jplee3
09-02-2013, 03:59 PM
Didn't get to try out any of the areas around Malibu as plans changed and we were back in OC last night. So I planned to try out Newport Beach. We headed out early, arrived at around 7am, and fished the incoming through outgoing. It was early and my wife wasn't the happiest camper but things worked out. The night before I rigged up our poles with c-rigs (didn't want to wait until we got there and kill more time). Got some fish crack on the hooks and cast out. The drop-off, as expected, was pretty steep at the shoreline and the waves were pretty deep but not breaking too hard. It was super foggy and pretty eerie but kinda cool. My first cast out I got an immediate hook-up. Felt like a decent size and it ended up being a nice YFC. My first too! Probably running around 12-15" or so. CPRed successfully and moved on. Stayed within 300 yards of the same area for a few hours and picked up another smallish YFC, several small/decent sized BSPs, and an undersized Hali (probably running between 10-15"). All fish CPRed... well, we possibly may have missed a few pics but they were just BSPs :P
My wife was hooked onto something pretty decent but it got off the hook (I don't think she set the hook hard enough) so she was pretty discouraged at first. Then I rigged her up again and told her she'll get one - next couple casts she got her first BSP! And a decent size too! She didn't have so much luck the rest of the time but got quite a good number of bites. Either way, it was nice to be out. I also tried throwing a motor oil grub and swimbait for a little but couldn't stay off the crack LOL. Towards the end, I spotted some nice looking sandcrab beds and began digging. Grabbed a few quarter-sized ones and a couple that were pretty huge (def bigger than a quarter). Cast them out and got bit pretty good several times. One got off the hook and the other either sawed or broke my line off (I should have checked the knots... lost the entire rig). I was so determined but came away empty-handed. I wonder if these losses may have been the most coveted surf catch for me yet: the dreaded BEAN. I don't know, the first bite on the sandcrab where I had it on the hook, it felt like it might be a pretty nice one. Shame it got away.
In any case, here are several pics (courtesy of my wife):
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1001249_10101982596337901_963650775_n.jpg
On the way back, we stopped by Super Pollo. Man, that garlic sauce is the best.
My wife was hooked onto something pretty decent but it got off the hook (I don't think she set the hook hard enough) so she was pretty discouraged at first. Then I rigged her up again and told her she'll get one - next couple casts she got her first BSP! And a decent size too! She didn't have so much luck the rest of the time but got quite a good number of bites. Either way, it was nice to be out. I also tried throwing a motor oil grub and swimbait for a little but couldn't stay off the crack LOL. Towards the end, I spotted some nice looking sandcrab beds and began digging. Grabbed a few quarter-sized ones and a couple that were pretty huge (def bigger than a quarter). Cast them out and got bit pretty good several times. One got off the hook and the other either sawed or broke my line off (I should have checked the knots... lost the entire rig). I was so determined but came away empty-handed. I wonder if these losses may have been the most coveted surf catch for me yet: the dreaded BEAN. I don't know, the first bite on the sandcrab where I had it on the hook, it felt like it might be a pretty nice one. Shame it got away.
In any case, here are several pics (courtesy of my wife):
https://fbcdn-sphotos-b-a.akamaihd.net/hphotos-ak-ash4/1001249_10101982596337901_963650775_n.jpg
On the way back, we stopped by Super Pollo. Man, that garlic sauce is the best.