gavin310
07-28-2008, 08:05 PM
(Be forewarned there is nothing happy about this report.)
On Friday I had my mind set on having a freshly caught halibut dinner, or even just catching a short. I didn't care, I wanted to feel a hali on my line. I never have. So Saturday I drove to Crystal Cove (near Laguna Beach) for the evening high tide for some surf fishing. Weeds everywhere. Every cast I had a bowl of salad on my lure after the first or second crank of the reel. Not one to give up easily, I reeled in bundle after bundle of salad for about an hour. On the way home, I made up my mind to go out early Sunday morning and drive north towards Malibu/Ventura, hoping whatever stirred up the weeds down south didn't make its way north. So I got to my favorite spot at the Malibu/Ventura border at sunrise. Medium surf, poor visibility, and heaps of salad with every cast. Every now and then the water would clear up for about 5 minutes, but the salad was still too much to handle. So, I drove north even more towards Carpinteria. Next stop had much less salad and decent surf, but poor visibility. Every now and then I'd get a break in the visibility for maybe 3 to 5 minutes, but that's it. I lost my Krocodile to some kelp under the water. So I headed even further north and, remembering Wingnut's incredible Santa Barbara fishing fiesta, I went all the way to Goleta and found a great spot. Still salad on every 2 out of 3 casts, but not horrible. Visibility was also good, but by now it just wasn't prime time. Fished for about 30 minutes when some guy told me they've been catching a bunch of halibut up north a bit near this golf course, and they weren't catching any at the stop I was at. So, I decided to take his advice. I got to the spot, hiked down to the ocean, and happily took note of the opaque water that resembled chocolate milk. (And by happy I meant completely disappointed.) I don't know why, but I threw the lure out a few times and hooked a bunch of sea weed. On the walk back to the car I noticed little bits of tar stuck all over my legs. It must have been floating in the water. I also had tar all over the bottom of my feet. Good thing I was wearing $4 flip flops. Went back to Goleta. The water visibility had worsened and I couldn't get to the spot I went to before because the tide had risen too much. By now the sun was mid-way into the bottom quarter of the sky, so I rushed back to the car to head back to the area that was halfway decent, and... traffic. Took about an hour, but I got back to the area. Salad. Fished about 20 minutes and pulled salad off my lure the entire time. Stopped at one more place and the waves were huge, but it was my last stop so I fished anyways.
I swear I'm pretty good at surf fishing. Maybe just a bit too persistent :) I've never caught a halibut, and now I have a vendetta out for them. I will catch a halibut. I'm not giving up easily. Wingnut, maybe I could meet up with you on one of your outings? I swear you have a halibut whistle and just aren't telling anybody...
On Friday I had my mind set on having a freshly caught halibut dinner, or even just catching a short. I didn't care, I wanted to feel a hali on my line. I never have. So Saturday I drove to Crystal Cove (near Laguna Beach) for the evening high tide for some surf fishing. Weeds everywhere. Every cast I had a bowl of salad on my lure after the first or second crank of the reel. Not one to give up easily, I reeled in bundle after bundle of salad for about an hour. On the way home, I made up my mind to go out early Sunday morning and drive north towards Malibu/Ventura, hoping whatever stirred up the weeds down south didn't make its way north. So I got to my favorite spot at the Malibu/Ventura border at sunrise. Medium surf, poor visibility, and heaps of salad with every cast. Every now and then the water would clear up for about 5 minutes, but the salad was still too much to handle. So, I drove north even more towards Carpinteria. Next stop had much less salad and decent surf, but poor visibility. Every now and then I'd get a break in the visibility for maybe 3 to 5 minutes, but that's it. I lost my Krocodile to some kelp under the water. So I headed even further north and, remembering Wingnut's incredible Santa Barbara fishing fiesta, I went all the way to Goleta and found a great spot. Still salad on every 2 out of 3 casts, but not horrible. Visibility was also good, but by now it just wasn't prime time. Fished for about 30 minutes when some guy told me they've been catching a bunch of halibut up north a bit near this golf course, and they weren't catching any at the stop I was at. So, I decided to take his advice. I got to the spot, hiked down to the ocean, and happily took note of the opaque water that resembled chocolate milk. (And by happy I meant completely disappointed.) I don't know why, but I threw the lure out a few times and hooked a bunch of sea weed. On the walk back to the car I noticed little bits of tar stuck all over my legs. It must have been floating in the water. I also had tar all over the bottom of my feet. Good thing I was wearing $4 flip flops. Went back to Goleta. The water visibility had worsened and I couldn't get to the spot I went to before because the tide had risen too much. By now the sun was mid-way into the bottom quarter of the sky, so I rushed back to the car to head back to the area that was halfway decent, and... traffic. Took about an hour, but I got back to the area. Salad. Fished about 20 minutes and pulled salad off my lure the entire time. Stopped at one more place and the waves were huge, but it was my last stop so I fished anyways.
I swear I'm pretty good at surf fishing. Maybe just a bit too persistent :) I've never caught a halibut, and now I have a vendetta out for them. I will catch a halibut. I'm not giving up easily. Wingnut, maybe I could meet up with you on one of your outings? I swear you have a halibut whistle and just aren't telling anybody...