Welcome to SCMO's Guide to Finding and Catching Striped Marlin in Southern California or, for the less long-winded, the Marlin Tutorial. We've taken our own knowledge and combined it with that of many of the most successful marlineers plying the local waters to create the ultimate guide for the SoCal marlin fisherman. Whether you are new to marlin fishing or have years of experience, we believe there will be many good things for you to learn here.

You can use the following Table of Contents to guide your learning, or feel free to skip around. We'll be adding a new chapter every week or two, so be sure to stop by often to get the latest information.

• About this Tutorial
• Introduction
• So You Wanna Be A Marlin Fisherman, My Son?
• History
• Ethics and Conservation
• Before You Fish
  • Setting Up The Boat
    • Essential Equipment
  • Tackle
    • Rigging Trolling Lures
      • EAL Autopsy
    • Rigging Bait Leader
    • Knots
  • Rods and Reels
    • Trolling
    • Bait
    • Dropback
  • Catching Bait
• Finding The Fish
  • Gathering Information
  • Types of Fins
  • Water Temperature
  • Birds
  • Using Binos
• Hooking The Fish
• Trolling
  • Patterns
  • Positions On Wave
  • Adjusting Lure Positions
  • Hot Lures
• Baitfishing
  • Sleepers
  • Feeders
  • Tailers
• Fighting The Fish
• Releasing The Fish
• Taking The Fish

Click on a chapter to learn more. If you don't see a topic you're interested in, email us and we'll add it!