[gone_fishing]

Did a little homework. Here's a portion from the DFG website. A little bit outdated but worth reading.

Spotted Sand Bass

History of the Fishery

The spotted sand bass (Paralabrax maculatofasciatus)
has quickly gained popularity with nearshore anglers
for its aggressive behavior and ghting ability. Recreational
angling for the spotted sand bass has seen a
dramatic increase in the last 10 years, resulting in angling
tournaments that target spotted sand bass exclusively.
Not considered quality-angling fare in the 1930s and the
early 1940s, the spotted sand bass began to gain in popularity
with shore and bay anglers in the mid-1950s. During
that period, almost all landings were made from shore or
by small skiff anglers shing within the bays of southern
California. Concern regarding the growing pressure on this
little-known resource by sport anglers resulted in the
formulation of conservation measures for the spotted sand
bass. These measures include the restriction on commercial
exploitation of the genus Paralabrax in 1953, and
in 1959, the adoption of a 10-sh bag-limit and a 12-inch
size-limit on kelp bass and barred sand bass, as well as
the spotted sand bass. Unfortunately, early landing data of
spotted sand bass were either lumped in with the other

Paralabrax

landings or not adequately reported. For these

reasons, accurate landings numbers for this species are

difcult to obtain and no substantial data were recorded
until the mid-1970s.
Surveys conducted by the Department of Fish and Game
on skiff shing estimated that the annual catch of spotted
sand bass in southern California waters ranged from 12,790
to 23,933 sh between 1976 and 1981. Additional estimates
of sport catch, based on data from boat and shore shing,
indicated that between 53,000 and 170,000 spotted sand
bass were taken per year from 1980 to 1989. No landing
data were recorded from 1990 to 1993; however, from
1994 to 1999 between 37,000 to 347,000 spotted sand bass
were landed either by shore or small skiff shermen, a
substantial increase from the landings numbers recorded
in the 1980s. This rise in landings can be attributed to
an increased interest in recreational shing in shallow
nearshore waters and consequential increase of angling
pressure on the resource. Additionally, with the introduction
of oat-tube technology and the popularity of ocean
kayaks, the accessibility to spotted sand bass habitat has
opened up dramatically. This accessibility has generated
interest in the spotted sand bass as a challenging recreational
shery.
Although the annual catch of spotted sand bass for the
record keeping period has been considerably lower than
the catches of the kelp bass and the barred sand bass, the
increase in shing pressure and landing numbers is cause
for concern due to their restricted habitat in southern
California waters. Early DFG shore surveys revealed that
due to its restricted bay habitat and geographically localized
populations (San Diego Bay, Mission Bay, Newport
Bay, Anaheim Bay), the spotted sand bass shery may have
been viewed as a less important sport shery by the public.
However, recent increases in landing numbers, indicate that
this view may be changing.

http://www.dfg.ca.gov/Mrd/status/spotted_sand_bass.pdf

Not to discourage anyone from targeting Spotties in the bay, far from it. Just some personal research for my own peice of mind.

Hank