Surf fishing around LA ?

[Kapoosta]

I am looking at getting myself and 3 kids into doing some serious surf fishing. You know help the wife out by taking the kids away for awhile but having a blast. Luckily I have been blessed with kids that got bit with the fishing bug so my question is what type of gear (rods,reels,line size,lure types) whatever anybody can let me know I would greatly appreciate it. This will not be the first time we are going out but we have been only using our trout rods and reels and I think it is time for an up grade. Stuff to help catch us things from small perch to the tough sand sharks.


Also check this out my son is 6 and I taught him how to throw one of my bait casters and this is what he got within 30 min.
Lopez Lake46762

[Hoot951]

Here's a very informative video. This is the same setup I use except I prefer to use sand crabs as bait when I can find them.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N9DFiYXVj3E

[Kapoosta]

Thanks that does help I am not that far off then from what we are using now. Going sown that Dan Hernandez wormhole on you tube is fun. between those videos and the guy who posted about catching halibut from surf fishing I think I have a great idea now of some gear to buy. I also was looking at the Penn Fierce or Battle reals I heard that they can hold up good to all the saltwater and sand you encounter.

[Hoot951]

If your gonna buy a Penn Fierce wait til September when the Penn Fierce 2 gonna come out.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OUpHR2aYVjQ

[bones]

Good morning Kapoosta and welcome to the FNN. First of all let me congratulate Josiah on his TOAD Large mouth bass. To accomplish that catch on not only a baitcaster but also off of a pontoon boat is quite an accomplishment to say the least. My three kids are all grown up (16,18 and 20) now and they still haven't mastered the baitcaster. You definitely have him of the right path.
That being said I will leave the "Professional Over Run" picking out tutorial to my SWAT brother Don aka "bachiboy" since he is a master at that technique:ROFL:

Now...On to the quest by you and your children to have some success in our SoCal surf.

Here on the FNN there are quite a few people that can and will help you get started for sure. You can gently start getting your kids into the new fishing environment without too much hassle or investment. Many years ago I had made the transition myself into surf fishing for many reasons. Locally I was a total LMB addict at my local lakes (Castaic and Pyramid) when I saw a few people that caught my eye in the surf zone while I was actually surfing. I noticed that they were not doing the bait and wait thing but rather tossing lures into the trenches along the beach. I got curious and approached them and to my amazement they were using many techniques I was already very familiar with. Primarily.....Tossing crank/jerk baits and the very effective "drop shot" approach. At this point I want to stress that in my honest opinion you don't have to invest a ton of money in gear to develop an arsenal of effective gear to be successful at surf fishing. I would stick with spinning gear for your children for the time being for many reasons. The surf environment is very harsh on gear and it only takes a few grains of sand to get in between the spool and frame of a bait caster to start wrecking havoc on the outing itself not to mention backlashes aka "Professional over runs" can damper the whole experience for your mini crew.
A suggestion....
Buy some mid range 2500 series spinning reels at Sport Chalet or Sports Authority. The reason I promote these two places is because they have what is called a one year replacement plan that is very cheap. I believe the cost to protect a Sedona 2500 reel is about 7 bucks for example. It is to be expected that within 11 months or sooner the spinning reel will start having problems due to salt water/sand invasion and all you have to do is return the reel (within the one year) and they will give you a brand new one. Just tell them it doesn't work right any more and be sure to buy another replacement plan for another 7 bucks. This will ensure you have a new reel every 11 months approximately. Just put a reminder in your phone calendar or wall calendar and replace the reels regardless of their condition.
Now..... I could go on for a long time but I wont at this time.
Please share with me what beaches are close to you that will be the areas that you would like to focus on either on this thread or via private message and I will do my best to steer you in the right direction to hopefully SUCCESS! I love seeing a father enjoy the sport with his children and they are at the right age where puberty and social media will NOT damper your dream...LOL
Right now the bite has been overall slow BUT the corbina have been really active feeding on the sand crab beds along many areas locally and all you need is to get the kids to gather some sand crabs and fish them on a simple light Carolina rig which can be a ton of fun for them while we wait patiently for the fall bite to settle in .....just as a quick example of how to get out now to hone their skills. You can also set up some markers on the beach itself as targets for casting practice for them to develop their casting accuracy so they are prepared. In my experience siblings can be very competitive with each other and it is a lot of fun when the fishing is slow for sure.

I also at this time want to mention that in a couple months we " The SWAT team" will be holding our 7th annual surf fishing derby locally in Santa Monica Bay and it will be a great opportunity for you and your children to come on out and enjoy a wonderful experience that will leave your kids with a positive and educational day. There will be many seasoned anglers there that will be very willing to help you along so keep an eye on this forum because we will be announcing the date for Hunting Giants VII soon.
Here is a link to the event last year......

http://fishingnetwork.net/forum4/showthread.php?81558-Hunting-Giants-6-Closing-Statement-Thank-You-from-S-W-A-T&highlight=hunting+giants

Take care and God Bless,

Mike




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[City Dad]

what Bones said... especially about the reels - and I'll take it one step further; there was a member on here a few years ago who said he considered the spining reels he bought for his kids to use on the beach as "disposable" - that is to say, inexpensive. My kids have a good deal of experience in the surf and they still drop rigs accidentally or flop 'em down in the sand in the excitement of landing a toad.

[4sallypat]

I use the Gulp 2" sandworms on a Carolina rig and catch perch off the beaches of Malibu down to Crystal Cove in OC.:Smile:
As for spinning reels - just wash them off with distilled water when you return, dry them and put some gun or sewing oil in the moving parts and they last forever!
:Cool:
This weekend I have a new rod - 11' 7wt switch rod (double handed fly rod) for some surf spey action.
Instead of a fly, I am going to rig it up with a sinking tip, 5' fluro leader, and the Gulp sandworm.

Will report back on this setup!:!!!:

[DarkShadow]

My kids have a good deal of experience in the surf and they still drop rigs accidentally or flop 'em down in the sand in the excitement of landing a toad.

I've had that happen with quite a nice reel before, and it took me ages to get all that sand out, and it's not like I rolled it around the sand like a churro being rolled around sugar.

I literally had to break the reel down and flush everything out, and after that, I kinda stopped venturing out into the surf. :-D

[Kapoosta]

Wow, I am amazed I have joined forums once or twice before for fishing and hunting but never got such a great response to a question. So thanks a lot just shows how good the integrity of this place is. I am very excited about all that info and you filled me in on. I will defiantly go to Sport Authority this weekend. Also, we are in La Puente so I would have to say the south bay area to state 5 is probably where we will be trying. I am up for any options, we used to live in a little town called Taft outside Bakersfield so being closer to the beach is great. Also if any body needs any advise on the Aqueduct over there or just wants to go and try I have years of experience. My front door used to look out right at it and I had a great deal of success as well as disappointment (fishing right). Thanks again this post put a big smile on my face this afternoon.

[bones]

Good morning once again sir. It's 4:30am and I'm heading out the door for a quick session but when I get back home I will shoot you a PM about the southbay to give you some info to work with. Since this is not an actual report it is highly likely that the mods will move this thread to the general SW section also.

Talk to you soon,

Mike

[Kapoosta]

Do you guys have any pointers on some good spinning rods preferably around $50?

[bones]

Do you guys have any pointers on some good spinning rods preferably around $50?

For that price range I'd hit up Bass Pro Shop online. They have a pretty good selection of entry level rods and they pay the freight if you choose the economy shipping and spend I believe 50 bucks or more.

Did you get my PM?