This week I decided to go back up to the LA/Ventura county line at Leo Carrillo State Beach.  Perch fishing had been so good there a few weeks ago it sure was worth another shot at the big fish. 

 
 
In the early dark of the morning we stopped along our way at Wiley’s Bait in Malibu to visit with the shop’s owner Ginny to talk fishing and kid each other about being friends as kids when I used to sell bait to their shop in the 1970’s.  Our very good friend, Fred Oakley, brought us lots of laughs and fishing stories.  His record perch is stuffed and mounted on her wall above the register so you’ll always have a chance to get an enthusiastic look at what a four pounder looks like—should you one day have the luck of catching one!

On we went to Leo Carrillo cutting our way though the fog.  We arrived just as the park opened and were the first car in the lot.  We were expecting a very high tide a bit later that morning so we needed to move fast to find our spot in the rocks up the coast.

When we first arrived at the spot the tide was just reaching the rocks that lined the bottom of the cliff and it was a bit nerve racking having to fight the swell and slippery rocks.  But don’t despair!  On our first casts perch climbed right on and it was off to the races. 

The trick was to cast very near the rocks that protruded here and there in the surf and allow your bait to roll around and find the strike point where fish were hiding.  Ghost shrimp, clam, blood worms and sidewinder crabs work.  Our biggest fish (in a batch of about 100 before running out of bait) were on the sidewinder.  Most fish were large with more than twenty over 14”.

When fishing on beaches that have rock structure be sure to downsize your sinker ( I used a 1/4^th oz sinker) and shorten your leader to about 12’.  This will help keep to keep you from getting snagged and allow the current to “naturally” present your bait to fish.

This week we have a bit of weather coming in.  Although there will be wind with this storm we still have a very strong Southern current that continues to bring warm water up into our area.  Tide-wise we have some good tides early in the week making their way to some great tides for both bait catching and fishing later in the week.

I hope to see everyone next Saturday, November 2, at Fisherman’s Landing Tackle Day.  I will be holding a free seminar on the back deck of the Searcher at 9:30am.  No reservations are required just come on down.  I will also be in the Cousins Tackle booth selling my book for a measly $10 and would enjoy seeing folks to sign books and tell tall tales of surf fishing!

Look forward to seeing you there,

Bill

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