Sunday, July 1, 2012

Surf Fishing Seminar and Report...




 Thank you to everyone who came out for the Bolsa Chica seminar. Once again the State did a great job of providing the facility and we all had a great time catching fish. Our next on the beach seminar will be at South Carlsbad State Beach on both Friday July 20th and Saturday July 21st. Registration will open around July 7th. Navigate to our site at www.fishthesurf.com and click on “Seminars” for more information.
Beautiful Seminar Spotfin

This was one of the best catching clinics I have seen with a number of corbina, spotfin and dozens of perch.

Great shovelnose Jackie!
 This week will provide a challenge for surf fisherman with the 4th of July being one of the busiest days at the beach. But the evening tides should provide great fishing around the holiday and into the weekend.
Spawning colors on a small shovelnose guitar fish
Sand crabs, ghost shrimp and worms have all been working well lately. Rig them on the Carolina rig with a short leader of about 12-18” of 6lb fluorocarbon leader. All surf fish are feeding on the bottom now, as they look for sand crabs, so you will need to have a heavy enough sinker (1/2 or 3/4.oz) and a short enough leader to stay near the bottom.
The only discouraging sign from the surf has been the precipitous drop in water temperature. Three weeks ago the water was a warm 68 degrees. Today, it clocked in at a chilly 58 degrees at the Huntington Beach pier.
Winds that have been blowing out of the west (they usually blow from the southwest this time of year) have churned up cold water and sent the long-shore current down the coast to the south rather than up the coast (as we would usually find in the summer) to the north. So instead of a steady stream of warm water filling in up the coast, cold winter-like water has filled in instead.
13 year old Chase with a huge corbina
(Thanks Dad for the photo!)
The good news is that the fish are still there but as the water cools so does their metabolism and in turn their need to feed. All we can do now is be patient and wait for the current to turn. In the meantime, I’m still going to hit it hard—because catching one trophy fish instead of two is always ok in my book!

Home of the all-in-one Surf Tackle Kit