Friday's early morning weather was a bit surprising with a cool 8knot wind coming out of the Northwest. The water had turned over and was a bit green, but with the small swells and very little moon it looked like fishing would still be good.

As I walked and walked without a bite, it seemed strange to me that the fish had suddenly disappeared. There was no large swell or commercial netter, no big winter run off and certainly no real reason why I wasn't catching fish.

Well not until I saw our friend the sea lion. You know I still don't know why they are called that. They certainly don't look or act like a lion. They are more like a slug with whiskers--looking for the next meal.

And being just 30 feet off the beach the next meal was every perch in the inshore trough he could catch. No wonder they weren't biting--they were swimming for their lives! I took a few minutes and tried to reason with the slippery guy but he kept moving down the trough munching along the way.

Fed up with the company I moved on knowing that Sunday through Wednesday have some of the best tides of the year. And also knowing--that the next time I go down the the beach--I may not be alone!

This morning was one of the warmest in the last month. The Huntington Beach marathon was in full swing and there was no reason to go anywhere near the HB pier--so we headed south.

The crowds were at home getting ready for the big game--so it wasn't crowded for a change. Had a good bite on 7-13inch perch and caught a beautiful spotfin croaker who took me for a ride. As predicted the surf was much smaller with glassy conditions. The water has turned over a bit and has a way to go before it cleans up.

The small 1 1/2inch grub coated with hot sause and the clauser minnow fly worked well today to attract fish. This upcoming week will have some great tides and tame surf until later in the week when a strong Pacific storm will race ashore. Look for a break in the action next weekend as conditions and tides will begin to improve near the middle of this month.

As I've said so many times before: "Don't wait another minute to get down there!"

2/02/2007

Pounding surf crashed ashore today as swells from the north pacific took center stage at the beach. Fishing was tough and nearly impossible today as the long shore current was screaming and fish were treading for their lives!

The swell along the south coast will begin to diminish by Saturday afternoon and be more manageable on Sunday and into the middle of next week. We still have some great tides in the morning and evening for the next week. This time of year I like to fish an outgoing high tide because this seems to be when perch are most active.

The full moon has hurt the surf fishing too because fish can feed all day. But, as the moon wanes in the next few days fishing will improve. It looks like we may be getting into some rainy weather late next week. The surf fishing before the low comes ashore is usually very good-so now's the time to get out there and hit the beach!

For a great look at the projected swell, wind, tides and moon from the home page click on "Swell Watch." For a look at the real-time swells and other live beach conditions click on: "Live Cams" www.fishthesurf.com



I'll be out there Sunday and will write back with what I hope is a great report!

see you at the beach