There are lots of boats to charter from Santa Barbara to the Mexican border. Here's one list:
http://www.sportfishingreport.com/pages/boats.php
It's arranged roughly from north to south, so scroll down. The bottom two-thirds are southern Cal.
Most (if not all) carry live bait, though if you want to fish using only artificials, that's fine, too. (Years ago I went on a couple of artificial-only bottom fishing charters out of Ventura County, where there was no bait on board, but that's rare. If you're chartering the boat yourself, you can set the rules, though if there's no bait on board it can cut down on the catch in most situations.)
The boats carry anywhere from 4-6 people up to 30+, so unless you have a big group or want to go on a small boat, you're likely better off buying a ticket on one of the "open party" boats (they run out of the same landings, and are actually often the same boats as in the list I linked to above). Most landings rent out tackle; some of the charter boats provide tackle as part of the package.
As to what you'll catch and how big, that depends on the area, the distance run to the fishing grounds, and the time of year. In the cooler months it's mainly rockfish and other bottom fish, which average from 1 to 2 feet long (1 to 5 pounds) for the most part. In the summer, warmer water fish move into the area: inshore there are bass and barracuda (generally under 10 pounds), sometimes yellowtail and white seabass (both up to 30 pounds or so), while offshore there are often albacore or other tuna available (10-30 pounds, sometimes bigger).
Most of the landings and many of the boats have websites where you can get more information -- there are links in the SportfishingReport.Com website above, as well as current reports.  | 
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