Half day at some salty spots 10-3 new species again

[tacklejunkie]

Went on down to the beach this morning looking to try for Hali's off the jetty with my fly rod. Found the clouser minnows awkward to cast and it wasn't easy casting around the jetty so decided to put the fly rod away for another time when I can tie a more specific fly for casting around the jetty.

Good thing I brought my backup casting and spin rods.

Met Fishindude420 and Zombie Bass Attack down on the jetty today too. Good to see you guys out there! Been a while FD:Wink:

Managed a couple shorts on the LC.
One on the Custom TJ Mackerel pattern Aurora Black LCFM. Like 18" or a little more maybe..
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/Salt%2010-3-08%20first%20sand%20bass/DSCN0866.jpg


And the second dink after FD420 and crew showed up on the TJ Sardine American Shad LCFM.
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/Salt%2010-3-08%20first%20sand%20bass/DSCN0867.jpg

Decided to switch spots instead of waiting around for the tide to clear up.
Spot #2 was recommended by flyngby to try for my first spottie bass. I was gonna tube it but found a quarter sized hole in my Simms waders which is why they leaked last time that wasn't patchable on the spot.
:mad:

Ended up having to stick the bay out from shore. Got a bunch of QUICK STRONG hits at Steve's spot near some docks but I guess I wasn't quick enough with the hookset :Razz::LOL:

Moved just a little bit and started casting a jighead with a gulp shrimp and a drop shot a foot up the same line. The drop shot got hit first and I caught another short hali.
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/Salt%2010-3-08%20first%20sand%20bass/DSCN0868.jpg

I figured I'd pull the gulp jighead off and stick with the d/s.
Few minute later caught my first sand bass! Hard fighting lil guys! :Surprised:
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/Salt%2010-3-08%20first%20sand%20bass/DSCN0869.jpg

I moved for the fourth time after the bite died off there to one last spot. Got hit HARD on a drop shot gulp shrimp but failed to hook the fish again.
Saw tons and tons of huge YFC swimming around like crazy and jumping, and a huge 100lb bat ray cruising.

Not too much action for 4 different spots but stirred up a few fish, checked out a few new great spots kindly passed on by flyngby and still caught one of the two new species I was looking for! Had a good time out there as usual. Thanks for the info Steve and I will be back to try again from the water next time! Good to see FD420 and crew out there too. Hope to see you all on the water soon!

-TJ

P.S.
Baits that worked for landed fish.
TJ Mackerel Aurora Black LC
TJ Sardine American Shad LC
D/S White Flashtrix always kills 'em!
A D/S blue flashtrix worked today too.
http://i240.photobucket.com/albums/ff280/tacklejunkie/Salt%2010-3-08%20first%20sand%20bass/DSCN0874.jpg
Watched a huge fish follow in my LC and circle it a few times when I C-started that puppy but he got wise and took off! Maybe next time

[legacy1]

Enjoyed your report...thanks!

[Wingnut]

Alright, nice outing Casey. Steve (Flyngby) does know that area well. :Cool: Congrats on a new species.
On the fly action, are you using the heavier sinking line? Makes it easier to cast in the surf. Wait until you get that first Hali on the fly... what a rush. I'm gonna try to get back to the surf this weekend... if the weather cooperates. :Wink:
Maybe that huge fish that followed your lure was a WSB! :Shocked:

[fishindude420]

Nice job out there man! It was nice to fish with you again, its been a while! U were smart to leave there when u did man. The tide just got worse and worse! after about a hr it was pretty much unfishable so we threw camo sandworms around the beach and caught some nice perch.

[HESBROS]

Nice job out there TJ, and congrats on new species. Steve certainly knows that place like the back of his hand. When you going to be out again? Maybe we can hook up for a morning of throwing plastics in the harbor. I have yet to get a flattie from the shore.

Eddie

[CrabMan]

Nice Job Casey,

I'm sorry I didn't see you at the beach today. I didn't go down today because the surf was so big and I knew it would slow things down a bit.:Angry:

I can't imagine how hard it is to cast the fly when the jetty rocks are behind you. Can you stand up on the top of the rock pile and still cast out?:???:

Try the clauser minnow on the carolina rig sometime and you'll be surprised how well it works...:EyePop:

[troutdog]

Nice job out there TJ, thanks for sharing the info....cool pics! Keep the reports coming dude.


TD

[Sinjin Kim]

Tim,

Sorry I couldn't make it out today. I had stuff to take care of during the day.
There is always next time.

Casey,

Nice job breaking the skunk with those fish. They may not be legals, but there are still fun to catch. As for your decorated LC's, whatever gives you confidence. As long as you believe it helped you catch fish, then the effort put into it was well worth it.

[boxl0bster]

good job tj! i love catching sand bass! too bad the bite never materialized this season. congrats on the new species and thanks for the report and pics. :Cool:

oh yeah i saw those flastrix the otehr day at a local tackle shop and thought they would be a great bait to use in the surf. you proved me right! haha

[bones]

Great job out there and a nice selection of lures also. I noticed your DS rig in the third pic. How has the ghost shrimp jig weight for the bottom been working out for you if you don't mind me asking?
I started using a simuliar rig in the FW for LMB a few years back with good results.

