I started fly fishing when I went to college up north. all FW of course, lots of steelheading, some other stuff too like FW bassin' from a tube. fun stuff. never really got into the trout thing, just not the river runs through it kind of person. when I moved back to socal in the mid 90's the fly gear was dormant for a long time. tried a couple of streams and creeks and what not, but like, whatever. I was always a SW guy at heart. and there wasn't anything bigger than 10" trout. or so I thought.
on a whim several years ago I dropped into a local (for me, san fernando valley) fly shop and asked about the fly fishing. of course it was trout focused, but I told the guy I was mostly a steelheader kind of fly fisherman, and had mostly heavier (7-9wt) gear. then he suggested the surf.
HUH???
then I discovered a goldmine. there's is probably the best fly fishing world right off the beach, 100's of miles of great coastline in socal. and it's easy too. which was good for me 'cause I'm not the most skilled
long and short of it, google fly fishing socal surf, or head over to scsurffishing.com and use search. other sites too. probably an easy way to get started. I've done some fly fishing off the yak, and it's a blast. going to bring the fly rod on the islander this year and plan to use it for some calico. also I do fly fish the harbors like newport.
if you've never fly fished, it's a much more expensive way to fish, and much steeper learning curve, than traditional gear. if you've never done it, I suggest borrowing some gear or finding someone who'll take you out a few times and show you the ropes. dropping $3-400 (yes, that's around average to enter) and realizing all the difficulties and shortcomings to work around, and all that, might be frustrating. but it's an awesome way to fish and I love it, it's just not applicable to every situation. but it sure is addictive.