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fish_sauce
01-18-2010, 01:20 AM
Being sick and bedridden for the past week has made me want nothing more than just to be out and about again on the hunt. It doesn’t matter where it is, so long as there is a body of water to fish, and some good ‘ol Californian sunshine, I’ll be content. Got an invitation from Arthur from the night before to join him on a mission to the Santa Barbara coastline, but I had to decline due to time restraints. Hopefully next time….but in the mean time, I figured I would give the local waters a try…My first surf session of the year, and the plan was to hit Long Beach, Seal Beach, and then Newport Harbor if time permits...

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/quandary01/01-17-10.jpg
Tide chart courtesy of www.mobilegeographics.com

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/quandary01/P1150014.jpg
The day started out with light morning clouds, incoming high tide. Water clarity was was on the poor side...but promising. Got to the water at 8:00AM and already there were a few heads in the water....

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/quandary01/P1150011.jpg
I managed a few short butts within the first hour or so, but this one really takes the prize for being the hungriest fish...It struck a flash minnow (which was longer lenghtwise than it by far) and was cleanly hooked on the mouth! :ROFL:

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/quandary01/P1150018.jpg
Croakers and corbinas were in the water, but they were on the smaller scale. I can't waiiitttt to catch these things in early fall!

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/quandary01/P1150019.jpg
This little guy was quite possibly caught and released before. His part of its upper jaw was damaged...and yet he's still surviving...it goes to show how resilient some of these fish are with proper care when catch-and-releasing...

I also noticed a few members have been posting pictures with their Californian Tournament series rods....These are not bad for $40 (when they're on sale at turners)....they reinforce my original belief that you can be successful on the surf without having to break the bank, since my setup with a CT70H with a quantum catalyst saltwater reel (off ebay) was still well under $100.

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/quandary01/P1150020.jpg
The magic behind fishing; a quick disappearing act.

Got to the end of 72nd place and ran into a fellow FNN'er named "Albert." He told me it was his first trip to the salt, chasing after halibut. Albert, i hope you had better luck after i left. it was a tough and slow morning today, but dont' let that discourage ya. the spring, summer, and fall bite will definitely be better! And i hope you know i fully intend on catching my first Largemouth bass this year...:Wink:

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/quandary01/IMG_0008.jpg
This little guy was landed on the bay side, where my friends are adamant that i would just be wasting my time there....

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/quandary01/IMG_0010.jpg
Look how perfectly they blend in with the sand...

http://i261.photobucket.com/albums/ii79/quandary01/P1160022.jpg
The weather quickly turned foul around 1:00pm. I debated on whether to go straight to NPH or just make a quick stop to Seal beach...and opted for the later. I had just enough time to fish the area for about 20 minutes when the waves became severe, and conditions didn't seem too promising.

Packed my stuff up and headed back to the truck, and sat there for a while just feeling content that i had the chance to head out today and fish the window of fair weather before the storm. This weather pattern is going to stick with us a while, and will probably shut down surf fishing for a good week or two after it's done....maybe it's time i jump on a local party boat for some calico bass action first sign of the weather clearing up!...:Wink:


The charm of fishing is that it is the pursuit of what is elusive but attainable, a perpetual series of occasions for hope. --John Buchan

smokehound
01-18-2010, 03:56 AM
Awesome, winter beans in the surf. I bet that water was warmer than expected!


Nice job on the halis, man. Proves that winter surf fishing is productive!

murrieta angler
01-18-2010, 09:00 AM
Nice job out there FS.
Glad you are feeling better and the opprtunity to fish, paid off..:Smile:
Thanks for the report and pics.
Robert

Rakie
01-18-2010, 09:39 AM
lol, that little hali is gonna be attacking children in a few years !!

Santa Fe Eric
01-18-2010, 09:48 AM
Great Post! I tried to ge a tide chart in my previous post, but didn't know how. Nice touch!
Great fishing! Great report!

