Best Whale Watching in Orange County: Where to Go and What to Know
If you search “whale watching Orange County,” you’ll get a dozen results telling you roughly the same thing: there are whales off the coast, and you should go see them. But if you’re actually trying to figure out where to go and what you’ll see, those results don’t help much. We’ve been running whale watching…
Where to See California Sea Lions in Dana Point (And What Makes Them So Fascinating)
You hear them before you see them. That loud, rhythmic barking echoing across Dana Point Harbor is the unmistakable sound of California sea lions, and around here, it’s as constant as the Pacific itself. Walk down to Dana Wharf on any given morning, and you’ll spot them piled on the inner jetty rocks, draped over…
Floating Treasure: How to Fish an Offshore Kelp Paddy Like a Pro
When the Dana Wharf sportboats head offshore in the summer and fall, every set of eyes on the boat—from the captain in the wheelhouse to the anglers on the bow—is scanning the deep blue horizon for one specific thing. A floating piece of detached kelp. In the vast, featureless expanse of the open…
The “Bait Matrix”: How to Hook a Live Sardine so it Actually Gets Bit
You can have the most expensive rod and reel on the boat, but if your live bait is spinning in circles or dies the second it hits the water, the fish are going to swim right past it. When you fish with Dana Wharf Sportfishing, our bait tanks are loaded with fresh, lively…
The Spring Awakening: How Fishing Changes from Winter to Spring in Dana Point
If you fish Southern California year-round, you know that the Pacific Ocean has moods. During the winter months, the water is cold, the days are short, and the strategy is all about going deep. Winter fishing at Dana Wharf Sportfishing is dominated by heavy lead, dropping bait to the bottom, and pulling up…
The Pound-for-Pound Champion: Targeting Ocean Whitefish off Dana Point
When you drop your line down to the rocky reefs off the coast of Southern California, you never quite know what’s going to bite. While many anglers have their hearts set on a giant Lingcod or a colorful California Sheephead, there is one fish that often steals the show: the Ocean Whitefish. Don’t…
The “Blowhole Breakdown”: How to Identify a Whale from a Mile Away
You are standing on the deck of a Dana Wharf vessel looking out at the Pacific. Suddenly, you see a puff of white water on the horizon. Before you can even focus your binoculars, the captain announces over the loudspeaker, “We have a Gray Whale at 2 o’clock!” How do they do that?…
The 4-Ton Diet: How Blue Whales Feast in Dana Point
It is almost impossible to comprehend the sheer size of a Blue Whale. At over 100 feet long and weighing up to 300,000 pounds, they are the largest animals to have ever lived on Earth. But the most mind-boggling fact about these massive ocean leviathans isn’t just their size—it’s how they fuel it. Every summer,…
Cracking the Code: How to Hook the Notorious Sheephead
They have teeth that look like a human’s, they change gender from female to male, and they fight like a bulldog. The California Sheephead is one of the most iconic fish in our local kelp beds. While many anglers catching them by accident while fishing for bass, targeting them specifically is a skill. Known as…
The Offshore Gold Rush: How to Target Mahi Mahi
When the water temps rise off Southern California, the “Gold Rush” begins. Mahi Mahi (Dorado) move into our local waters, often coming within just a few miles of the harbor. Whether you are hopping on a ¾ day boat out of Dana Wharf Sportfishing or running your own skiff from Dana…