From the great lakes to the surf. Needing advice.

[Steelheadpimp]

New to FNN here. I have really been enjoying all of your surf fishing posts! I hale from southwestern Michigan and am beyond home sick for my beloved steelhead, salmon and walleye. I am blessed to be from such an enormous and well managed fishery and didn't realize how good I had it until I moved to the desert (loma linda). My friend and I have tried to find inland fishing and after not feeling a tug on our lines for about 9 months we found jess ranch. Were not fish snobs, we know it's not the best and its definitely nothing like home, but we had a great time and enjoyed meeting some like minded people. However, were still just hungry for more. I had no idea the devastation and polution that hit the rivers and lakes in soCal and while fishing for stocked fish is good when there are no other alternatives, It just doesn't match up to earning your catch in the wild.

But, enough reminiscing; I have been reading up on posts regarding surf fishing for some time now and I absolutely love what it has to offer. I am a river fisherman all the way and have spent many a day standing in the water by a dam. I can't think of a better time than being among creation with some good company and lots of action.

So now to my point: I'm not exactly an easy drive away to the coast, and while I would love to explore the area and learn first hand from many shore fisherman, it's not doable for me. Would anyone be willing to share some knowledge that would help get me started? The basics would be fine for now; what type of rods, reels, line, bait etc... I see many of you use an 8-10 ft. rod that looks similar to a steelhead rod and use 4-8 lb. test with a carolina rig or something similar is this correct? I've also read about the sand crabs and how to get them. I've done it a couple times on a visit to the beach, but what other live baits are good? shrimp?

As for what I'm going for: I am a conservationist, I have no desire to just go fishing simply to get fish. I fish almost exclusively for food. catch and release doesn't really appeal to me, so I choose not to fish unless I need food on the table. That being said, If I'm familiar with a fish's breading patterns and such I will not keep a fish that would do more good by being set free. Also, I do not keep bottom feeders. if it lives, crawls or eats off the bottom I stay away from it. I live a healthy lifestyle and this is part of it.

Anyway, if anyone would be kind enough to point me in the right direction as to these things and even a good area to start in the LA to south LA region I would be very thankful. surf perch, bonito, white fish etc is what I would like to shoot for. I saw a great post on here once about how to find the perfect location and stuff, but haven't been able to find it in months. Anyone familiar with it?

Well, thanks so much if you've made it through this book Ive written. cant' wait to get out there!!

[smokehound]

http://www.crystalcovestatepark.com/Images/tidepoolcritters/Striped%20Shore%20Crab.jpg
Striped shore crab --- the younger ones are a great bait. Dont worry about their claws or hard shell, alot of our surf species are able to crack them with ease. You can find these around rocks, and wooden docks.

http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/Molluscs/Mytilus1a.jpg
California mussels-- ignore the smaller black bay mussels you find in the harbors, california mussels outfish them at all times, plus they get larger. These are found on open beaches, look for them on jetties.

http://www.beachwatchers.wsu.edu/ezidweb/animals/images/neotrypaea.jpg
Ghost Shrimp-- these are generally the best invertebrate baits you can find. Fish will eagerly bite them when they're around. You can buy these at certain tackle-shops/liquor stores, or you can buy/make a slurp-gun and get them yourself on mudflats during low tide.


Nearly all our surf-species are bottom-feeders. Surfperch, croakers, leopardsharks, seabasses, etc poke around in the sand to find prey, and most eat worms and crustaceans, both of which concentrate toxins and PCB's.

Bonito arent very common in the surf-zone. when you do find them, they're generally babies, no bigger than a mackerel.

You wont find ocean whitefish in the surf-zone, this is a pelagic species, and is very sensitive to water temp.

Welcome to california. Our fish all have the 100% daily value of lead, pesticides, and fertilizers.

[n1ckxlam]

ooh, a lot of the fishing from the fresh transfers over. fish perch like you would fish trout, fish halibut like you would fish bass, and fish bass like you would fish..well bass. of course it gets more in depth than that, but if you are talkin about tackle wise, light lines are well regarded. you can use your trout gear, assuming its salt transferrable, for surf perch. use your bass gear for halibut and bass.

in the surf you can start out with a carolina rig, 6lb test, size 6 or 4 hook, using sand crabs, sand worms, artificial sand worms, mussel, fishing for perch and corbina

all this in addition to smokehounds above.
good luck and post a report. try high tide first, then give a low tide a shot, both produce.

Nick

[Steelheadpimp]

Wow pics are a huge help smokehound! and your right, finding something thats not a bottom feeder is a difficult task, but I suppose I should have been more specific. Back home we have a lot of carp, sucker and gobie that have a strictly algi and silt based diet. are you familiar with a source where I could get some kind of data on toxin levels in the area? I haven't had much luck. hahaha your closing comment says it all though. I suppose If I want to enjoy some angling out here I'm going to have to make friends with catch and release. Thanks again for the great advice!!
http://www.crystalcovestatepark.com/Images/tidepoolcritters/Striped%20Shore%20Crab.jpg
Striped shore crab --- the younger ones are a great bait. Dont worry about their claws or hard shell, alot of our surf species are able to crack them with ease. You can find these around rocks, and wooden docks.

http://nathistoc.bio.uci.edu/Molluscs/Mytilus1a.jpg
California mussels-- ignore the smaller black bay mussels you find in the harbors, california mussels outfish them at all times, plus they get larger. These are found on open beaches, look for them on jetties.

http://www.beachwatchers.wsu.edu/ezidweb/animals/images/neotrypaea.jpg
Ghost Shrimp-- these are generally the best invertebrate baits you can find. Fish will eagerly bite them when they're around. You can buy these at certain tackle-shops/liquor stores, or you can buy/make a slurp-gun and get them yourself on mudflats during low tide.


