I visited Santa Barbara this weekend and fished it for the first
time. I surveyed the area during the day and decided to walk to
the sandspit at night after 9PM. It was a bit creepy. There were
hundreds of birds at the sandspit and they all started flying around
as I approached.

I threw a Kroc for about 45 mins. Got one good hit that came
unbuttoned after a short 10 sec. fight.

My question to the forum is: is the sandspit usually a good place
to fish during this time of the year? If so, what do people usually
catch there, and from where do you fish on the sandspit? I'm curious
in general about the Santa Barbara Harbor area as it looks very fishy and I'd like to be prepared if I ever make it back to fish there again. Thanks.

The inside of the sandspit used to be great fishing for sandbass and halibut about 5-6 years ago. Unfortunately they dredged that area to oblivion and i have not caught much there since, though i try it 3-4 times a year just hoping it has come back.

I'm not familiar with the history of the sandspit. What does "dredged" mean? Did they do construction around there?

What about the end of the breakwall? Is that a good spot to fish?
It looked quite fishy to me also, but also a bit treacherous as the rocks looked slippery and the waves could be high.

Dredging is removing the sand that builds up inside the harbor. There used to be a nice sandbar on the inside of the sandspit near the end which is gone now.

I've fished the outside edge of the sandspit many times but have never done well there. Lots of people fish the end of the breakwall and seem to do pretty well for perch there.