yeah, seems that's been the 'bu story for a while lately. at least for me. malibu is my main area (hell, pretty much my only area!!) and last few times out it's been lots of bait and few fish. I do think the bass are stuffed to the gills. how could they not be
halibut are there pretty much all the time. drag a bait along the kelp edges, inside the kelp along the surf line, along the channels in the kelp, and outside the kelp lines a little deeper. sometimes dragging a bait while bouncing a swimmie can be productive. there's some deeper reefs out around dume as well that hold rock fish.
other thing is to pothole the kelp and fish vertically for the bass. lately, my best fishing has been on the drop. also, alot of bait along the shores. find the pelicans workign the shore line early and throw a swimmie or a spinner bait almsot to shore and work through the bait. the calico are in the eel grass stacking up along shore ambushing bait.