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View Full Version : I can see 'em but can't catch 'um...#@%%@ Corbina!



man0fsteel
08-23-2011, 03:30 PM
I went out for a short afternoon session last Sunday. Went to El Porto and decided to try the area north of the parking lot up to the breakwater (not sure if that's quite Dockweiler but headed that way).

The tide was high but on it's way down so I'd catch a little of the swing. The water was looking nice and clear and it felt 70's warm. I started off throwing the LC, practicing trying to feel the head wobble with a nice slow retrieve. Me thinks I have hands of stone because unless I'm holding the LC right in front of me while the tide is ripping out, I can't feel the wobble. :Embarrassed:

I can feel the sand crabs beneath my feet as I'm fishing barefoot and while I don't see the corbina sliders in the skinny water, I do see them about 10-15 feet away, cruising under the breaking waves. I decide to switch to a c-rig. I'm fishing 10lb main line and I use 6 lb leader...about 18" long. I tie on a #4 circle hook, put on a couple juicy looking sand crabs and cast to the zone where I can see the corbina cruising....

Nothing! :Evil:

During some of the lulls in wave activity, I can see 2 or 3 corbina cruising back and forth. I swear, they would go right over the spot where my offering was, I'd raise my rod tip and make sure the there was no slack in my line so I could detect even the smallest nibble, but the strike never came.

I made my way to the jetty with no bites. As I got closer to the jetty, the water got a little more cloudy and the salad increased as well. I picked up some decent sized mussels and changed bait. Now I was getting small pecks (probably little bsp?) but nothing substantial. Because I couldn't see thru the cloudy water, I made my way back to my original starting point. But it was nearing 5:30 pm and the angle of the sun made it hard to see the beans again. So I kept tossing the mussel on the c-rig to where I thought the beans were cruising. I only got the peck-peck-peck of some small fish.

The meter was running out and I had to make it somewhere by 6:30 pm so I packed up and headed home.

Some questions for those who hunt corbina in the shallows (not the sliders that come up onto the beach with the wash mind you)...what size/style hook do you use when fishing with sand crabs? How do you rig it? Carolina? 3 way swivel? Other? Any other suggestions?

Thanks for reading.

smokehound
08-23-2011, 05:16 PM
C-rig sucks for corbina. Use splitshot, small rubbercore sinkers, or simply flyline.

You dont want a huge splash. Just a little "Plick" is better. They have excellent eyesight. I encountered a corbina in the harbor a while back. It was just eating little creatures, and the whole time it looked at me. I tried to catch it, and it would just pause and look at the sinker, then resume foraging. :LOL:


They are also nocturnal.

murrieta angler
08-23-2011, 06:06 PM
Keep trying and follow Smokes advice.
Robert
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oakboy
08-23-2011, 06:15 PM
I'll second Smokehounds advice!

I took some of his and the boardsd advice and have been cetching fish from the beach ever since.

For the Corbs i have flylines or Carolina rig with an 1/8th ounce egg sinker...almost no weight.

<><
KP

dkinla
08-23-2011, 06:20 PM
Yeah def tough to catch... I've only managed one so far!

I'll try some of the advice here also!

Curren77
08-23-2011, 06:33 PM
I have a killer rig for corbs that i have used to fool some extremely line shy fish. But can someone tell me how many baited hooks allowed per line?

man0fsteel
08-24-2011, 12:29 AM
C-rig sucks for corbina. Use splitshot, small rubbercore sinkers, or simply flyline.

You dont want a huge splash. Just a little "Plick" is better. They have excellent eyesight. I encountered a corbina in the harbor a while back. It was just eating little creatures, and the whole time it looked at me. I tried to catch it, and it would just pause and look at the sinker, then resume foraging. :LOL:

They are also nocturnal.


Thanks smokehound. I'll try using minimal weight. Come to think of it, I think the only one I ever caught (wasn't for sure as it came unbuttoned as I was reeling it up onto the beach) was using a rubbercore weight with sandcrabs on a bait keeper hook at dusk!

fishincrave
08-24-2011, 07:03 AM
Try to use floro line 6 lbs . split shot would be your best bet since you don't need to cast far .

And yes they have excellent eye sight fish them like you fish trout in streams they spook very very fast .
If you are using SCs try to find soft shell crabs or make your self by pulling the shell off carefully .

Hope this helps ................ C & R please .


Sean

Cangler
08-24-2011, 09:57 AM
If you are using SCs try to find soft shell crabs or make your self by pulling the shell off carefully .


Sean


This is what i do

Curren77
08-24-2011, 10:23 AM
I have had luck dropshotting with 4lb flourocarbon. Directly tie on three small mosquito hooks about 1' apart. I use the small crabs and hook them in the side of the shell. hard or soft shell, the small ones work great. In between each hook I use a very small splitshot, like the ones used for flyfishing. this helps to keep the rig on the bottom. Place that in the path of a cruising fish and its game on. Downsizing hook size, bait, line and weight has helped me tremendously. hard rig to tie and cast but it is deadly!

man0fsteel
08-24-2011, 03:05 PM
I have had luck dropshotting with 4lb flourocarbon. Directly tie on three small mosquito hooks about 1' apart. I use the small crabs and hook them in the side of the shell. hard or soft shell, the small ones work great. In between each hook I use a very small splitshot, like the ones used for flyfishing. this helps to keep the rig on the bottom. Place that in the path of a cruising fish and its game on. Downsizing hook size, bait, line and weight has helped me tremendously. hard rig to tie and cast but it is deadly!

