Newport Beach 2/9/08 - Fixed the pics

[CoffeaRobusta]

Fished Newport Beach on a fine Saturday. Gotta love winters in SoCal. Worked the beach throughly from the mouth of the Santa Ana river to the first small rock jetty. I just wanted to concentrate on the basics of surf fishing and threw C-rigged BGCSW with a 3/8 ounce sinker as the surf didn't seem that big to me. I didn't catch a lot but caught enough to make the trip a fun, considering I was only out there for a few hours.

Conditions for the day...
[attachment=5:2fca6]Newport007.jpg[/attachment:2fca6]
[attachment=4:2fca6]Newport006.jpg[/attachment:2fca6]

Here's one of the BSP I caught.
[attachment=3:2fca6]Newport001.jpg[/attachment:2fca6]

I also found a dead surf scoter on the beach.
[attachment=2:2fca6]Newport003.jpg[/attachment:2fca6]

There were dolphins cruising the shore and a guy out fishing in his kayak.
[attachment=0:2fca6]Newport005.jpg[/attachment:2fca6]

When I got to the first jetty, I thought I'd go out to the end and try fishing off there. This is why you have to be careful and alwaays watch the waves. If I was 10 feet closer I would have been in the water.
[attachment=1:2fca6]Newport004.jpg[/attachment:2fca6]

By about this time, hunger and the droves of surfers convinced me it was time to pack up. I think I am slowly getting the hang of this surf fishing thing. One question, it seemed that I would get short bites. I am thinking that I should either shorten up my sandworms (I am using 2") or don't try to set on the first strike, but wait until they bite up to the hook.

Anyhoo, fun day to be out.

[Wingnut]

Hey, thanks for the report. The charts was a nice touch. :mrgreen:

[vanillagurilla]

yeah dude when you get a bite on the sand worms just let them take it for a minute. you get lots of short bites too.

[sansou]

Nice effort on the fishing report! Good info!

As for the perchies, I try my best to keep as much of the line as possible out of the water (hence why I use a 7 fter or more rod). In this manner you can set the hook quicker and detect the bites better, IMO. Sometimes there's no avoiding short bites (especially when using sand crabs), and I think that it is often indicative of you stumbling on a school/pocket of small BSPs/WSPs. You just have to continue walking until you find another fishy spot.

[Skyler]

Sounds like you had fun. As for short biters, I find that threading the 2" sandworms a bit more than halfway down the hook helps with the short bites, though the short biters are usually dinks. The eyelet of the hook (#6 mosquito) should be almost halfway into the worm. Also, make sure it doesn't ride down the hook, otherwise it will curl and cause tangles in your leader. Good luck.

[tacklejunkie]

Nice report there CR! Dig the chart info too.
Also, some great pics.


Sounds like you had fun. As for short biters, I find that threading the 2" sandworms a bit more than halfway down the hook helps with the short bites, though the short biters are usually dinks. The eyelet of the hook (#6 mosquito) should be almost halfway into the worm. Also, make sure it doesn't ride down the hook, otherwise it will curl and cause tangles in your leader. Good luck.

Indeed, that's about how I do it.
The only problem I notice is a lot of deeply hooked fish when I do get them on the threaded rig. Specially yesterday for some reason on the dink BSP.
I think next time I see a deep hooked perch I'll try nose hooking. I have been reading up on the difference between the two from some surf website I found googling. In my case, it might be better just to nose hook my plastic so I don't gill/gut hook the fish before release.

[Skyler]

Nice report there CR! Dig the chart info too.
Also, some great pics.


Sounds like you had fun. As for short biters, I find that threading the 2" sandworms a bit more than halfway down the hook helps with the short bites, though the short biters are usually dinks. The eyelet of the hook (#6 mosquito) should be almost halfway into the worm. Also, make sure it doesn't ride down the hook, otherwise it will curl and cause tangles in your leader. Good luck.

Indeed, that's about how I do it.
The only problem I notice is a lot of deeply hooked fish when I do get them on the threaded rig. Specially yesterday for some reason on the dink BSP.
I think next time I see a deep hooked perch I'll try nose hooking. I have been reading up on the difference between the two from some surf website I found googling. In my case, it might be better just to nose hook my plastic so I don't gill/gut hook the fish before release.

I have been nosehooking for the last three outings, and it does give the bait a bit better action, plus it doesn't ride down the hook and twist the line. But the fish can also rip the bait right off the hook pretty easy, which adds up after awhile. I've also casted a few off my hook this way.

[CoffeaRobusta]

Thanks for the discussion. Yeah, I've been mostly nose hooking. Maybe I'll try more threading and see if that helps, though I would hate to have to many deep hooked fish. I try to keep my line out of the water as best as I can with a 7 foot rod. I've been thinking about getting a new one but want to get a pair of chest waders first. I've been using hip-waders and I never fail to get water in them. Oh well, it's slightly better than no waders at all. If its a nice day out getting wet isn't too bad but sometimes there a lot of crap in the surf that eats up your legs.