Awoke early to go down to the bay and try to find some bait. The weather was beautiful and there were plenty of littleneck calms and sidewinder crabs to be had. Put them both in the garage fridge (don’t dare to keep them in the house fridge unless I want to sleep in the garage for a week!). In the morning I put my gear in the car and headed down to the beach. First look out to sea—HUGE waves.
Wasn’t going to let a couple of rouge 20 footers slow me down! Looked for a spot near the rocks that was somewhat wave protected. Noticed a great eddy that had formed on the opposite side of the approaching waves and tried there first. Cast out a fresh chunk of calm and it wasn’t long before a bite. Feisty little guy jumps on the line and gives me quite a fight. Up comes a hefty-fat opal eye perch.
Fought with the current and waves for a couple of casts then slid on the sidewinder and out she goes. First, nibble nibble, then wham I’m into a 14” barred perch.
Time is ticking down and I have to leave to go back to work. Out goes another sidewinder. Bounced him along the bottom. Then a knock down, nibble and slam. Fought this guy back and forth along the rocks and them got her in between waves. A big pile perch. Measured out to 16.75”. My personal best. Felt like 3 plus pounds…
On my way home I felt bad that both perch had probably jettisoned their kids before being landed. I hoped the kids found a hiding place and will grow to be caught another day. All fish swam away with a flourish, maybe to search for their kids!
When I got home I couldn’t remember ever seeing such a big pile perch being caught. My buddy “Sidewinder Ron” had told me that some giant ones lived right where I was fishing so I looked up the State record. Right there was Ron’s name as the current record holder with a 1lb 15oz’er caught in Long Beach. This one was at least a pound heavier and although there was no record for me that day it was nice to know that such a big fish was back in the water to swim and breed another day!
This weekend and into next week offer some awesome tides for fishing. Best time will be in the morning two hours before to two hours after high tide. It looks like the storm that is predicted for Monday will be light and then it will be followed by another off-shore wind event the should make surf fishing next weekend good too!
http://www.fishthesurf.com/
Home of the All-in-One Surf Tackle Kit
Wasn’t going to let a couple of rouge 20 footers slow me down! Looked for a spot near the rocks that was somewhat wave protected. Noticed a great eddy that had formed on the opposite side of the approaching waves and tried there first. Cast out a fresh chunk of calm and it wasn’t long before a bite. Feisty little guy jumps on the line and gives me quite a fight. Up comes a hefty-fat opal eye perch.
Fought with the current and waves for a couple of casts then slid on the sidewinder and out she goes. First, nibble nibble, then wham I’m into a 14” barred perch.
Time is ticking down and I have to leave to go back to work. Out goes another sidewinder. Bounced him along the bottom. Then a knock down, nibble and slam. Fought this guy back and forth along the rocks and them got her in between waves. A big pile perch. Measured out to 16.75”. My personal best. Felt like 3 plus pounds…
On my way home I felt bad that both perch had probably jettisoned their kids before being landed. I hoped the kids found a hiding place and will grow to be caught another day. All fish swam away with a flourish, maybe to search for their kids!
When I got home I couldn’t remember ever seeing such a big pile perch being caught. My buddy “Sidewinder Ron” had told me that some giant ones lived right where I was fishing so I looked up the State record. Right there was Ron’s name as the current record holder with a 1lb 15oz’er caught in Long Beach. This one was at least a pound heavier and although there was no record for me that day it was nice to know that such a big fish was back in the water to swim and breed another day!
This weekend and into next week offer some awesome tides for fishing. Best time will be in the morning two hours before to two hours after high tide. It looks like the storm that is predicted for Monday will be light and then it will be followed by another off-shore wind event the should make surf fishing next weekend good too!
http://www.fishthesurf.com/
Home of the All-in-One Surf Tackle Kit
