Easter in the Surf

[Bob Laskodi]

It's been quite windy this spring, and the seas have been far too surly for this old phart. Of course, Easter would bring a break in the winds and the surf would be relatively benign, so the Easter bunny would have to wait. I'm glad we went because the surf was quite rewarding this early morning. Hitting a low minus tide at 7:00 AM with only two foot swells I was hoping to catch a few surf perch. Boy, was I ever short in expectations! Between Chris and myself we got around 75 surf perch, and would have easily hit the 100 mark if someone (we won't mention any names, but he has a long history of breaking rods!) would have not broken their flyrod right when I found the mother of all perch schools. I found a trough that was just loaded with walleye perch, with my first cast bringing in a double, and that started the floodgates to open. A non-stop bite ensued for the next hour, with many doubles, and quite a few triples being brought to hand. The hot fly was #6 Bonefish Bitters in orange and tan, and the perch were all over that fly. Although I think I could have lashed a cigarette butt to a hook and done just as well! :lol:
Some big barred surf perch were in the mix for the day and one slab I landed went 16", which would be the largest BSP to date for me. On to the fish porn!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/laskodi/f25a77be.jpg
This was the spot. We were able to wade out on the far sand bar and were throwing in the trough parallel to shore right where the big water spot is on my lens! This was the pattern for the day and we cleaned up in every trough that we could get to the bar on the far side.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/laskodi/f8680a3a.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/laskodi/cb9cc89a.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/laskodi/7a5ebf8e.jpg
No wonder he breaks rods so much, he's throwing four foot double hauls :roll:
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/laskodi/b536f76c.jpg
One of many doubles on the day! 8-)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/laskodi/0c5f7ba9.jpg
A triple and a huge tangle for the old phart!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/laskodi/11e5cdad.jpg
The old phart scores a slab BSP :o
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/laskodi/ef4715de.jpg
One of many nice BSP's nailed
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/laskodi/8a5df6b3.jpg
Matthew's Bonefish Bitter (Orange) working it's magic! 8-)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/laskodi/d78f3979.jpg
The old phart was nailing the big BSP's today!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/laskodi/dfc30d30.jpg
My stripping bucket is 16" wide! ;)

[Jay Murakoshi]

Bob,

Great looking fish. I need to get back over the hill.
Let's see = Seascape

Jay

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Thanks Bob

That is a first class posting with inspiring, educational pictures too.

We really appreciate your great postings, thanks for the support.

[Bob Laskodi]

Jay, Close, but not quite!!!!!

[PaulC]

Thanks for the report Bob.
Going to be up there in a couple weeks visiting family in that general area.
Nice to see some good perching going on.
Love to hit those beaches in the AM while everyone is still sleeping.
Those wide open perch bites are a blast when you can find them.
-Paul

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Bob,

Can you talk about tackle and show some of your favorite flies?

If and when you get time....thanks.

[Bob Laskodi]

