Mr. Noodle Rod
03-20-2007, 10:41 PM
After being inspired by several of Anne's reports earlier in the week, I spent most of St. Patty's Day flinging a few flies with the 0-wt noodle rod in the Marin surf. Drake's was a very tempting destination, however, I've been meaning to visit Stinson for some time, so I decided to fish there during the morning high tide. I arrived just as the tide began to peak under gray, cloudy skies. I noticed that most of the beach was still lean & free of excess sand due to the erosion caused by the winter storms...
http://home.att.net/~rainbow.perch/Mar17-07/031707im-1.jpghttp://home.att.net/~rainbow.perch/Mar17-07/031707im-2.jpghttp://home.att.net/~rainbow.perch/Mar17-07/031707im-3.jpghttp://home.att.net/~rainbow.perch/Mar17-07/031707im-4.jpg
I didn't see much in the way of significant structure along the shoreline, just long stretches of relatively flat surf...
http://home.att.net/~rainbow.perch/Mar17-07/031707im-5.jpg
...that seemed to extend all the way up to the spit at the mouth of Bolinas Lagoon...
http://home.att.net/~rainbow.perch/Mar17-07/031707im-26.jpg
I probably covered about a mile or so of beach, while periodically stopping to cast into the occasional current seam or sandy riffles that I encountered along the way. Most of the action came from the dinky perch that loitered in the slackwater & shallow pockets,
http://home.att.net/~rainbow.perch/Mar17-07/031707im-10.jpg
...though, there were a couple of bigger fish that made a grab for the Seducer patterns I was using...
http://home.att.net/~rainbow.perch/Mar17-07/031707im-13.jpg
As the surf thinned & the fish dispersed into the surfline with the outgoing tide, the situation didn't look very promising for spending the rest of the day at Stinson. Consequently, I decided to try my luck at Kehoe, despite the fact that a steady northwesterly wind was already blowing across 10-Mile Beach (a most unfavorable direction for right-handed casters, like myself). Drake's was certainly a more inviting destination, but I was entranced by the siren call of the Pt. Reyes' redtails after enduring a rather slow morning at Stinson.
I arrived at Kehoe a few hours before the tide change. The water displayed excellent, gin-like clarity with a light smattering of eelgrass, seaweed & other vegetation that floated in the surf. After making the lengthy, arduous hike through the soft, pillowy sand in the direction of Abbott's Lagoon, the curvature of the shoreline led me towards a number of deep, sandy pockets where schools of silver perch lurked. I spent the last hours of the outgoing tide working the holes, channels & riffles for a handful of silvers while I waited for the tide to turn around. That's when the schools of redtail swarmed inshore to forage for the evening as the surf became agitated & stirred up the nearby sandcrab beds. By that time, I'd stationed myself on the down-current end of a nearby sandbar that dropped into a rip channel where the redtails were feeding. As I let my line swing with the current over the sandy ledge, the flies were repeatedly attacked by a number of fish holding in the boiling, sudsy water. Some of the ensuing battles that followed the initial hook-set were quite sensational - several of the larger redtails literally exploded out of the waves & bolted towards deeper surf...yeeehah, what a pull! \:D/ \:D/ \:D/
http://home.att.net/~rainbow.perch/Mar17-07/031707im-34.jpghttp://home.att.net/~rainbow.perch/Mar17-07/031707im-56.jpg
The redtails remained active through the short-lived twilight period before things eventually went quiet. Unfortunately, I had to make the long "death march" back to the car before nightfall completely enveloped the Pt. Reyes peninsula, so I didn't waste much time fishing any further once the bite died out. As I neared the parking area, I was amazed by the number of stars that lit up the clear & moonless night sky - what a spectacular way to end a long day of fishing the beautiful shores of Marin.
THE END. :D
- Mark
http://home.att.net/~rainbow.perch/Mar17-07/031707im-1.jpghttp://home.att.net/~rainbow.perch/Mar17-07/031707im-2.jpghttp://home.att.net/~rainbow.perch/Mar17-07/031707im-3.jpghttp://home.att.net/~rainbow.perch/Mar17-07/031707im-4.jpg
I didn't see much in the way of significant structure along the shoreline, just long stretches of relatively flat surf...
http://home.att.net/~rainbow.perch/Mar17-07/031707im-5.jpg
...that seemed to extend all the way up to the spit at the mouth of Bolinas Lagoon...
http://home.att.net/~rainbow.perch/Mar17-07/031707im-26.jpg
I probably covered about a mile or so of beach, while periodically stopping to cast into the occasional current seam or sandy riffles that I encountered along the way. Most of the action came from the dinky perch that loitered in the slackwater & shallow pockets,
http://home.att.net/~rainbow.perch/Mar17-07/031707im-10.jpg
...though, there were a couple of bigger fish that made a grab for the Seducer patterns I was using...
http://home.att.net/~rainbow.perch/Mar17-07/031707im-13.jpg
As the surf thinned & the fish dispersed into the surfline with the outgoing tide, the situation didn't look very promising for spending the rest of the day at Stinson. Consequently, I decided to try my luck at Kehoe, despite the fact that a steady northwesterly wind was already blowing across 10-Mile Beach (a most unfavorable direction for right-handed casters, like myself). Drake's was certainly a more inviting destination, but I was entranced by the siren call of the Pt. Reyes' redtails after enduring a rather slow morning at Stinson.
I arrived at Kehoe a few hours before the tide change. The water displayed excellent, gin-like clarity with a light smattering of eelgrass, seaweed & other vegetation that floated in the surf. After making the lengthy, arduous hike through the soft, pillowy sand in the direction of Abbott's Lagoon, the curvature of the shoreline led me towards a number of deep, sandy pockets where schools of silver perch lurked. I spent the last hours of the outgoing tide working the holes, channels & riffles for a handful of silvers while I waited for the tide to turn around. That's when the schools of redtail swarmed inshore to forage for the evening as the surf became agitated & stirred up the nearby sandcrab beds. By that time, I'd stationed myself on the down-current end of a nearby sandbar that dropped into a rip channel where the redtails were feeding. As I let my line swing with the current over the sandy ledge, the flies were repeatedly attacked by a number of fish holding in the boiling, sudsy water. Some of the ensuing battles that followed the initial hook-set were quite sensational - several of the larger redtails literally exploded out of the waves & bolted towards deeper surf...yeeehah, what a pull! \:D/ \:D/ \:D/
http://home.att.net/~rainbow.perch/Mar17-07/031707im-34.jpghttp://home.att.net/~rainbow.perch/Mar17-07/031707im-56.jpg
The redtails remained active through the short-lived twilight period before things eventually went quiet. Unfortunately, I had to make the long "death march" back to the car before nightfall completely enveloped the Pt. Reyes peninsula, so I didn't waste much time fishing any further once the bite died out. As I neared the parking area, I was amazed by the number of stars that lit up the clear & moonless night sky - what a spectacular way to end a long day of fishing the beautiful shores of Marin.
THE END. :D
- Mark