Sprawled on the bottom level of a massive oil rig more than 11 miles from the shores of Long Beach, the half-dozen sea lions grow louder as our boat glides closer. One chews on a fish, holding it with ...

Surf fishing and be a bit intimidating to the uninitiated. It’s you against a vast ocean, and even though some lakes are huge, you still feel like the fish are confined enough that you have a shot.

While 10 or more of Southern California’s 27 offshore oil rigs could be closed in the next decade, there’s a push to preserve the platforms’ habitat-rich underwater bases as artificial reefs — and ...