Nearly all our surf-species are bottom-feeders. Surfperch, croakers, leopardsharks, seabasses, etc poke around in the sand to find prey, and most eat worms and crustaceans, both of which concentrate toxins and PCB's.

Bonito arent very common in the surf-zone. when you do find them, they're generally babies, no bigger than a mackerel.

You wont find ocean whitefish in the surf-zone, this is a pelagic species, and is very sensitive to water temp.

Welcome to california. Our fish all have the 100% daily value of lead, pesticides, and fertilizers.

[Steelheadpimp]

Appreciate the help Nick. So you think I'm good to start out with my 7.5' trout rod (light action), 4 ;b. test, spinning reel say a #6-4 hook? single hook I'm assuming? mosquito? and a carolina sliding rig? Thanks again for the help!! cant wait to get out there! :D

ooh, a lot of the fishing from the fresh transfers over. fish perch like you would fish trout, fish halibut like you would fish bass, and fish bass like you would fish..well bass. of course it gets more in depth than that, but if you are talkin about tackle wise, light lines are well regarded. you can use your trout gear, assuming its salt transferrable, for surf perch. use your bass gear for halibut and bass.

in the surf you can start out with a carolina rig, 6lb test, size 6 or 4 hook, using sand crabs, sand worms, artificial sand worms, mussel, fishing for perch and corbina

all this in addition to smokehounds above.
good luck and post a report. try high tide first, then give a low tide a shot, both produce.

Nick

[Steelheadpimp]

One more question smokehouse, how do you recommended hooking these baits? I've used shrimp for salmon before and we just run it down the length of the back and let the barb peak out the front. Crabs on the other hand I'm not at all familiar with. Do you just tear out the muscle fro the shell and hook it? Sorry for being so nieve, just a very new baits for me.

[Steelheadpimp]

great responses so far guys, van any one go a little farther and explain where you normally surf fish? Not location geographically, but in the water itself. i.e; just into the water, up to the waist, directly out into the surf etc? I found an awesome post on here a week ago and didnt book mark it, now it seems to be lost forever. It explained hoe to choose a good spot, how to locate holes and such and when to face the horizon or when to maybe cast perpendicular to shore and let it drift in. This is the stuff I'm clueless about. I'm used to the rivers where we just cast upstream and let it float down. Any further help would be so great! :LOL:

[smokehound]

One more question smokehouse, how do you recommended hooking these baits? I've used shrimp for salmon before and we just run it down the length of the back and let the barb peak out the front. Crabs on the other hand I'm not at all familiar with. Do you just tear out the muscle fro the shell and hook it? Sorry for being so nieve, just a very new baits for me.You dont have to peel the crabs, I'll just hook them from the side of their shell, and let them walk on the bottom. The young crabs have a thinner shell, easily penetrated with a hook.

Here's a video that shows the BEST way to hook a ghost-shrimp. When you do it this way, they dont burrow, and they attract lots of nice fish..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8XlXgrpfzk
DONT do what this guy did at the end, you dont want your ghost shrimp damaged like this.

My only gripe with ghost shrimp, is they're very fragile, and perch will tear 'em apart in no time.

It's difficult to describe how to shuck mussels, perhaps I'll make a video, describing it easier.

If you're looking for ghost shrimp, or clamworms, Big Fish Tackle usually has a bunch of fresh, lively ghosties and worms for ya. Sometimes they carry nuclear worms, which are massive fat bright red clamworms. Ghost shrimp at Big Fish Tackle, on seal beach blvd and PCH cost around five bucks, for a dozen.

[Steelheadpimp]

Awesome, great advice. Thanks smokehound!
You dont have to peel the crabs, I'll just hook them from the side of their shell, and let them walk on the bottom. The young crabs have a thinner shell, easily penetrated with a hook.

Here's a video that shows the BEST way to hook a ghost-shrimp. When you do it this way, they dont burrow, and they attract lots of nice fish..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b8XlXgrpfzk
DONT do what this guy did at the end, you dont want your ghost shrimp damaged like this.

My only gripe with ghost shrimp, is they're very fragile, and perch will tear 'em apart in no time.

It's difficult to describe how to shuck mussels, perhaps I'll make a video, describing it easier.

If you're looking for ghost shrimp, or clamworms, Big Fish Tackle usually has a bunch of fresh, lively ghosties and worms for ya. Sometimes they carry nuclear worms, which are massive fat bright red clamworms. Ghost shrimp at Big Fish Tackle, on seal beach blvd and PCH cost around five bucks, for a dozen.