Bear,
Great local info..that’s the goods..Thx!
Re: Flyguy: In SoCal we mostly go light in the surf...many surf fish in between 1st and 2nd breakers..trout rod 5lb test and you’re in business and maybe the ride of your life..5lb Corbina in 3ft of water stripping line is akin to a bonefish on the flats + swell + waves + rip... and you don’t have to hire a guide for $600...It’s free! Just step up, dig up and bait a sand crab right at your feet and cast away inshore..in shorts!
Be ready to run down the beach..but no slack or your off!
Yeah, if you are on the pier with a sabiki rig tipped with shrimp, and you are not getting bit, it is definitely the time of year. Can be very slow in winter with just som jacksmelt around especially on cold rough water windy days. Good news is spring is a coming’. Stick with the sabiki and you will start catching toward the end of March.. the walleye perch will start showing up then and others will start to show too. And definitely following Surf Fisher’s advice for some winter action. A dropper loop with two #8 smelled hooks with a 2oz pyramid sinker on the bottom baited with a small piece of shrimp is simple and easiest for the surf perch to start. There are many ways to catch barred surf perch but this is a good start. Good luck!
How about how not to catch sharks and stingrays...surf pests!
I have noticed that cultivated shrimp like tiger shrimp that are kinda translucent and tend toward blue do not get bit.. not even by forage fish like smelts or anchovies...or even perch which love shrimp...white opaque shrimp of any count have been my best bet...especially the smaller ones 50-60 count..I fish shrimp inshore, SoCal, surf, piers, bays, harbors and for Sheepshead on 1/2 day boats
Not to mention Lobsters, bushels of steamed Ipswich clams, new potatoes and salt and pepper corn at sunset at the lakeside picnic table twice a week. And our fried catch! Paradise!
Hey Fella,
Sounds like you got life wired!
I spent two full summers in ME in a lake house on lake Sebago. Outboard, speedboat but mostly 20ft aluminum canoe to fish and navigate skinny water between islands. Hundreds of yellow perch, a lotta white perch, large mouth on hula poppers and trolling lead-core for the land-locked salmon (1 in two summers), chain pickerel early morning. Next door was The Colonel who headed out in his pilot boat every morning at 6am to troll for salmon..looked a little like Popeye when he was heading out..but was expert on the salmon. Great fishing, great memories in vacationland.
Hey Rush,
Plenty of great spots. Just about any stretch of sandy beach will do. Torrey Pines State park is a great place to start. Park in or near the park entrance booth Hwy 1 and pick a spot slightly north or south of it. If you walk further south down the beach you come to flat rock which is almost legendary as a local surf fishing hotspot. A little north up the hill is Solana Beach, my favorite. There are public access paths between the condos on the bluffs with long staircases down to the beach. Clear water, fewer people and plenty of inshore fish. Simplest is walk on to the beach in Pacific Beach. North of Crystal pier is fewer people. Just cast away and you are in!
(Lemme know if you are closer to North County and I can give you the spots I found to be good when I lived up there)
You are right...was thinking of Pyramid..I’ll shut up now!
Ha! That’s stripers fishery!
Best feature for Cachuma is strippers fishery..Frozen or salted anchovies
I found Cachuma can be tough from shore high winds rugged shoreline deep...I was left kinda clueless..need regulars local knowledge...Casitas a lot more approachable and crappie fishing can be hot and not far from Cachuma..Best feature
Also key: Use dark lures on bright days and light or flashy lures on overcast days. Fish see by contrast not color, so a flashy lure on a bright day gets lost in the sun sparkling on the water/waves and vice-versa when the sun isn’t out.. especially if fish are below the lure looking up toward surface
Oh, incoming(flood tide) to high tide is best. Bite will switch off like light switch for about an hour when tide reaches its peak. Will resume when water starts moving again, flooding out, sweeping bait and upwelling nutrients