perch-a-palooza 2/15-16

[tomar19]

I made my second overnight visit to the beach this weekend with the wife and some friends. We arrived before noon, and after getting the bikes sorted for their ride and my gear for the surf, I had my feet on the sand by 12:30.

2/15
12:30-3:00

Like my last two visits to the beach, I started off throwing crack to get a feel for the current, and to try to erase the skunk. Mission complete, as I landed a dink BSP and found my rig drifting gently from right to left. After another dink BSP, I started switching to the larger hard baits that I'm comfortable with and I tried them all. Nothing doing for about an hour on the BH or the crank baits. As I stood there tying on the Kroc, I see a corbina or croaker jump out of the water, like a trout in a lake. This is an example of what I've found so appealing about surf fishing. I've been to the beach many times, but have never observed all of the fish activity that has been right in front of me all the time. The Kroc produced one more less dinky BSP as the tide went low, and it was time to join the others for some food and drinks.

2/16
6:30-10:00

I hit the beach the next morning on the incoming high tide. The skies were grey and the wind was calm. The surf was a little bigger then the previous day, and the current much stronger still right to left. I started with the skunk eraser (crack) again and instantly landed a 8" BSP. I continued to fish crack for the next hour and landed 11 BSPs ranging from 5-10". Went back to the Kroc for a nice fat 12" BSP and nothing else for the next 40 minutes. My wife came down to the beach to see how it was going and she wanted to see me catch some fish. I switched back to the sand worm and picked off 12 more 5-10" BSPs. It was a lot of fun, but I think the "crack" effect of those sand worms is working on me. If I'm not getting hit on the bigger stuff, I keep switch back to those things to keep catching. By 10:00 I had 24 BSPs to account for and it was time to head back to the room to clean up and check out.

2/16
1:00-2:30

My wife had found a hike she wanted to do before we went home, and asked if I wanted more time to fish. She new what the answer would be, so she dropped me off and back at it I went. By this time the tide was moving back out and I moved down the sand a little quicker to explore the new area. I was throwing the Kroc. again and hit into a nice prego momma of 13". I would have snapped a pic, but I wanted to get her back in the water asap, so no pic. Fished that area for about 20 minutes with no other takers and switched to the sand worms again. Landed 10 more 5-10" BSPs

So the final count for the day was 34 BSPs, with about 5 being over 10", plus 3 the day before. I do want to target other species, but I'm finding it to be difficult to commit to the other baits after about 30 minutes of casting for not. The biggest take away that I enjoy is observing all of the details that were just not obvious when I wasn't fishing at the beach. Trenches, holes, baitfish, fish visibly in the surf, bird activity, the learning of a new hobby is always the most fun for me.

Looking forward to my next trip out, probably after we change the clocks in March.

Regards,

Tony

[The_Dude]

I made my second overnight visit to the beach this weekend with the wife and some friends. We arrived before noon, and after getting the bikes sorted for their ride and my gear for the surf, I had my feet on the sand by 12:30.

2/15
12:30-3:00

Like my last two visits to the beach, I started off throwing crack to get a feel for the current, and to try to erase the skunk. Mission complete, as I landed a dink BSP and found my rig drifting gently from right to left. After another dink BSP, I started switching to the larger hard baits that I'm comfortable with and I tried them all. Nothing doing for about an hour on the BH or the crank baits. As I stood there tying on the Kroc, I see a corbina or croaker jump out of the water, like a trout in a lake. This is an example of what I've found so appealing about surf fishing. I've been to the beach many times, but have never observed all of the fish activity that has been right in front of me all the time. The Kroc produced one more less dinky BSP as the tide went low, and it was time to join the others for some food and drinks.

2/16
6:30-10:00

I hit the beach the next morning on the incoming high tide. The skies were grey and the wind was calm. The surf was a little bigger then the previous day, and the current much stronger still right to left. I started with the skunk eraser (crack) again and instantly landed a 8" BSP. I continued to fish crack for the next hour and landed 11 BSPs ranging from 5-10". Went back to the Kroc for a nice fat 12" BSP and nothing else for the next 40 minutes. My wife came down to the beach to see how it was going and she wanted to see me catch some fish. I switched back to the sand worm and picked off 12 more 5-10" BSPs. It was a lot of fun, but I think the "crack" effect of those sand worms is working on me. If I'm not getting hit on the bigger stuff, I keep switch back to those things to keep catching. By 10:00 I had 24 BSPs to account for and it was time to head back to the room to clean up and check out.

2/16
1:00-2:30

My wife had found a hike she wanted to do before we went home, and asked if I wanted more time to fish. She new what the answer would be, so she dropped me off and back at it I went. By this time the tide was moving back out and I moved down the sand a little quicker to explore the new area. I was throwing the Kroc. again and hit into a nice prego momma of 13". I would have snapped a pic, but I wanted to get her back in the water asap, so no pic. Fished that area for about 20 minutes with no other takers and switched to the sand worms again. Landed 10 more 5-10" BSPs

So the final count for the day was 34 BSPs, with about 5 being over 10", plus 3 the day before. I do want to target other species, but I'm finding it to be difficult to commit to the other baits after about 30 minutes of casting for not. The biggest take away that I enjoy is observing all of the details that were just not obvious when I wasn't fishing at the beach. Trenches, holes, baitfish, fish visibly in the surf, bird activity, the learning of a new hobby is always the most fun for me.

Looking forward to my next trip out, probably after we change the clocks in March.

Regards,

Tony

Great work on the BSP's, I find I do the same thing as well. I will switch over or use a BH or the LC but after about 20 mins of no bites my impatience takes over and I find myself going right back to the camo crack.

[tomar19]

Thanks dude. Yeah, I'd say impatience is the right way to put it. Given my limited time I can be on the surf, its hard to put the time into the bigger stuff that produces less action at my stage in the learning curve. I'm thinking of ordering some of the crab products from Berkley/Gulp to see what that does to the size/variety of the fish I can get interested.

[Wingnut]

Every surf session where you learn something is a good session... :Wink:
Thanks for the report. :Cool:

[James McNulty]

If you ever try the Berkley Gulp, crabs, let us know. I wondered if the 1 inch was large enough and whether the 2 inch was too large. Then there are I think 4 colors to try. Money, money, money!
Jim in Corona

[tomar19]

If you ever try the Berkley Gulp, crabs, let us know. I wondered if the 1 inch was large enough and whether the 2 inch was too large. Then there are I think 4 colors to try. Money, money, money!
Jim in Corona


Actually, my gulp order showed up today. I ordered the 1" peelers in natural, sand fleas in new penny, and ghost shrimp in natural sparkle. I hope to get out a couple times in March, so hopefully I'll be able to get some results in my next report. Ordered the pouches through Bass Pro, with three pouches there is a $4 mail in rebate at the moment.