown fish traps. Man those bay bass hit hard !! Let me know if you want to go tomorrow, good luck this weekend.

Start out fishing plastics and flylining bait in the channal near the coast gaurd dock. If that doesnt work, fish some docks by flylining(with a small splitshot)live bait near them. Good luck.

Please release all the spotted bay bass that you catch...they are not good to eat because they live year round in a polluted bay and there are not many left.