Fishing Carpenteria on the 18th. need help

[fishfinder]

31017I will be doing my first saltwater trip of the year. I usually only do a couple and they are always from the surf. Its my daughters 17th birthday, and she wants us to take her and some friends to the beach. Hoping to get in some fishing time while I am there. Last time I was there I caught 2 little perch, and missed countless other little bites. I also grabbed a leopard shark out of the surf for a guy who caught one. saw another guy catch a guitar fish also. this was all by the rocks. (circled in the picture,) this is the area i will be fishing cause the lifegaurds chased us down there because of the swimmers in the other areas.
Anyways I saw they were using squid. I have some chovies, and sardines in the freezer, and quite a few lures in my tackle box. What kinds of fish can I catch there, and what should I use. The surf gave me a tuff time last time when i tried to throw lures for halibut. I was leaning on jigging dead chovies and hoping for the best. What do you guys think?

[fishfinder]

still need advice

[soulsurfer]

Hey FF
I'm surprised that no one has replied to you yet for this.....here's my two cents

Myself and others..ie Wingnut and the SWAT team, here have had luck throwing jerkbaits [LC]. the hot pattern is d sardine. I think they also "customed" their LC's

You can also head to your local Asian markets, if available, if not you can dig for them...there's a post here somewhere for that 411, for some fresh clams....reverse dropper loop should be fine...you will lose the sinkers but the hook will be save.

then you have the Carolina rig with a 2"-3"curly tail grub [watermelon] ...those are hot too for perch.

Garyfeelthesteel has really good luck with the berkley gulp minnow with the jighead....If you rig it weedless, you won't snag as much..

others here have had luck with the Kastmaster or Croc spoon... those will catch almost anything with the right time and place.

what I notice when surf fishing or salt water in general is that the tide and moving water do play a role. slack tide is best for snorkeling or soaking in the sun....

good luck... and dont forget the scent your presentation...if nothing else, it will mask your scent.

Hopefully someone else with chime in with their vast experience...
LC

[fishfinder]

thanks soulsurfer,
last time i was there in 2010, i tried some luckycraft, but the high surf wouldn't let me get them down toward the bottem. i think i will try the crocs though. the perch seam to be to tiny there for some reason. there are a lot of leopards there too. i dont plan on keeping any fish, so the bigger the better, it doesn't matter what it is.

[Which Way Out]

Yes try the LC's.
You can also go with Carolina rig with a 3/8 oz weight. We have had a lot of current the past few days further north, so you might need a little more weight.

Use the bait of choice. Some people use Gulp grubs, crack aka Gulp camo worms. If the sand crabs are big you can pin one of them on as well.

Look for the trench or trough between the breaks. What that means is the wave will be breaking outside the trench and then roll in across the trench/trough and then break again near the shore. Look around for em, they are not always in the same place because the sand moves around.

Near the rocks you mention could hold a Halibut so remember to only keep em over 22+" No nets with em either. Nets will damage the tail that will cause the fish serious injury and even death.

Have fun and enjoy the birthday party.
Good times for sure

There are some good tips in the Tip section that is very helpful and a must read for any surf related fishing

One more thing.. Lots of little Sting Rays near the Slough mouth so be careful about wading there.

[bones]

Very good overall advise from soulsurfer on this question. I had a big old long reply typed out and then lost it all when I submitted it to the forum due to a serious brainfart....... e.g. Nyquil and the flu.
I can add a couple of other things though about that place.
First of all Don't fish too close to the estuary inlet. Even though there are signs posted "NO FISHING PAST THIS SIGN" the new rule is that the DFG can ticket you for fishing within 100 yards of the inlet. Just a simple adjustment a few years back fueled by the enviro's.
That being said.....
Carp is a tide sensitive place because of it's topography. The trenches everywhere provide alot of structure when the tide level is appropiate and has been at the right level for long enough for the fish to move in and feed.Right now for example there have been some drastic tide swings during the night with a full moon extreme high tide and then a serious negative low in the AM. The tide swings during the day havn't been that crazy which meens more stability for the feeding fish. It's always a challenge but when ever you have the chance to fish just look for the outside breaks which usually have a deeper trench closer to you. This is the structure you are looking for. The beach there gets crowded very early but the inversion layer should be thick in the am which will keep alot of people out of the water but the afternoons always get crazy there. A good plan of attack is to hit the close trenches early at greylight and then either move to the tarpits area at the south end of the beach (boiler rocks and kelp down there) or relocate just north off of Santa Clause lane by the railroad tracks.I personally like to pack lite and keep moving while fan casting trenches or dropshot down by the tar pits but if you like to bait and wait a whole squid on a carolina rig works well for the bat rays and leos cruising the trenches as well.Just sand spike it up and tell your daughter to watch the pole. My kids love to take turns with the bait rod.
Another hot spot close to the area you circled in the pic is the area on the other side of the estuary inlet which doesn't get too much preasure due to the fact that you can only cross when the tide is low. Timing is the key to that spot and the time to cross is when you can just get across on the outgoing tide. Study the tides for that day and be carefull to not lose track of time and get closed out by the incomming which makes the walk up and back a real pain.
Good luck ans a happy fathers day to ya.
Looking forward to your report!

Mike-------<><

[fishfinder]

I want to thank al of you for the advice, and i will use it on another trip too. But this time i just tried for perch at first, and the water was cold. about 45 minutes of no fish, and i got out. just couldn't get the nerve up to go back in and cast for flatties. air temp was 64, and no sun all day. darndest thin is those kids didn't give a dam, and they were in the water all day.

[kzhlin]

for perch, get some berkley camo sand worms (aka crack). c-rig it in 2-3" strips. it.s amazing.