Ep. 94: Luke Dean of Artemis Charters on Night Fishing the Long Beach Breakwall

Hosts: Daniel Dahlin ([FISH]rx), Luke Dean (Bait Slingers / Artemis Charters)

Episode 94, recorded live on July 22, 2025, was an Artemis Charters deep dive. Time on the Water co-host Luke Dean runs the only charter program in SoCal solely focused on the Long Beach breakwall, and Daniel handed him the episode to break it all down. Nearly nine miles of wall, a different bite every night, and trophy calico and sand bass after dark.

In This Episode

• The Long Beach breakwall by the numbers: 8.5 miles of outside wall, another 8 on the inside, plus the oil rigs. Why this beats MDR’s quarter-mile wall for a charter program
• Inside wall vs. outside wall vs. oil rigs: three different fisheries, and how Luke decides which to fish and when to move
• The oil rig timing rule: why Luke saves that move for the end of the night, and what happened when he left the wall too early
• Bait pattern changes at the wall: patterns flip night to night and mid-session. If someone on the boat gets three bites in a row on the fluke, that’s the pattern. Everyone switches
• Size shift toward 4-inch presentations: Luke’s jump-off used to be 5 inches, now it’s 4. Less fin bait in the water
• Rod and reel setup for the breakwall: 8 to 17 lb rod on the light end, Fathom 150 DC, and why Luke has been fishing lighter and lighter as his time on the wall adds up
• Fly fishing charters: how they work, the different price point, and what Luke ties specifically for the wall
• Charter logistics: bring a second jacket and a headlamp, tell him if you’re left-handed ahead of time, two-pack max, daytime trips occasionally available. DM Artemis Charters to book

Why Every Move at the Wall Costs You Fish

Luke’s oil rig story is the best illustration of his wall system. He had clients on the boat, slow bite, nothing clicking at the wall. They pushed to move to the rigs. He obliged. The next night he went back to the exact spot they had left and a client landed a new PB: a six pounder, caught about a hundred yards from where they had called it. His takeaway wasn’t regret. It became a rule: save the oil rig move for the end of the night. Leave from there. Every move costs time on the motor, and sometimes the wall just needs more time.

The same patience logic applies to bait patterns. The wall fishes faster than shore structure. What held for a week in MDR might flip night to night at the breakwall. Luke’s approach is to keep an open mind mid-session. If someone on the boat gets three bites in a row on the fluke when everyone was on the craw, that’s the information. Call the change and switch. The willingness to recognize when someone else found the pattern before you did is a big part of what makes a productive night. For more on reading structure and deciding when to move, the SoCal structure fishing guide covers the positioning side of this.

Why He’s Been Fishing Lighter and Lighter

Luke’s gear progression on the wall is worth noting. He started on 300-series reels throwing heavier, and over time has moved to 150s, lighter rods in the 8 to 17 lb class, and an 18-ft Sunbird Neptune that he describes as the most heavily modified one in existence. The reason isn’t gear preference. It’s hundreds of repeated casts. When you’re doing more repetitions than the average angler in a season, sensitivity and arm fatigue become real factors. Lighter gear lets you feel more and fish longer.

The 4-inch bait shift is the same kind of observation-driven adjustment. The jump-off used to be 5 inches. Now it’s 4, because there’s less fin bait in the water and the fish are cued to smaller profiles. When someone says the fish should eat a 5-inch if they’re eating a 4-inch, Luke’s answer is: right now, they’re just not. He doesn’t fight that. He fishes what the water is telling him.

Why This Episode Matters

This episode matters because it shows what consistent fishing looks like on a complex piece of structure. The breakwall is not a single spot. It’s miles of changing conditions, and success comes from understanding when to stay, when to move, and how to adjust as the bite evolves night to night.

If you fish SoCal structure, harbors, or walls, the takeaways here connect directly to the spotted bay bass guide and the SoCal structure fishing guide. This is the most complete real-world decision-making breakdown of the breakwall in the TOTW catalog.

Watch the full episode on the Time On The Water YouTube channel. New episodes every Tuesday at 6 PM.