Easy catches in the La Jolla kelp?

[Willy]

Yep, start with swimbaits, like the big hammer. I like the fluke style too, the weedless setup of the fluke style bait, or any weedless bait, is really helpful in the kelp.

Fish the whole water column. I've pulled Calico's from the top to the seabed.

Most hits seem to be on the drop, at around 20 feet, but that's really dependent on water temp, clarity, season etc.

Use a heavy leadhead if you're going to fish the swimbait, an ounce or more, to defeat the current and to sink the lure to the bottom.
When fishing around the bottom, you might be surprised what will hit your lure.
I've pulled up all kinds of goodies from the rocky, kelpy depths.

Expect to snag kelp a lot, it's part of fishing in there, if you know it's going to happen, it's less frustrating.

When you do hook into a Calico, keep pressure on them, as they are masters of using the stringers as de-hookers if they can get back into a mess of kelp.

Good luck out there.

Willy

[bubblehide]

Get yourself some weedless swim baits, so you can fish um right in the kelp.

[Jzo]

Originally Posted by bubblehide

Get yourself some weedless swim baits, so you can fish um right in the kelp.

Armory Slayer Heads w/ big hammer works for me.

[fishinkid2010]

I second the recommendation of weedless swimbaits.
Get some 3/4oz WAR slayer heads, and pair it up with a 3" to 4" Big Hammer or MC swimbait. Sexy Smelt is a pretty good color, along with anything that has some brown and orange in it. Find the thickest kelp canopy you can, as well as the small pot holes, and drop down you swimbait there. Also look for long channels in the kelp, and fish it along the stringers. I have never lost a WAR head to getting snagged in the kelp, so I don't expect you'll lose to many.

If you're simply looking to pull on anything, a double dropper loop with a 4oz torpedo sinker and cut squid strips will always produce something!