Where to go for float tube fishing - Newport Harbor

[Shawnturner]

Newport Harbor is huge and so I've just taken a quick stab at getting my fellow tubers going here if they don't know where to go. I plan to do a couple of followup videos from other spots, but this one starts the ball rolling.

I know there lots of guys who fish Newport regularly and know way more about it than I do, but I hope this helps people get started at this popular fishing spot and is part of my "Where to go float tube fishing in Southern California" series.

Newport is one of those places, like Los Alamitos, that has a lot of different micro-environments and you could easily spend years getting to know it.

Newport has always been tough for me. I've never caught more than a handful of fish on any one session, but after some timely advice from Bassin' Rich, I was finally able to put it together and I had a 20 fish day!

Here's what I think made the difference for me...

1) Open water - I did much better in open water than up into the docks. Even in smaller channels, I did better in the middle than against the sides. At one point, I trolled down the side of a channel up next to the ends of the docks and got nothing. Then turned around, moved 10 ft over and trolled right down the middle of the same channel and caught fish.

2) Stay on the fish - If you catch a fish in open water, you're probably on some bottom structure and you should work the whole small area until you stop getting bites.

3) Moorings = no joy. I've always targeted the concentrations of open water moorings and I've never done well in them. I'm sure there are guys who rip them up, but for me, the moorings are low percentage areas.

As I said, I plan to follow up with some other launch spots, but for now, here's my introduction to Newport Harbor.


[#0000FF]Sorry. No commercial links by new members.[/#0000FF]
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[TubeDude]

[#0000FF]Welcome aboard. Good to see someone from my old Orange County stomping (tubing) grounds. I have been gone from California since the late 70's but still have many fond memories.

I was one of the pioneers in float tubing and may have been the first to ever float a "donut" on Newport Bay. There were several tuber friendly launch sites around that big body of water...and many species of fish, rays and sharks to play with. One of my fave areas was up in the back bay...during late spring. Used to be a lot of halibut up there...if you could keep the rays and sharks away from your 'chovies. But throwing feathers or hardware usually helped restrict your catch to flatties or bass. Got some big spotfin croakers at times too.

I edited out your link. If you would like to post a Utube or other link to the specific videos that would be okay. But a link to a commercial enterprise...or another website with a fishing forum...is not allowed.
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