Wingnut
01-18-2010, 12:00 PM
Excellent report Andrew. :Big Grin: We didn't head North afterall, conditions didn't look too promising. :Neutral: Great to see you had a productive first surf outing of the year and nice job on the catch. Hopefully, you'll find some time to hit up the surf with us this year, I'll keep you posted on the possible dates. :Wink:

TUNAVIC
01-18-2010, 12:17 PM
Nice post and pics too, nice to see some pics from the surf, I could smell the saltwater. hey if you catch em like that in the surf, you'll do fine with the LMB!:Cool:Tuna Vic

bassn1960
01-18-2010, 10:28 PM
Hey Andrew thanks for all the great tips! I never did get a bite but that makes me more determined.I'm sure with the help you gave me I'll be sure and catch my first halibut this year.
If I can you with any tips on catching lmb let me know.I'd be glad to help.let me know if you would want to go to Diamond valley some Sunday.I know the lake well.
thanks again--Albert

fish_sauce
01-19-2010, 12:27 AM
Awesome, winter beans in the surf. I bet that water was warmer than expected!

Nice job on the halis, man. Proves that winter surf fishing is productive!

Good observation! the water was indeed a little warmer than expected. It lingered on until around 11:30, and the bite just shut down for me. Catching beans and croakers is actually very exciting on artificials...that is probably why the fly guys i spoke to prefer them over halibut!


lol, that little hali is gonna be attacking children in a few years !!

Haha. i just hope that it survives that fin-split from comming into contact with the third trebble hook...if it's lucky, then there will be no infections and it'll perhaps live long enough to NOT be mistaken for a sand dab. :LOL:


Great Post! I tried to ge a tide chart in my previous post, but didn't know how. Nice touch!
Great fishing! Great report!

Thanks Eric. Most tide charts are in BMP format. you can just save it and use Paint to open it, and save it again under JPEG or JPG. If the chart is on a format that doesn't allow you to copy, you can hit the "Print Screen" button, then open up Paint from windows, select "Paste" and then crop out the area of interest and save it as a JPEG file, and then treat it as you would any photo file. Just remember to give credit where credit is due. :Wink:


Excellent report Andrew. :Big Grin: We didn't head North afterall, conditions didn't look too promising. :Neutral: Great to see you had a productive first surf outing of the year and nice job on the catch. Hopefully, you'll find some time to hit up the surf with us this year, I'll keep you posted on the possible dates. :Wink:

I didn't run across any legals, i was hoping to find them in your reports! An outing with the S.W.A.T. crew is definitely on my to-do list this year, this first trip is actually to test out the new setup and check my waders for leaks....heheheh....i had a nasty leak in my neoprene wader from last year, but managed to patch it up for now with silicone. something tells me i'm gonna need it leak-proof when i do head out with you guys...:Wink:


Nice post and pics too, nice to see some pics from the surf, I could smell the saltwater. hey if you catch em like that in the surf, you'll do fine with the LMB!:Cool:Tuna Vic

thanks for the read TV, i'm still learning how to use this new camera. hopefully the picture quality will be better in future reports...


Hey Andrew thanks for all the great tips! I never did get a bite but that makes me more determined.I'm sure with the help you gave me I'll be sure and catch my first halibut this year.
If I can you with any tips on catching lmb let me know.I'd be glad to help.let me know if you would want to go to Diamond valley some Sunday.I know the lake well.
thanks again--Albert

Albert, catching halibut should be second-nature to you, since you already have a lot of experience with freshwater bass fishing. The technique stays pretty much the same, you're just playing in a different ball field. Fisherman57 has done a GREAT job at outlining the things you should look for in this article http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/showthread.php?t=14334 in terms of how to look for structure, water condition, tidal movement, and "feeding zone" that we briefly talked about. In the mean time, i'll look forward to that freshwater outting, i have a lot to learn about freshwater bass fishing! :Smile: