After spending a few hours catching bait we decided to pack the car and go for a road trip to camp and surf fish at Carlsbad State Beach. The conditions were a bit overcast with the sun poking out when we arrived. After wrestling with the tent we hiked down to the beach to fish. 
I had brought along an assortment of bait including ghost shrimp, clams, mussel, sand crabs and grubs—I was loaded with bait and not to be denied!!
The long steps to the beach were fine and gave a beautiful view to the lay of the land. I hoped for some good fishing and knew that a good day in the surf would take the sting away from the climb back up hill
I sent baits here and there with just a few small bites. After sliding on a ghost shrimp I sent it out to sea and waited. In no time I was rewarded with a nice yellowfin croaker. It was nothing big but gave me hope for more.
Over the next two days I had good luck with many barred perch but none were too big. Although I looked, I didn’t see even one corbina sliding the beach. No sharks, rays or other fish what-so-ever.
In mid day I took it upon myself to dive the area and see if I could find fish and structure. Over the years I’ve enjoyed doing this so I get a better “lay of the land” and find the best places to cast from the fish’s perspective. I covered a large area—out to about 30 feet and up the coast ½ mile. To my amazement I didn’t see any fish.
In the surf line or beyond I did find some great rock and sand stone structure that usually holds fish between it’s rocks or under the eel grass. But it wasn’t until returning inside the surf line that I found my first fish. A large school of 200 walleye with all but two 10 inchers.
The others must have been mom and dad—with dad about 15 inches and always keeping a BIG eye on me. 
Carlsbad is a great place to camp and fish especially if you like doing the stair master to heaven!!
I had brought along an assortment of bait including ghost shrimp, clams, mussel, sand crabs and grubs—I was loaded with bait and not to be denied!!
The long steps to the beach were fine and gave a beautiful view to the lay of the land. I hoped for some good fishing and knew that a good day in the surf would take the sting away from the climb back up hill
I sent baits here and there with just a few small bites. After sliding on a ghost shrimp I sent it out to sea and waited. In no time I was rewarded with a nice yellowfin croaker. It was nothing big but gave me hope for more.
Over the next two days I had good luck with many barred perch but none were too big. Although I looked, I didn’t see even one corbina sliding the beach. No sharks, rays or other fish what-so-ever.
In mid day I took it upon myself to dive the area and see if I could find fish and structure. Over the years I’ve enjoyed doing this so I get a better “lay of the land” and find the best places to cast from the fish’s perspective. I covered a large area—out to about 30 feet and up the coast ½ mile. To my amazement I didn’t see any fish.
In the surf line or beyond I did find some great rock and sand stone structure that usually holds fish between it’s rocks or under the eel grass. But it wasn’t until returning inside the surf line that I found my first fish. A large school of 200 walleye with all but two 10 inchers.
The others must have been mom and dad—with dad about 15 inches and always keeping a BIG eye on me. 
Carlsbad is a great place to camp and fish especially if you like doing the stair master to heaven!!
This upcoming week has some great morning and evening tides ( If you've noticed we have good tides about every two weeks). With nice highs and lows we should have both good bait collecting and fishing.
I look forward to seeing every0ne at this weeks upcoming on-the-beach seminar. If you couldn't attend check out my website for the next seminar--it's free and I guarantee you will learn something!!
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