Took some time off earlier this week and made my way down to my favorite mud hole. After a bit of slurping I had enough ghost shrimp for a couple of days of surf fishing. At the beach I found several large beds of crabs exposed at low tide—they were the size of quarters both hard and soft. Yeah, I’ve at least got the bait. Now to the beach…

Looked at the morning minus tides and racked my brain for what area would be good. Went down to the beach Thursday and found some very low tide conditions. On just the first bait I had a flurry of bites. In no time I was into some nice shark!! Dang, hoped it was a corbina or big perch but not so lucky—just the obligatory shovel nose!! Next cast began to pay off with a nice perch.

I struggled with several (lost count) shovelnose and smooth hound sharks and then made contact with our friend the corbina caught on the Carolina rig (6lb Flouro leader Gamakatsu #2 split shot hook, 1/2oz egg sinker) and a soft sand crab.

After wrestling her to the beach I was rewarded by a flyover from our armed forces. Bless them—I’m glad I’m on their side!!

As the Doppler rumbled off into the distance I was hooked up again with a nice fish on the ghost shrimp.

The day was beating on and I had to get to work. The next morning I woke up especially early and made my way back down to the beach. This time several other fishermen greeted me. We all seemed to work the area hard for fish but it was perch and shark for me.

Once again, time to get back to work--but on my way out I spied this nice hole, logged it away in the memory banks and began to make plans to come back soon at high tide…

Talking about tides---there are some great evening high tides early in the week and some even better morning tides later in the week. With small surf, warm water and good fishing it's time to get down NOW to the beach!!

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Looked at the tides this week and decided to try both morning and evening high tide. The surf had really calmed down and the winds that plagued us last week from the West had finally relented with just a soft warm South breeze.

UnReel (his user name)worked his tail off to catch some beautiful ghost shrimp and brought them to the beach for bait. Because the sand crabs are just perfect now, we also brought them along, in hopes of finding corbina. One evening I fished from the rocks and sand in hopes of catching the elusive surf ghost. But no luck. Just a few perch.

Then it was time for the morning bite so we met down at the beach and gave it a shot. Every cast a bite ( I wish I could say a “fish” but the gardener in me knows the farmer all too well!!) I fished the carolina rig using a 1/2oz sinker (because the surf was small), 24” of flouro leader and super sharp #1 split shot hook.

We ended up with perch, corbina, shovelnose Mr. Wiggles, smooth hound sharks and a couple small and large yellowfin croaker. No real big fish--but we know they are on the way! All in all a great morning.

Check out this tag in UnReel’s perch

Friday morning didn’t bring us back to corbinaland but it did provide a little yellowfin croaker and a few perch…

As I was leaving the beach after the evening of fishing I couldn’t help but wonder what is in store for us now that we know the fish are here. It’s just a matter of time before they go into a feeding frenzy that leaves even beachgoers with fear in their eyes!! I hope everyone has a great weekend at the beach and thanks UnReel for the bait--Sir ShrimpMaster!!

Next week we have some very low morning tides and a mid day to evening high. Should provide some good bait catching and corbina fishing opportunities.

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Home of the All-in-One Surf Tackle Kit

After gathering some bait I headed down to the beach for a Friday evening surf fish session. I was amazed by how few people were at the beach—a real sign of the economy.

The wind is now coming from the south (as it should be this time of year) and the water is finally growing clear and warm. The only downside is the lack of tide. With a high of only four feet it would take some good luck to catch fish.

Although the big one’s weren’t around and the spotfin seemed to be hiding, I did have some luck with about a dozen of the palm size models. Best bite was on sidewinders and clams. I like to fish them on the Carolina rig close to where rocks meet sand. When I know the fish are close to the rocks I will use a small 1/4th ounce sinker in hopes of not getting snagged.

Here’s a couple perch just in case you forgot…

Spied a nice sunset as I left and was happy that we are finally inching closer to summer.

There have been several reports of halibut in the Huntington Beach area over the last few days and with some great tides next week I sure hope we get back into the fish again.

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Home of the All-in-One Surf Tackle Kit

Took some time off work early this week and went down to collect some bait at a couple of my favorite spots.

This warm weather and lack of rain has made for some great bait catching. Sidewinder crabs seem to hate the rain and every time it comes it’s a couple of days before they come out of hiding. It also bugs the ghost shrimp and clams so even though it’s been a dry winter for us the bait sure has loved it!

Loaded up the car and hit the beach both Tuesday and Thursday evening. Just the right tides for my favorite spot—low going to high. I took the entire arsenal. Sand crab, mussel, clam, sidewinder and ghost shrimp—I even through in a few Gulp! baits for good measure.

The surf was larger each day and presented its own challenges. The water this week was a bit warmer but still very cloudy. The winds, which had been strong around noon each day, had begun to die off and give us a break. Over the two days my buddy Ken and I had a nice pick on perch and a couple of spotfin—one caught and one hooked and broken off in the rocks. It’s good to see them in the counts. Let’s hope they go wide-open.

The sidewinder crab, hooked in the middle and flug out on the Carolina rig seemed to work the best.

Many smaller perch jumbed on the sand crab.

There was even a yellowfin croaker in the mix.

Along with a few walleye who loved the sand crab but were ridiculous on the crack.

What do you guys think? Glup! Works so well for small fish it’s unbelievable but for large fish I have rarely seen it work. Have you seen it work for big slabs, etc. in the surf?

A look at the moon on my way out…

It looks like the water is getting a bit warmer and the ocean a bit clearer. The promise of a new south swell next week may bring warm clear water up the coast and set this place on fire! I sure hope so…

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