Chasin Fin
06-23-2014, 11:27 AM
Spent the past week down in Santa Cruz and was able to get out on the local beach for some perch each morning before the family got up for about an 1 1/2 hours each morning. Fished the same beach each day (close to the house). It was my first time fly fishing for these guys and it was a ton of fun. landed anywhere from 5-20 fish each morning. Best tide for me was an hour after the outgo. Fished a 8wt, with Rio OBS and red shrimp style flies. Combo seemed to work perfect. Couple days the surf was flat and wished i would have brought a lighter rod and will definitely be doing so on my next trip in August.
First day, i attempted to fish the surf without a stripping basket... Big mistake and I'm not sure how guys do it effectively. Called Ray at Sea Level and he was kind enough to overnight me a stripping basket. Worked like a charm and made it much more enjoyable! Thanks Ray for the excellent service and great product. Goes well with my Stripping bucket from Tony B which has worked great along with his flies!
Also just wanted to say thanks to all the guys at Kiene's and this forum. I've been a conventional fisherman all my life and just scratching the surface on the fly fishing world and the folks at Kiene's along with this forum has certainly sped up my learning curve and given me confidence to put fish on the end of a fly rod. Also, thanks to Jeff Putnam who provided me a great casting lessons and I'm been working hard at improving my stroke.
The arsenal is growing and now I'm looking forward to learning how to tie my own clousers....
Thank you all again. I've read 100's of previous posts here and knowing what the best of the best use day in day out has certainly helped me out tremendously. Since starting fly fishing last year, i've been able to catch smallmouth, large mouth bass, stripers, Albacore, rock cod, trout, and now surf perch. It's addicting....
First day, i attempted to fish the surf without a stripping basket... Big mistake and I'm not sure how guys do it effectively. Called Ray at Sea Level and he was kind enough to overnight me a stripping basket. Worked like a charm and made it much more enjoyable! Thanks Ray for the excellent service and great product. Goes well with my Stripping bucket from Tony B which has worked great along with his flies!
Also just wanted to say thanks to all the guys at Kiene's and this forum. I've been a conventional fisherman all my life and just scratching the surface on the fly fishing world and the folks at Kiene's along with this forum has certainly sped up my learning curve and given me confidence to put fish on the end of a fly rod. Also, thanks to Jeff Putnam who provided me a great casting lessons and I'm been working hard at improving my stroke.
The arsenal is growing and now I'm looking forward to learning how to tie my own clousers....
Thank you all again. I've read 100's of previous posts here and knowing what the best of the best use day in day out has certainly helped me out tremendously. Since starting fly fishing last year, i've been able to catch smallmouth, large mouth bass, stripers, Albacore, rock cod, trout, and now surf perch. It's addicting....