First Surf Session - Zuma Beach 10/24 Evening

[JeffO]

I know there are a lot of you like me.... You work Mon-Fri and all you really do is look forward to the weekend when you can get out and fish. I've been stuck on taking my boat out and doing some largemouth bass fishing for so long that it didn't even occur to me that I could drive 20 minutes down the hill and fish Malibu any day of the week from the beach. SO, I tried Zuma last night for my first surf fishing session ever....and I gotta say - I was pleasantly surprised! Gotta make this quick, but basically I got about 30 fish, 3 different species in only 2 hours. By no means were any of these fish big, but I had an absolutely awesome time. Caught about 20 barred surf perch, 5 walleye surf perch, and 5 yellowfin croaker. Those croakers but up quite a fight!! Here are a couple pics. Oh, and being a firm believer in C&R, all fish were successfully released for another day....
http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j329/JeffOFish/Surf%20Fishing/IMG02249-20111024-1646.jpg
http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j329/JeffOFish/Surf%20Fishing/IMG02251-20111024-1749.jpg
http://i1080.photobucket.com/albums/j329/JeffOFish/Surf%20Fishing/IMG02246-20111024-1636.jpg

[dkinla]

Wow what a great first surf session!! Impressive numbers for sure. Takes me about 45 min to get down there... 20 would be better!

[JeffO]

Thanks, dkinla! I'm worried that that session may have set unrealistic expectations for future sessions :/ Have you ever tried fishing different areas around northwestern Malibu, like any of the state beaches (Pescador, Matador, Leo Carrillo) or even further up north off PCH? There are a lot of spots with deep water access and/or lots and lots of rocks for structure.

[dkinla]

Yeah we fish from Will Rogers, that little stretch of beach next to Chart House, Carbon beach (coastal access point), the beach along Webb Way, Pt Dume, Zuma,... Haven't really tried all those little spots in between where u can just pull off PCH... But worth a shot!

[SP Dan]

Hey Jeffo,

I'll be heading up that direction but a bit further north this coming Sat morn. Great report and great numbers on the variety pack! Did you catch all on the Gulp
Not a bad session! May all your future sessions be as terrible or better! lol :Cool:

SP Dan <"))><

[JeffO]

Yeah we fish from Will Rogers, that little stretch of beach next to Chart House, Carbon beach (coastal access point), the beach along Webb Way, Pt Dume, Zuma,... Haven't really tried all those little spots in between where u can just pull off PCH... But worth a shot!

Cool! I'll definitely be checking out some of those nice looking little pockets off PCH between County Line and Mugu rock over the next couple months.

[JeffO]

Hey Jeffo,

I'll be heading up that direction but a bit further north this coming Sat morn. Great report and great numbers on the variety pack! Did you catch all on the Gulp
Not a bad secession! May all your future secessions be as terrible or better! lol :Cool:

SP Dan <"))><

Hey Dan! haha yeah I definitely wouldn't mind if all future sessions were as "terrible" as this last one!

All 30 fish were caught on the Gulp. I tried throwing 2" grubs but they weren't having any of it. I have 8 lb line, 3/8oz egg sinker, swivel, 2.5 ft of 6 lb leader, #6 hook, and then a nose-hooked Gulp. I got bit almost every cast but I missed a lot of them. I'm thinking about switching to a #8 hook next time. Seems like a smaller hook would increase my hook setting %.

[dkinla]

Yeah I use size 4 most of the time... Trying to avoid those dink perch.. But when the bite is tough and the skunk is near... I try a size 6 to at least get a dink! Haha. Wait till u get the drag pull of a huge shovelnose or leopard shark... Your bassin days will be over :)

[sidified]

[QUOTE=SP Dan;587168]Hey Jeffo,

"Not a bad secession! May all your future secessions be as terrible or better! lol "
SP Dan

Dan, with all that talk of ''secession''...are you from Texas?! :Cool:

[keepemlo]

Niven going you stuck nit to em!only went bassin once this year I do castaic but I'm really liken perris now with the float tube cyaoutthere!,

[murrieta angler]

Looked like a very nice day in the surf.
30 fish in 1 session is a rare thing, I would remeber that Honey Hole if I were you.
Thanks for the report,
Robert
<><

[JeffO]

Thanks guys! I'm going again this evening but the tide's gonna be 2 or 3 feet lower at 4:00pm than it was on Monday at 4:00pm. It's basically gonna be a totally different beach! Hoping to still stick some fish out there, or at least locate some good holes, trenches, rocks, etc at the extreme low tide for another day when the tide's higher.

[sumojo]

Awesome fishing session wow i have only been out once we went to venture but we had fun we had gotten a lot of bat rays so awesome thanks for the report.

[murrieta angler]

Thanks guys! I'm going again this evening but the tide's gonna be 2 or 3 feet lower at 4:00pm than it was on Monday at 4:00pm. It's basically gonna be a totally different beach! Hoping to still stick some fish out there, or at least locate some good holes, trenches, rocks, etc at the extreme low tide for another day when the tide's higher.

It's very important to get out on those low tide days for exactly the reason you mentioned.
Keep in mind that next year you have to do it all over again because the terrain changes with each rainy season.
Robert
<><

[JeffO]

Awesome fishing session wow i have only been out once we went to venture but we had fun we had gotten a lot of bat rays so awesome thanks for the report.

I bet bat rays fight HARD!! Tons of surface area to pull your pole right outta your hands haha

[JeffO]

It's very important to get out on those low tide days for exactly the reason you mentioned.
Keep in mind that next year you have to do it all over again because the terrain changes with each rainy season.
Robert
<><

Good point. I surf a lot a little further up north, close to County Line, and the amount of rocks in the water and on the beach is always changing. Sometimes the beach and the first 20 or 30 yards out into the water is 100% sand and sometimes it's so rocky that I can't walk to the water without booties.

Thanks for the heads up, MA!

[SP Dan]

Ouch Sid! :Embarrassed:

Thank you for pointing out my SP error.
I've worked too many 12-13 hr shifts, 7 days a week for the past 5 weeks with 3-4 more weeks to go.

Where's spell check when you need it?!?! ha ha. :Head Bang:

I've been going to the FNN site late after work and exhausted :Tired:, hoping for some good fishing stories and attempting to be supportive to my fellow anglers.

Hope to meet you and to put in a session in the trenches with you someday.

Thanks again, :Cool:

SP Dan <"))><