Stinson?

[roywest]

Heading up to Stinson for a few days next week with the family. Bringing my gear to continue my amateurish self-education in the suds. Any advice much appreciated!

__Roy

[Bob G]

Hey Roy -

The Parkside Cafe has the most wonderful large loaves of hot bread coming out of their ovens at 12noon and 5pm daily. We recently did some long hikes in the area, and the bread was glorious.

Sorry, I have no fishing insights.

Enjoy!

Bob

[roywest]

Thanks, Bob. I've been enjoying reading Russ Chatham lately, so this fits right into the groove I'm looking for.

[roywest]

High tide today was at about 11:30. Fished from about 10:30 to 1:30. The Fin Whale that beached itself and died yesterday was bleeding copiously before they buried it. This attracted the sharks. A lifeguard watched a 12-foot white breach while severing a sea lion. Other sharks were spotted in the surf zone. So beachgoers are not supposed to get their feet wet.

That said, I caught a handful of surf perch before the apologetic lifeguard asked me to keep to dry sand. A gear guy was doing much better, using imitation pile worms 2x further out than I could cast without getting into legal trouble. After the tide turned I got in a little deeper and had more luck again.

At lunch I cracked a tooth. Damn. 8:30 dentist appointment. I'll rejoin my family after and try my luck at Limantour later in the week.

[ladalske]

Roywest,

What rod size and setup do you use to fish the saltwater? I have thought about going but don't know a thing about the recommended gear.

[roywest]

So there are much more experienced people on this board to ask about gear, but I've been using a 9.5' 6wt rod with a Rio Striper 250gr (26ft 6-7ips sink tip with clear integrated running line) and 3-5 feet of 10-12lb mono as a tippet. I have tried catching surf perch about a dozen to 18 times and only in the last few outings have I started to find fish. They keys seem to be:

* Catch the right tide: moving water is key
* Get your fly into 3-5 feet of slower moving water in "troughs" between breakers (this is what the Stinson closure messed up for me -- my setup couldn't get there if I was "banned" from getting my feet wet due to the beach closure). I know there are fish in shallower water, but this seemed like the best depth for me.
* Slower, 2-3' strips -- I catch more fish when I remember to slow it down
* Keep moving to find the fish

Most people use a stripping basket. I find them just as confusing as no basket, but that's almost certainly my lack of skill rather than good practice.

The gear guys seem to catch more on rubber worms behind a barrel weight, probably because they can get the "bait" out much further and just let it wait for the fish to find it. But I'm sure I had more fun bringing them in on a fly rod than hauling them in with a reel.

I gather other people use heavier gear, to cut through the wind and to get out further, particularly for stripers. I may try a switch rod some time. But the perch are awfully small even for my 6wt.

Be safe!

[Larry S]

Roy,
Do a search on Kiene for posts by Loren Elliot. I think he moved to the East Coast now; used to guide the Marin coast
and made several cover appearances on Flyfishing Saltwater with his striper catches.
To your "keys," I would add "fish the seams" - areas of changing water color, depth, current, etc. If "rips" are present,
fish their edges. Getting ready to chase the finny devils at San Diego's Glider Port- Black's Beach in another hour.
Best,
Larry S

[James]

Hey Roywest


I have a lot of time in a short amount of time, in the surf. All my info is from either fishing with Loren and calling/emailing questions. He is THE MAN. Too bad he moved back east. A stripping basket is must! I really like Beulah surf rods with their new surf lines. Used to use an outbound I -line, and they were the lines, but the new Beulah lines are much better. I use the 7wt surf for perch or very calm days for stripers, my go to rod for the surf/stripers is the Beulah 8/9 surf, with the hatch 9 and the 400gr surf line with a 10' sec of T-14
Lets what Loren also uses, except he uses a single hander 6wt for perch. I pretty much copy everything Loren does out there, and it works. This Ocean beach/Pacifica striper season this year is REALLY slow, I have got a couple (stripers) in the surf this season, but it has been rough. You will be dealing with lots of wind and waves, so try not to get to frustrated.

Hope that helps.



Roywest,

What rod size and setup do you use to fish the saltwater? I have thought about going but don't know a thing about the recommended gear.

[James]

Oops

I think I put your wrong name down.

[Larry S]

Speaking of Loren Elliott(?) and Beulah rods - check out
http://www.beulahflyrods.com/news-events/
Best,
Larry S

[roywest]

Thanks a lot for adding your experience to this thread, James. And Larry, of course. I'm a complete beginner, so as I said earlier, I hoped folks with more experience would chime in with better advice for ladalske. Wish I'd grabbed Loren for a lesson before he headed East.

__Roy

[Darian]

Roy,.... I think I read somewhere that Loren was going to return each summer to continue his guiding business. Sned him a note. Maybe you could still get a lesson from him for next summer....