With light winds and blue skies life was good at the beach this week.

A small south swell and southwest winds pushed more warm water up into Orange County this week and brought us one step closer to summer.

The green water from two weeks ago is almost gone with gin clear conditions in several areas from Newport to Seal Beach. Making bait last evening was a bit tough but the sunset was great and with very little wind the beach was comfortably warm.

Today's fishing was very good for 12-14inch barred perch. No sign of corbina on the bite or swimming in the shallows as of yet--with the exception that one swam into the back of my leg yesterday while crabbing and almost knocked me over!. We still need the water to go up a few degrees before the crabs make it in big numbers to the surface and the corbina come in to eat.

Check out this strange growth on this perch--probably not to good to eat either!

This weekend and upcoming week have some great tides, small surf and low winds which will help to make for some great surf fishing. I'd stay with the carolina rig and natural baits like sand crabs, mussel and worms. Just remember to look for what occurs in the area and you can be sure that's what they're eating. The evening and morning high tides will probably be the best time to find fish.

Now's a good time to stock up on what you need to surf fish with this summer so take a look at my tackle shop and dream of what might be!

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