Ventura Surf Fishing

[cyama]

Anyone fish the Ventura area? I used to catch some big perch/rubberlips off of the rock jetties years ago with bait (mussels), but never with a fly. Maybe a San Juan soaked in mussel juice would work..... I don't remember seeing any sand crabs....

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I have a friend who puts a small piece of squid on the surf perch flies when he takes out a new person.

[Darian]

There's a lot of info about surf fishing (conventional/fly) posted daily under, Cali Coast Surf Fishing (California surf anglers) on Facebook.

Another source of info is under, Fly-Fish the Surf (http://www.flyfishthesurf.com/) a Ventura area guide is on Facebook, as well.

If you google fly fishing the surf in SoCal, there's a number of websites that have info about SoCal surf fishing....

Good luck....

[Larry S]

cyama,
Here in Sun Diego, the sand crab population has exploded in the past week or so;
seeing some that are bigger than thumbnail size and the females are starting to
carry eggs. Bean clam beds are also prominent.

Another site to check would be http://fliflicker.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?fid=6

Best,
Larry S
Sun Diego

[JayDubP]

Anyone fish the Ventura area? I used to catch some big perch/rubberlips off of the rock jetties years ago with bait (mussels), but never with a fly. Maybe a San Juan soaked in mussel juice would work..... I don't remember seeing any sand crabs....

Erics Tackle Shop in Ventura is the hub of surf fisherman, always lots of them hanging around (conventional and fly) . http://wegetbit.com/pro-staff/. I bought a trout rod several years ago from eric and he was real easy to deal with.

Great fly fishing guide who works out of Erics is Lee Baremann, an Echo rep and great saltwater guide. I fished with him to learn the surf and had a great day, caught more than I hoped.... taught me how to read the surf and holding/fishing water.


Gary Bulla has great shop in Ventura- Santa Paula area. he may have relocated after last year's fire- I know his house was burned down. https://garybulla.com/ventura-santa-barbara-surf-fishing/

Heard the Artful Angler in Carpinteria shut its doors.

Guy Jeans of Kern River Fly Fishing gives group surf fly fishing classes in Ventura area- he grew up in that area. Check his website.

Looking forward to some posts.

Jim

[John Sv]

Second for Eric's

[Darian]

Fly-Fish The Surf is the name of Lee Baermanns website/guide business....

[cyama]

Thanks for all the replies. Was only able to fish a few hours and didn't catch a thing. As a complete rookie to fly fishing the surf I was using a small clouser and a tan and orange popcorn beetle. Hey it works at Pyramid... Well anyways it was a great quick trip even though I got the skunk. I set my buddy up with a spinning rod and he caught a small perch... I talked to a local and he said he landed a 25 inch corbina last week. This guy and most others I observed were using jigs that looked like worms or grubs. My buddy who hosted the beer fest said the big perch and rubber lips we used to catch twenty years ago are not around anymore.

[Larry S]

cyama,
Retired in 2000, and usually fish Blacks, Glider Port, Torrey Pines area of
Sun Diego two days a week. Until the past several years, surf perch
accounted for well over 75% of our catch all year long.
Often we were over two dozen in a 2-3 hour session. They've been
MIA for several years now and it seems like beaches up to Santa
Barbara are experiencing the same. Tons of crabs and bean clams
are available. Who knows? Can't believe that water temps are
that significant. On the positive side, we're starting to see some
barred and a few walleye perch showing up lately. We are doing well
with the yellow fin croakers when the bait fish are around.
Corbina and spotfin round out the targets.
Reading the water is so important for all of these species.
Best,
Larry S
Sun Diego