FIRST TASTE OF SALT!
Thanks everybody for the great posts on this side. I took my first shot at surf fishing this morning and (please pardon the lame pun) I’m hooked!
Took the family camping at El Capitan on Friday and bright and early Saturday morning the kids and I hit the beach. We noticed a few folks fishing and upon approaching the water, we surprised a pair of fish which shot out of sight leaving v wakes behind them (corbina?) While the kids played in the sand I strolled over to a father and son team who I learned had had a slow morning landing just “one perch.�
Before long the fisherman had all packed it in and we set to work on building sand castles. We didn’t build for long though – the beach beneath our feet was literally alive with sand crabs. Over the span of about an hour we filled two plastic beach buckets with the things – big ones, half of them full of roe. At the end of the afternoon we dumped the crabs back in the water and I noted the spot at which they seemed most concentrated. Funny, but it coincided exactly with the spot 57 had mentioned.
This morning being the big M D I was up early making bacon and eggs for my bride’s traditional breakfast in sleeping bag. It was a lovely morning, no doubt about it… but I had other things on my mind.
By eight-thirty I had done the present giving and the dishes and was headed for the water. The grounds keeper, a friendly enough guy who must be pushing his second century asked me “You going fishin’ or just wishin’?� I laughed and told him I liked to do both at the same time.
The beach this morning was empty of fishermen. A couple families lounged in the sand near the spot I’d planned to fish. They watched me as I jammed my hand into the mud and came up with a handful of egg-laden bait. I pinned on a crabbie (heh, heh, always wanted to say that) and tossed out into the foam.
I like fishing rivers with flies and am accustomed to fishing light gear and detecting strikes by sight. The rig I had this morning - a seven foot medium action spinning rod, ½ oz egg sinker, #6 red, mosquito hook – felt like an anvil tied to a broomstick. With the sinker skipping across the bottom, the line being sucked back and forth by the waves I wondered if maybe I was missing what I imagined would be the dainty pick-up of a surf perch. Turns out I wasn’t.
On the fifth or sixth cast something inhaled my crab. It was at that moment I learned the difference between freshwater fish and their sea-going cousins. The salties are obviously getting the good steroids… those little suckers can flat out pull! I ended up with five total, but stopped taking pics after the third one when I nearly dropping the camera into the drink.
The people on the beach seemed amazed – but were probably not as amazed as I was. Surf fishing is fun. It's really, really fun. It's like, new-obsession fun. Man, I'm sprung.
Thanks for all the good tips, people. You friggin’ made my day!
Reply With Quote