Bill, no problem!
First off I highly recommend Mark Won's Surf Perch website at:
http://surf-perch.net/Fishing/index.html
It's a fantastic site!
Tackle for surf perch is fairly simple consisting of a 6 or 7 weight rod, something you probably already own. We use shooting heads exclusively in the surf since delicate presentations are not important, but distance is very important. Integrated lines such as the Teeny, or Rio's/SA fast sinking lines may be beneficial for anglers not accustomed to shooting heads, but personally I don't like them much. My surf perch rig is a 10' Orvis Helios Saltwater in 7 weight, and Chris usually uses a 9' Orvis Helios Saltwater in 6 weight. I like the longer rod for extra casting distance and the ability to lift the flyline above waves. Reels can be fairly simple as surf perch don't go far (unlike stripers!) and we both use Orvis Battenkill Mid Arbor 3 Fly Reels. I use a Rio .024" Intermediate Shooting line and Chris uses Rio's Slick Shooter in 35#. Do not use a floating shooting line as it must sink below the waves in order to maintain constant contact with your fly for strike detection. We both use 30' of Rio's T-8 sinking line for the shooting head, but any fast sinking line will work. For a beginner, I recommend using a four feet section of 15 pound fluorocarbon tippet attached directly to the flyline. No tapered leader needed (or wanted!). However, we both use a triple fly leader of 4-6 foot 25# fluorocarbon that has dropper loops attached. We then attach the flies with short (2-4") sections of 15# fluoro to the dropper loops. All flies are attached with a non-slip loop knot like Lefty Kreh's Loop Knot. We have used as many as five flies, but the added tangles with that many flies is a problem and three is a good compromise. It is valuable to fish multiple flies because perch school very tightly together and multiple hookups are very common.
Flies are also simple affairs, but until recently it was hard to find surf perch flies. Frankly, the toughest part of surf perch fishing is finding the fish and detecting strikes and the fly is of much less importance. Umpqua now stocks a wide variety of popular surf flies such as Piconi's Prowler and Endress' Razzler. However, the only commercial fly that I use on a regular basis is Craig Mathews Bonefish Bitter #6 in orange and tan. Outside of the Bitter's, most flies we use our are own creations (usually a #6) and here are some proven producers. You will note a strong preference toward orange, rootbeer, and tan flies; you can't go wrong with any of those colors!
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/laskodi/a6f9ec48.jpg
Craig Mathew's Bonefish Bitter in orange (also use tan)
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/laskodi/ec68b2e4.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/laskodi/88504986.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/laskodi/89b51587.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/laskodi/cbf13c76.jpg
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v11/laskodi/7e9e5af7.jpg

[Ed Wahl]

Bob, thanks for all the info. I've really got to make a trip over there this year and get in on those.

Ed

[Scott V]

I fished with Mark last year and tied up some of his 3 fly rigs to use. I was amazed how they did not tangle up on me. I am probably going to head back to the coast in a week or two myself for some more surf fishing. That style of fishing is alot of fun. I caught 2 dunguness crabs last time.

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/PsychoZ/surf3.jpg

http://i3.photobucket.com/albums/y85/PsychoZ/IMGP0652.jpg

[k.hanley]

Nice going boyzzzzzz. I knew you could do it. Job well done. Stay safe out there.
Cheers, Ken

[jbird]

Nice!!!
I REALLY like that last fly.

Jay

[Mr. Noodle Rod]

Hey Bob,

What an excellent report & a great bunch of photos of last Sunday's hot surfperch bite! As usual, you & Chris worked the holes like a pair of vacuum cleaners. Hope to see you guys at the beach later this year...

Mark

[jim p]

Hi Bob,
First of all, thank you for the post and sharing all the great info. I have question for you though. The non-delicate presentation I have down, but what I'm unsure about is what is meant by distance. I'm sure the farther the better is best, but what do you think the minimum distance needed to be effective is? What should I be aiming for here, 60-70, 70-80, 80+ feet?


delicate presentations are not important, but distance is very important.

[Bob Laskodi]

Hi Jim: Yes, the farther you can fling the better. The spot was a classic example of that last week. It was too far from the shore, but you can hit it from the outlying bar. Still, it was close to 100 feet. As the tide rose, it forced us to back up further up the bar (ain't no way I'm going swimming in that hole-the rip would carry me to Japan!) and eventually got us out of casting range. However, surf perch do hold in closer to the shore than most fishies so if you can consistently throw 60' I'd go!

Hi Mark: Unfortunately us family guys can only go early morning! Not like you single guys who can go any time you'd like!!! Plus, I'm retired (again!), and Chris doesn't have a job yet so we're mostly fishing weekdays to stay away from the little old ladies walking their dogs!!! But, later in the summer we'll start evening fishing and start running into you! Good luck out there and I sure miss your regular fishing report updates on your site! Get less busy so you can keep them up to date!!!

[Hairstacker]

Bob, thanks for the great report and especially all the great info and fly pictures -- very much appreciated! :cool:

[jim p]

The casting distance is doable. Never fly fished the salt before, going to have to give it a go.

I've contemplated fly fishing the surf for some time now. The wife and I would venture there to watch sunsets. Kind of relaxing just kicking back and watching the sun go down.

Thanks again for the info, Jim