what is the best area to catch sharks within ~20 miles of the LA coast?

depends on your definition of "coast"

can catch them all summer long from Mandeville to the Rigolets in lake P

Back in high school we used to hang cut bait in whiskey pass and catch a few decent ones with bonus redfish. Used to take my city friends do that for some drinking and easy fishing.

The water. Pick a rig in 30-60' of water and drop cut pogey on the bottom.

Drop a giant piece of bait down in 250' of water trying to catch a big warsaw. Wear yourself out fighting that SOB all the way to the boat. You will want to kill every shark in the Gulf after that.


ETA: I see others echo this. Or I echo them.

Lol that's a first. Looking for sharks. You can catch them in Caminada Pass at night. Hang a cut bloody fish (Bonita) outside your boat, hook some cut pogey, hardtail, etc on a decent size hook with a metal leader, drink a beer, and wait. 100% success rate.