Weekend in the Marin surf...

I spent the holiday weekend chasing surfperch up along the Marin coast. On Saturday, the seas were lumpy & the surf was up - the northwest winds were howling, so I headed to Drake's Bay to fish the late afternoon incoming in relative calm. The water cleared up nicely since last weekend - no redtide or significant floating debris to contend with. Things were pretty slow during the early afternoon, but I eventually located the fish after about a 1/2-mile hike down the beach. I wound up C&R'ing a little over a dozen BSP's & calicos for the day:

http://home.att.net/~rubberlip.perch/Nov11-06/111106im-20.jpghttp://home.att.net/~rubberlip.perch/Nov11-06/111106im-23.jpghttp://home.att.net/~rubberlip.perch/Nov11-06/111106im-22.jpg


On Sunday, I plowed the waters at Stinson. The waves were manageable with clear & clean surf - the wind laid down nicely all day. It was rather pleasant to fish without the usual breezy weather. There wasn't a lot of well-defined beach structure present, but the sandy beds contained some nice shallow troughs & riffles to hold fish during the late afternoon incoming. The first hour or so produced some good pulls on the rod...

http://home.att.net/~rubberlip.perch/Nov12-06/111206im-10.jpg


I had a lot of fun battling & subduing some of the larger BSP's in the 10-11 inch range...

http://home.att.net/~rubberlip.perch/Nov12-06/111206im-7.jpghttp://home.att.net/~rubberlip.perch/Nov12-06/111206im-8.jpghttp://home.att.net/~rubberlip.perch/Nov12-06/111206im-33.jpg


...though the majority of the fish were hand-size or smaller. I wound up C&R'ing a total of 42 BSP's for the day from about noon to a little after sundown.

Things are definitely looking better with each passing week along the coast - hope to experience more of the same in the weeks ahead. :D :D


TL's,

- Mark

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

PLease talk about your tackle and equipment.

I have never tried this but it looks like fun.

Great photos.

Hey Bill,

Sorry for not posting this earlier, but I've been using either a Sage 00- or 0-wt TXL outfitted with a Ross Rhythm-0 reel. I've been throwing 12- & 16-ft Rio T8 heads for each respective rod using 15-lb Amnesia black mono for the running line. As I've mentioned in previous threads (under the general fishing section), I'm fishing a triple-fly tippet that generally looks like this:

http://home.att.net/~surf.perch/dropper.jpg


Recently, the fly patterns of choice have been my #12 dingleberry surf flies (sorry, I couldn't come up with a sexier name :D )...

http://home.att.net/~surf.perch/dingleberry_12.jpg


...and my #12 scorpion worms, which have been the go-to patterns for a variety of surfperch (apologize for the poor picture quality):

http://home.att.net/~surf.perch/miniworm-12.jpg


It's definitely getting to be that time of the year when the perch begin to show up along many of the local beaches for their winter mating ritual. No doubt about the sport being a lot of fun on light fly gear! :) :)


- Mark

[flygolf]

I have got to try that. Thanks for the info.

[Tony Buzolich]

Mark,

That really looks like fun with such an Ultra lite fly rod. I've normally used a #6 or #8w thinking there was a chance to hook up something else and only had minimal luck.

Your reply back is also beautiful with captioned pictures and chart with great explanations.

One question about your small flies. How do you tie your scorpion fly with chenille between the double hooks?
TONY

[sculpin]

Great report and pictures . It looks like you are having a great time. Some day I'm going to try the Oregon coast to see if we have light tackle oppertunities.


Mark

Hey Tony,

Here's the basic fly tying sequence for larger #6-8 size worm patterns where lion suede is used for the body:

http://home.att.net/~surf.perch/scorpion_worm_how-to.jpg


I've experimented with a variety of materials for the body wrap - small, fine & ultra-fine chenilles (Ice Krystal, suede) work well for the smaller worms (size-10 & under). I often leave the stinger hook fully exposed (unwrapped with body material), which seems to produce more hook-ups.

