Hi everyone,

I live next to some pretty spectacular tide pools in SoCal. I was wondering the best way to catch sild octopus with the least amount of stress on the animal (e.g. when is the best time? day/night/dusk? what should i look for in a healthy specimen? where are they most likely to be found?)

Thanks

You need a fishing license or collecting permit to catch octopus out of tidepools in California. Also many of the tidepools in Southern California are protected or marine refuges, so you cannot take anything out of those areas even with a license or permit. The best time to look for octopus would be during a low tide, preferably a negative tide. Where are you located in Southern California?

thanks for the response. I live in point loma. im pretty sure that it isn't a refuge. what should i specifically be looking for? day or night?

The only ones I've seen out-and about (in around 10-20 feet of water) were at Laguna Beach at around twilight. Marineboy seems to have good instincts for finding where bimacs hide in tidepools during the day, though: check out this thread for a lot of discussion of bimacs in the San Diego area:

http://www.tonmo.com/forums/showthread.php?t=7152

The La Jolla area is restricted for sure. There are signs everywhere that specificy everything is protected, and the area covered by that is pretty broad. Point Loma being so close I would make absolutely sure you aren't going to get in trouble.

thanks for the response. I live in point loma. im pretty sure that it isn't a refuge. what should i specifically be looking for? day or night?

Point Loma is a Marine Life Reserve - I am looking for a map to show you specifically which areas are covered.

do you have any updates on the map of point loma? i was told that it wasn't a reserve, but i could be totally wrong. i just want to make sure. thanks!

Here you go...

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/mlpa/pdfs/82loma.pdf

yea. it's in the navy submarine base. i'm not near there so I should be fine. thanks though for clearing that up for me. now all's I need is the license...