[Zombie Bass ATTACK]

nice meeting you too man!! :Big Grin: yeah like tim said the tide only got worse and worse ..we ended up with some nice perch i landed a nice 1lb1/2her on the gulp camo worm. and lost a nice 3lb Bsp on the small freshwater xrap..yeah spotties are good fighters no matter what size..but wait till you hook a solid 3 to 4 pounder :Big Grin: the best..take it easy casey.Oh and good job out there




ZBA,
Larry

[fishindude420]

Tim,

Sorry I couldn't make it out today. I had stuff to take care of during the day.
There is always next time.

Casey,

Nice job breaking the skunk with those fish. They may not be legals, but there are still fun to catch. As for your decorated LC's, whatever gives you confidence. As long as you believe it helped you catch fish, then the effort put into it was well worth it.



no problem man. will plan a trip soon!it sucked today so you didnt miss out on anything! lol. the tide was ridiculous and there was stuff floating everywhere! i only landed 1 short today. ill give u a call this week and will plan a trip for later on.

[one_leg]

Thanks for the report/pics Casey.

Once I get some of those LC's I will be posting up reports containing many huge surf fish too. :Wink:

[tacklejunkie]

no problem man. will plan a trip soon!it sucked today so you didnt miss out on anything! lol. the tide was ridiculous and there was stuff floating everywhere!
Gotta keep spot hoppin' bro :Wink: When one spot is bad, another is waiting to be fished. For me that spot fishes best at low slack tide with no current and clear water. This morning, That was at 6-6:30am before the light even came up, which is why my dark mackerel pattern likely worked best.



Enjoyed your report...thanks!
NP, Glad you enjoyed it. :Big Grin:


Alright, nice outing Casey. Steve (Flyngby) does know that area well. :Cool: Congrats on a new species.
On the fly action, are you using the heavier sinking line? Makes it easier to cast in the surf. Wait until you get that first Hali on the fly... what a rush. I'm gonna try to get back to the surf this weekend... if the weather cooperates. :Wink:
Maybe that huge fish that followed your lure was a WSB! :Shocked:
I know another spot I can try from the sand with the fly rod next trip that just might produce a fish or two. I think I'm gonna try those flies I caught the LMB on next time. They look almost just like a flash trix minnow but even more realistic.

Wish I could have made it out in the tube. Sending the Simms in for repair within the next couple days. Wore a huge hole in them puppies on that last 8 miles creek mission! :Shocked:

I think it was a big ol YFC following my bait. I seem to see big schools of large YFC all the time but they wont touch any of my fake stuff. :???:


Nice job out there TJ, and congrats on new species. Steve certainly knows that place like the back of his hand. When you going to be out again? Maybe we can hook up for a morning of throwing plastics in the harbor. I have yet to get a flattie from the shore.

Eddie
I'm sure I'll see you guys down there one of these days. I'll be back to stir up some more bay bass eventually. Stick some of those flash trix minnows or a baby or tiny fluke on a drop shot with some calico cocktail and work it slooooooow and you'll get that halibut from shore! I like to use 6lb fluorocarbon but I'm sure it doesn't matter.


Nice Job Casey,

I'm sorry I didn't see you at the beach today. I didn't go down today because the surf was so big and I knew it would slow things down a bit.:Angry:

I can't imagine how hard it is to cast the fly when the jetty rocks are behind you. Can you stand up on the top of the rock pile and still cast out?:???:

Try the clauser minnow on the carolina rig sometime and you'll be surprised how well it works...:EyePop:
I Actually tore the fly up bouncing it off the jetty rocks :LOL: I think the one I was using was too large for my line rating or something. I have some smaller ones and some other minnow lookin' thing to try for next time. Maybe next time you see me you'll get a good video show of me getting all tangled in my flyline? :Wink:


Nice job out there TJ, thanks for sharing the info....cool pics! Keep the reports coming dude.


TD
Thanks TD! Good work out there on them stripey last week man.


Casey,

Nice job breaking the skunk with those fish. They may not be legals, but there are still fun to catch. As for your decorated LC's, whatever gives you confidence. As long as you believe it helped you catch fish, then the effort put into it was well worth it.

Agh, It's all fun n' games with the colors. That mack LC has a crack through the middle of it and is a gonner any day now so I just drew all over it to see what would happen. Of corse, the flatties hammer it like everything else they get in their sight. :Wink: turns out that color "seems" to work fairly well in low light conditions from all the black on it. The fish bit it in the grey light. Later in the day they were on to the brighter stuff.


good job tj! i love catching sand bass! too bad the bite never materialized this season. congrats on the new species and thanks for the report and pics. :Cool:
Thanks Ernie! That little bass pulled like 2-3lbs of drag! :Shocked: I could tell it wasn't a hali right off the bat and laughed at how small he was when he finally gave in to his amazing fight.


