Red Sea or Not I'm Going Fishin'

A moderate breeze, red tide and warm water were waiting for me at the beach today.

Yesterday evening I took some time to catch bait and found some great beds of sand crabs. The water has warmed up to 64 degrees and the crabs are loving it! Soft and hard shell crabs were everywhere with a great variety of sizes.

Sidewinders pulled from the rocks make great bait for perch and croaker...

When I arrived at the beach this morning around 8am I was greeted by a strong south wind and areas of red tide that stretched to more than one-mile offshore. Although the red tide is very thick in some areas, near shore within the surfline, the red tide seems to be less active.

I fished today with sand crabs and sidewinder crabs for a great mix of perch in the 8-12inch range and several large yellowfin croaker. I used the carolina rig with a short leader to fish in open beach areas and in an area where rock jetties meet sand. Although the tide was a bit low for my liking, the fishing was still good and began to improve once we hit low tide and the water began to fill in again. I'm a bit surprised that I haven't seen many corbina in the surf--but maybe it's the red tide. It's only a matter of time--as you know before long they'll be sliding up and down the beach looking for crabs.

This weekend and next week's best fishing tides will be in the evening. The morning high tide also shows some promise but these tides are small with only about three to four feet of upward movement. Remember to check out the interactive real-time tide chart on www.fishthesurf.com to stay in touch with the best times to fish.

As I've mentioned before, some of the best areas to fish during red tide conditions are areas where the red tide has not penetrated and areas where sand is adjacent to rocks--like along jetties or natural rock outcroppings. During red tide fish tend to stay near structure for safety, but because they can't easily find food, they are always very hungry and not very picky.

I don't know if you've read my latest article in Fish Taco Chronicles that has just come out this week--but if you haven't and don't take the magazine email me a note with your name and address and I'll send you THIS MONTH'S COPY FOR FREE (email address: fishthesurf@mail.com). The magazine's packed with great articles on surf, salt and fresh water fishing by some of the top experts in each field. Don't wait too long as last weeks free offer has the magazine flying out the door!

Also, take a look at my surf tackle store where you'll find all the gear that I use at the beach at very reasonable prices--and you don't even need to leave your computer to place an order! For the month of June you'll receive 20% off your entire order by typing the words: THANK YOU in the promotion box--and this discount is not just on one item but your complete order!

I'm always looking for fish reports so feel free to send one to me and send pictures too if you have them. I've received lots and lots of questions about surf fishing and respond to every one--fell free to send me your question I look forward to hearing from you.



It's ridiculous what my boss will do to find out why I'm not at work. I think he busy charting my fishing spots!

Tight lines, Bill