Very interesting rig Curren. I actually thought you were joking when asking about how many hooks in your previous post :LOL:

I do have a question or two. Do you tie each hook directly to the main line like you would a single dropshot rig? And do you put a weight at the tag end or do you terminate the whole thing with the bottom hook? I really like the idea of adding a micro split shot to each hook. I'm going to try this....maybe this evening if I can.

Curren77
08-24-2011, 08:36 PM
Yes, I tie each hook to the mainline exactly like a dropshot rig using a palomar knot and I do use a weight at the tag end, I have used a 1/4oz drop shot weight, this can be experimented with depending on the surf. The micro split shot, I usually put in between the hooks but sounds like it would work with the weights closer to the hook like you suggested. let me know how you do with the gauntlet rig.

man0fsteel
08-26-2011, 01:25 AM
Thanks for the explanation. I gave it a go with a 2 hook rig Wednesday evening for about 30 minutes...dang it gets dark fast now! Unfortunately, it was high tide and the surf was crashing on to the shore. As such, I really couldn't get your rig to stay put in the 'zone'. So then I got the wise idea to tie on a 1-1/2 oz weight to the tag end and promptly busted the whole rig off...:Embarrassed:

But I think your rig is an effective way to fish for these spooky fish. I'm going to head out tomorrow evening as well for hopefully a little longer time.

smokehound
08-26-2011, 05:13 PM
And that rig doesnt Tangle? It looks like it tangles like a MOFO to me! I can see a small 13 inch bean hitting that, but a huge bruiser 5+ lb'er? No way.

keepemlo
08-26-2011, 10:22 PM
Well you r fishing the right spot at dockwieler I was there Tuesday casting lcs ( to the deafeningly loud laughter of the skunk mind you)and I had cobras hint my feet !

DockRat
08-27-2011, 08:14 AM
And that rig doesnt Tangle? It looks like it tangles like a MOFO to me! I can see a small 13 inch bean hitting that, but a huge bruiser 5+ lb'er? No way.

I'm with SmokeHound, that rig is funky. 4 lb flouro leader is the ticket.
Caught plenty with the C rig but you do have to put in your time.
C rig works fine. Look at Behdad on BD he gets 22" to 27" Beans on a C rig.

No bright colors or waders, and stay out of the water and work the wet sand area.
You can even cast your setup on the sand when the wave goes out, next wave when the corbina come in to feed they will see your bait.

Sandcrab selection is important. I like useing a plastic spaghetti strainer.
You can put 3 - 4 hand scoops of crabs and fill it, then dip it in the next wave
and you have 20 to 50 to pick from and the odds of getting a softshells increase.

DR, Out 4 - 6 weeks with a broken leg bone (fibia) at the ankle.
Don't pound beers and go jumping on the rocks like a kid.
I thought it was rolled bad but x rays showed a crack. http://i630.photobucket.com/albums/uu27/wissab/LOSER.gif

Curren77
08-30-2011, 05:55 PM
And that rig doesnt Tangle? It looks like it tangles like a MOFO to me! I can see a small 13 inch bean hitting that, but a huge bruiser 5+ lb'er? No way.

You said you saw a corb in the Harbor that looked at your weight and spooked, that is exactly where the rig excels! And f@#k yeah it tangles, you sound like my six year old fishing a Sabiki for macks or backlashing my bass gear. Dude? have you ever seen a 5lb corbina? Think outside the box.

smokehound
08-31-2011, 01:49 AM
You said you saw a corb in the Harbor that looked at your weight and spooked, that is exactly where the rig excels! And f@#k yeah it tangles, you sound like my six year old fishing a Sabiki for macks or backlashing my bass gear. Dude? have you ever seen a 5lb corbina? Think outside the box. Yes, I have.

http://i27.photobucket.com/albums/c177/smokehound/beanzilla.jpg

That's one I caught a few years back. Used a 1/8th rubbercore sinker, with a three-foot+ distance between the sinker and the hook. If a leopard decided to hit your rig, it would tangle it up hardcore! Same with surfperch, which have vicious little headshakes.

man0fsteel
08-31-2011, 08:39 AM
Smoke,

Curious how corbina tastes? I've heard it tastes like crab...Not sure where I heard that but always wondered if it's true.

DockRat
08-31-2011, 09:40 AM
You said you saw a corb in the Harbor that looked at your weight and spooked, that is exactly where the rig excels! And f@#k yeah it tangles, you sound like my six year old fishing a Sabiki for macks or backlashing my bass gear. Dude? have you ever seen a 5lb corbina? Think outside the box.

Those back bays hold some HUGE CORBINA.
There is a guy that fishes them and has C&R ed many 20" to 25" and even a 27" that are well over 5 lbs.
All his Big Corbina posts come with pics with a tape measure next to them.
I spent a whole summer fishing Corbina about 5 days a week, 2 hours a day with a
PB at 22".

They are at times very frustrating when you can see them but no biters.
14" to 16" seems to be the most common size caught in the surf.

Good luck catching a toad with your rig. :Rolls Eyes:
DR

smokehound
08-31-2011, 10:01 AM
Smoke,

Curious how corbina tastes? I've heard it tastes like crab...Not sure where I heard that but always wondered if it's true.Very good eating. Similar to yellowfin croaker, but much cleaner-tasting. The flesh is better, too, more delicate in texture. Didn't taste like crab to me, but it DID soak butter up like a sponge. Maybe that's why whoever told you that said "crab".