This week gave us some strange weather conditions with heavy fog early in the week followed by mid week red tide and rain today!
Changes in weather always seem to effect surf fishing and it was good to see the clouds clear this morning, warm winds turn offshore and the sun begin shine.
Although the spotfin didn’t want to bite this week, we found some good fishing Monday and Friday on perch and a few croaker. Monday’s weather was foggy and cool at the beach giving way to sunshine and a small southwest swell. My buddy KV and I fished with mussels, clams, crack and grubs. All baits seemed to work well with the biggest fish caught on the natural baits.
Here’s a sampling of our perch all in the 8-14” range:
Crack baby
Changes in weather always seem to effect surf fishing and it was good to see the clouds clear this morning, warm winds turn offshore and the sun begin shine.
Although the spotfin didn’t want to bite this week, we found some good fishing Monday and Friday on perch and a few croaker. Monday’s weather was foggy and cool at the beach giving way to sunshine and a small southwest swell. My buddy KV and I fished with mussels, clams, crack and grubs. All baits seemed to work well with the biggest fish caught on the natural baits.
Here’s a sampling of our perch all in the 8-14” range:
Crack baby
Slider grub
Clam 
Mussel (got to love the shells, don’t know how that happened?)
Along came Friday and I was jones'n to get to the beach. Hardly a soul down there first thing in the morning. As I walked out to the beach the wind was blowing slightly from the West, maybe 5 knots, not enough to cause a problem. By the time I made it to the water’s edge it was blowing 25 knots and I had to hold on to my hat! Then, just as fast as the wind had come up, within 20 minutes a warm wind turned offshore, the sun came out and the fishing kicked into gear.
I always hope for the monster corbina or spotfin but today they were busy and left me with their neighbors a few nice perch and a couple of yellowfin croakers.
Here’s a look at the baits we used
I like to use these baits on a Carolina rig with about 20” of 6lb fluorocarbon leader. There are a lot of great hooks out there but I like the gamakatsu split shot hook. If I’m fishing near rocks I use a small 1/4th oz sliding sinker, in bigger surf or near a strong current I’ll use 3/4th oz. to try to keep my bait in place and on the bottom.
Along came Friday and I was jones'n to get to the beach. Hardly a soul down there first thing in the morning. As I walked out to the beach the wind was blowing slightly from the West, maybe 5 knots, not enough to cause a problem. By the time I made it to the water’s edge it was blowing 25 knots and I had to hold on to my hat! Then, just as fast as the wind had come up, within 20 minutes a warm wind turned offshore, the sun came out and the fishing kicked into gear.
I always hope for the monster corbina or spotfin but today they were busy and left me with their neighbors a few nice perch and a couple of yellowfin croakers.
Here’s a look at the baits we used
I like to use these baits on a Carolina rig with about 20” of 6lb fluorocarbon leader. There are a lot of great hooks out there but I like the gamakatsu split shot hook. If I’m fishing near rocks I use a small 1/4th oz sliding sinker, in bigger surf or near a strong current I’ll use 3/4th oz. to try to keep my bait in place and on the bottom.
If you need to get a refresher on DFG rules and regulation for bait collection, etc. check out this link to their website: http://www.dfg.ca.gov/marine/sportfishing_regs2008.asp
This weekend and early next week will provide some ok tides and a small south swell. Later in the week, tide movement dies out (maybe a good time for halibut fishing?) but is replaced by week's end with some great swings in tide. Throughout November we will have alternating weeks with big and small tide swings--which always provides some good days for fishing and collecting bait. Also, don't forget that as our water cools, some big fish really like the plastic and now's a good time to add the artificials to your bait collection.
I really had my doubts about how good this weekend was going to be with all the reports of rain. But the winds were calm all afternoon and evening and with a small south swell building the dirty water has been pushed away—which means for this weekend there’s no doubt the fun has just begun!
I really had my doubts about how good this weekend was going to be with all the reports of rain. But the winds were calm all afternoon and evening and with a small south swell building the dirty water has been pushed away—which means for this weekend there’s no doubt the fun has just begun!
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