Great job out there and a nice selection of lures also. I noticed you DS rig in the last pic. How has the ghost shrimp jig weight for the bottom been working out for you if you don't mind me asking?
I started using a simuliar rig in the FW for LMB a few years back with good results.

I dunno Bones..
I saw Santa Fe Eric rig a Gulp Shrimp on a jig head like that so thought it couldn't hurt to use that rig as a drop shot weight for my flash trix minnow and see what got bit first! I just learned that trick for FW bass earlier this year from Socal Bassman with various plastics as well.


nice meeting you too man!! :Big Grin: yeah like tim said the tide only got worse and worse ..we ended up with some nice perch i landed a nice 1lb1/2her on the gulp camo worm. and lost a nice 3lb Bsp on the small freshwater xrap..yeah spotties are good fighters no matter what size..but wait till you hook a solid 3 to 4 pounder :Big Grin: the best..take it easy casey.Oh and good job out there

Good to finally meet ya dude. That tide wasn't lookin so good so I rolled, but sorry to bounce out so quick. We gotta hook up and get on 'em on day. That was cool the lil sandie on the X-rap too! I've seen people pull sandies there but haven't been able to do it yet myself..



Thanks for the report/pics Casey.

Once I get some of those LC's I will be posting up reports containing many huge surf fish too. :Wink:



Sorry I didn't hit ya up one leggity. One of those spur of the moment type of deals. Next time bro!

[flyngby]

Casey,

For some reason I recognize those boards in your 1 Flattie pic.

Glad to see you had some success there and it will only get better as you learn the area. And the area is huge with lots of cover.

Congrats on that smaller Sandie and if you think he pulled hard, wait till you get one of legal size. Then there is the Bass on steroids for you to target in those Spotties.

One of the difficult things about fishing plastics in the harbor from shore is that they are actually hiding under the platform you are fishing from or close to shore and get spooked when you approach.

I have had much more success on the plastics floating and casting in!!!

Great first try in my other Backyard playground!!!

Steve

[flyngby]

Casey,

Forgot! By the way there are a lot of Mullet that make NPH their play ground and love to swim around the shallows in groups and also put on a great acrobatic show while they do it. It is not if but a matter of when 1 of them lands in my boat.

They do have very predominant yellow fins and I understand they love Frozen Peas!!!!

Steve

[supasportkid]

good goin out there

[PUDD MASTER BAITER]

Good job like always casey. I know what your talking about, as far as the wieght of those larger flies. There even awkward with my 10wt. The flies in your perris report ,are perfect for the salt. To get them to sink ,and cast easier. I like to put, the fly on a dropper loop, and a tiny split at the tag end.i try different size tiny split shots ,and go with the largest, i can cast comfortable. You will cast a mile with that 8wt. On the jetty, if theres not much current, you can roll cast .the fish will be right in the jetty wall, so you dont have to cast to far. Give me a ring so we can hook up, and give the fly rods a workout. God bless and peace out.....mike....

[fishhard22]

Cool report to read man, congrats on the new species

[DCCTrouserTrout]

You need to show me the ropes on fishing the LC. I am actually already on the board for my first legal (caught it years ago in NPH on on a DS gulp shrimp). I didn't have a tape measure or a camera so I dont know how big it was exactly but I wear a 13 shoe and it was bigger then 2 of my shoes heel to toe. I am guessing 26 maybe. That was my last hali though so I need to get me some more

[tacklejunkie]

Thanks again for all the info Steve! I'll try some peas next time I see those big ol schools.

Mike.. You told me those clousers would be hard to cast and you were right like always! I'll try some of the other tricks you mentioned as well next trip. Thanks for all the tips all the time dude.. You're always making sure I keep on the fish and I appreciate it!

DccTT,
There's not much to it. Once you find a good spot all you gotta do is cast out and slowly grind it in under the clearest and least current conditions possible. I can hook you up with two or three fairly good producing hali spots for the LC when you guys are ready to go. Just let me know!

The hardest part about learning to catch hali's on the LC for me was finding a good spot where I could consistently catch a couple just about every trip out. The Legals at my localest spots may be farther and fewer between than at other spots, but I still "get my man" just about every trip. :Wink: Size don't matter too much to me anyways as I throw 97% of all my fish back now days. I usually only keep my striper to help out the fresh water bass a bit.

[gletemfeelsteelgary]

Great job out there and a nice selection of lures also. I noticed your DS rig in the third pic. How has the ghost shrimp jig weight for the bottom been working out for you if you don't mind me asking?
I started using a simuliar rig in the FW for LMB a few years back with good results.
Nice work out ther TJ, way ta make things happen...definately move if the bite isn't what it should be...good choice.

Congrats....

Re: that shrimp dropshot...that looks tasty...to put it into the fishes terms.....but I think you have it upside down, I'd bet you'll be more successful flip flopping it around...

I seen this rigging before in fresh as well but I never fish it, I think I'll try it next time out with a gulp sand worm..and a gulp smelt.

Congrats on your catches...nice persistence and regularity..

Salute..
Gary

[sh1nynewlove]

looks like alot of fun.. thanks for the report =)

[chivo]

Cool pics.