Perris shore - follow the birds!

[ddoskocil]

So I had 2 hours to kill after work before I picked up the kids. Hit Perris shore for only my second time. Parked in lot 12 - far north east end. Headed down the ramp and started walking the shore line farther east. I past about 10 groups of people baiting and waiting. Some sandy shore, some tullies. Got to the end of the sand where it was 90% tullies with a few holes to fish through, and saw THE BIRDS! Huge group of the black long neck swimmers and the white flying and dive bombing smaller birds (don't know either of the names - help me out). Cast out my scrounger fluke, but no bites. I was about 10 yards too short. The birds scatter - darnit. I throw the senko around the tullies for nada. I see small groups of small shad (1 inch) around the tullies. 20 minutes later, the birds come back! Finaly see some fish boiling in the mix. They are a little closer. Throw the scounger again - bit! Nice show, a few jumps - 1'13oz. My first Perris fish, and my first scrounger fish (thanks to Matt at Last Chance bait and tackle for the fluke advice!) I get 2 more short bites before the birds take off again. Hit the marina for the last 30 minutes, one short bite and one follower on the scrounger. Not a bad shore trip in the middle of the week.

[Natural Lefty]

ddoskocil, I am glad you caught something (Bass, presumably). I guess more of us should follow the birds. The black long neck swimmers are Western Grebes. I checked it before in one of my mother's bird books, and maybe on the internet, too, since I always see those birds there, and was curious what they were. I don't know what the white flying and diving smaller birds are, though. I guess I need to check my mom's bird books again.

[Markymark13]

Way to go on your first perris fish! A mid week fish is better then no fish right? Yeah following the birds is definately a smart thing to do. They know where the fish are!