Flashminnow Question?

[C[ROD]]

After fishing all day at Zuma Beach, and getting nothing. :Evil: I was thinking what are the best conditions for using a LCFM and krocs in the surf

[tacklejunkie]

You'll want to look for clear water for the LC. The clearer the better.
In the surf, the clearest times are gonna be the times with the smallest waves.

I don't know about from the surf, but from a jetty or bay mouth you can see when the water clears up. Usually between tides or at "slack tide" as they call it. When the water stops going one way before it starts going the other the water will be the clearest as all the particles have a short time to settle.

So clear water and slack tides have been the most productive in my short hali experience. Then there's the other conditions like weather, moon and sun, baitfish etc etc that you will have to figure out. Still working on that part myself.

Dunno about the Kroc. I've been throwing it with no luck so far and lost at least 8 of them by now. I will usually throw the Kroc where I'm not comfortable throwing an LC (and lose it!) I will also throw the Kroc when the surf is too big for the LC or conditions are "messy".

It would seem the times I've caught hali's on the LC, there were lots of baitfish around and the areas looked really fishy with baitfish busting the surface. Look for lots of baitfish around and you'll probably find predators.

One last thing..
It couldn't hurt to search the fish out with the dropshot first before you go to the LC.

Keep it up! You'll get it! And it'll feel grrrrreat!

[jerryG]

Tackle Junkie is right about the clear water and presence of bait fish. I don't recommend throwing crocodilles when fishing the rocks unless you retrieving them fast and keeping up off the bottom to catch bonito. Make no doubt though on the beach the crockodile is a deadly halibut lure as is the LC flash minnow and Pointer. I like to keep my crock in contact with with bottom when fishing the beach.

I consider good conditions bright sunny days, clear water water, small surf, beaches with good drop offs and look area with good current. Look for rips along the beach to provide excellent current that pushes over deep holes. Also as mentioned a strong presence of bait fish in the water is always a great sign and always be look out for birds diving or fish crashing the surface. Halibut are a lot different than other inshore species of fish.Clear water is generally the kiss of death when targeting calicos, sand bass, or white sea bass but halibut seem to bite best in clear water. I supose it's not too difficult for for them to get close to their prey with out being detected where other species of fish preffer hunting in water with less visability. Good luck.


JerryG

[C[ROD]]

thanks for the tips I'll keep in mind next time I go fishing:Cool:
P.S.
:confused:Whats the best lure for when the surf is not so clear?

[jerryG]

Not to say that you will never catch halibut in green water but based on my experiences clear water has proven to be by far the most productive for halibut. As I had mentioned in my previous post Clear water has also proven to be the worst condition for just about any other type of inshore fish. With that said when targeting halibut in off color water I like lure I can fish slow right on the bottom that produces a lot of flash. The crocodile in the prizm pattern (chrome with silver reflective tape) has produced best for me in water with low visibility. If the water is really green or worse if it is red I usually will just drive to different spot in search of some better conditions.


Jerryg

[C[ROD]]

thanks again for the advice:p