I sometimes substitute 10- to 20-lb Spectra (PowerPro, Spiderwire, etc.) in place of the mono to tie the hooks together - the Spectra gives the tail end of the worm more flexing (wiggle) action since the braid is softer than mono. The downside with using Spectra is the trailer hook has a tendency to double-over & foul the lead hook during the cast.

Give the worm a try on the tying vise & your next fishing trip (but don't chase it down with a shot of tequila! :lol: :lol:)

- Mark

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

You guys might click on the web link on Mark's profile to go to a coatal message board.

[Hairstacker]

Mark, thank you for the GREAT series of posts! This definitely does look like fun.

Thanks for the great feedback, guys! Those of us who reside in the SF Bay area are fortunate to have so many wonderful fisheries available to us, especially around this time of the year - stripers in the Delta, steelhead in the coastal/inland rivers...oh yeah, and surfperch off the beaches, too! :D

- Mark

[Wingman]

Mark,

Very nice photos, diagram, and and info. I have been wanting to head over to the coast to try some surf fishing for a long time. It sounds like now is the time to go! I am going to get busy and tie up some of your patterns. Have you fished the beach along Pt. Reyes?

Thanks

Hey Wingman,

I've been fishing Pt. Reyes for many years, generally along 10-Mile Beach & Drake's Bay. It's a very scenic & fairly remote section of coastline with varying land topology & marine habitats - definitely one of my favorite surf fishing destinations.

- Mark

[Adam Grace]

Thanks for the pictures. I have seen so many different surf perch.

[Loren E]

great pics, i lived in point reyes and had good luck at stinson, though not so much on the point reyes beaches. Do you ever fish Limantour, and the surf is pretty rough up at 10 mile, does that make fishing the light rod a bit tough?

Hey Loren,

Yeah, I've fished the entire stretch of sandy shoreline ringing Drake's Bay, from Limantour (& the mouth of the Estero) to Drake's Beach. The beaches along 10-Mile are generally rougher around North Beach & points southward. The shoreline here slopes abruptly into the surf with strong wave hydraulics & currents along the shorebreak - these are not very conducive for fly fishing, in my opinion (OK for conventional or spin tackle, though).

However, the surf becomes very fly-fishable between Abbott's Lagoon & Kehoe as the offshore currents tend to deposit more sand & create good structure to buffer the shoreline from the waves at this end of 10-Mile. There are also some nice sandy coves & short stretches of beach at McClures Beach & along the west side of Tomales Head to the north - it's a strenuous hike between these beaches & the main trail at the top of the ridgeline, but the views & scenery are just spectacular & breathtaking (literally!).

As with all other coastal areas, the fishability of each beach is governed by the prevailing weather & marine conditions on any given day. After exploring & fishing the Pt. Reyes surf over the years in all seasons, I've found that there's usually a patch of water somewhere in the area worth wetting a fly or two (& sometime a few fish that give a tug on the other end!) :D :D

- Mark

[mike N]

great info mark, thanks.

I hope you don't mind if I use a bit of it next week while I'm at Dillon beach.

MN

Hey Mike,

I've never fished Dillon - I keep passing it up on the way to Bodega along Hwy 1. Dillon & Lawson's Landing always look so inviting from the top of Tomales Head during the summer. Best of luck out there.

Mark

[mike N]

Well,

if you see someone out there wed- friday next week stop by and say hellow. I recall spring breaks there as a kid, I wathced a guy knock them out with pile worms and conventional gear. I have always fished the surf with an 8wt, but I think I will leave it at home and bring the 1, 3 and 5 wts.

MN

[Loren E]

Mark, i'd like to start fishin that area more often, we could put you up for a night at my mom's bed and breakfast in point reyes sometime if you're ever up for throwin a line with a father and son team out there. Tight lines -Loren

Hey Loren,

Thanks for the kind & generous offer. Surf fishing at Pt. Reyes should improve as winter approaches, so bring a rod or 2 along if you ever get a chance to venture that way over the next couple months.

best,

Mark

[sacreno]

Myflyzdown,

Please check your PM.

Thanks
Steve