Not west coast, but how we did it.
Out going tide at night.
Anchor or troll on the non outgoing side.
Maybe 30ft from the shadow line.
Gear..we used everything from fly rods to ultra light set ups with 2lb test
My go to was a 7ft med hvy rod,penn 6500 spinfisher. 12lb test. To a 60 lb mono /florocarbon leader.
Lures only.
Mirror lures actually.
52ms iirc etc Intermediate white/red.
We would remove the front treble, pinch all barbs.
Cast behind the shadow line by several feet..start retrieving like your walking a top water lure.
95% of our hits came at the shadow line.
Fish ranged from 3-5ft.
Schools of large lady fish( 36 to 48 inch plus) kept us from being bored..( hence the ultra light set up).
Again this is east coast .