surf report

[Loren E]

got out today to do a little fishin at Drakes bay area near point reyes. very windy. Fished the outgoing tide(ususally worst in my experience for surf). Picked up 3 fatties, all barred perch. Thanks for motivating me to get out there with your great report mark. i'll post some pics if someone could kindly instruct me how, is photobucket the ticket?

Hey Loren,

WTG on the BSP's! I must've missed you at Drake's - I fished the mid-afternoon outgoing & wound up C&R'ing about 2 dozen fish on the 0-wt, mostly a mixture of BSP's & calicos...

http://home.att.net/~rubberlip.perch/Nov24-06/112406im-9.jpghttp://home.att.net/~rubberlip.perch/Nov24-06/112406im-35.jpg


I'm heading out there again tomorrow, hopefully for more of the same. Come on out & join the fun - the fish are willing to play...

http://home.att.net/~rubberlip.perch/Nov24-06/112406im-12.jpg


:wink: :D :D

- Mark

p.s. If you don't have an internet provider that offers digital photo storage services (like Comcast, AT&T, etc), I believe you need a site (like Photobucket) that can host your photos to create the image links to this board. I've never used Photobucket, but there may be others on this site who can provide some guidance.

[k.hanley]

Congratulations on your recent success Loren. Stay safe out there.
Cheers, Ken 8)

[Loren E]

thanks for the encouragement guys, sounds like you did awesome Mark, i got there somewhere between 3:30 and 4, must have just missed you. Unfortunately i can't get back out there today as much as i wish i could, my dad and i are fishing the delta tomorrow and i have school on monday, so i gotta' get all my work done today :cry: im planning on fishing it next sunday, december 10th, maybe i will see you out there then. Good luck today! i hope you slay the perch, or whatever else is swimmin around out there (i saw a fin pop up in the surf yesterday, my guess would be a leopard shark). Was it at drake's that you tagged that big old striper on the fly? Here are a couple pics from yesterday, hope they work.

http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p295/lorenelliott/DrakesBayPerch11-4.jpg
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p295/lorenelliott/DrakesBayPerch11-3.jpg
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p295/lorenelliott/DrakesBayPerch11-2.jpg
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p295/lorenelliott/DrakesBayPerch11-1.jpg
http://i131.photobucket.com/albums/p295/lorenelliott/DrakesBayPerch11.jpg

[Hairstacker]

GREAT stuff, thanks for sharing guys! Love all the pictures. 8) 8) 8)

Woo-hoo! Beautiful photos, Loren - those are dandy-sized BSP's. Now that's what I'm talkin' about catching in the surf this winter! :wink:

What fly patterns were you using?

I did swing by Drake's on Saturday to fish the afternoon outgoing tide with a buddy. Again caught about another 2 dozen fish with the 0-wt, mostly calicos & BSP's. The largest barred was this hog-sized female that looked to be around 14 inches:

http://home.att.net/~rubberlip.perch/Nov25-06/112506im-14.jpg


Yeah, you probably saw a leopard shark in the surf - I saw quite a few of them patrolling the shallows during the slacktide. They were quite numerous yesterday, had a few slink by my legs while wading in knee-deep surf. Wound up fouling 2 small guys while fishing for the perch...

http://home.att.net/~rubberlip.perch/Nov25-06/112506im-15.jpghttp://home.att.net/~rubberlip.perch/Nov25-06/112506im-38.jpg


Hope to do more of the same in the weeks ahead once the stormy weather passes. Be safe out there! :)

TL's

- Mark

[Jay Murakoshi]

Damn, I remember when I was that young and wet waded. I even surfed Santa Cruz, Carmel, and the Monterey area without a wet suit.
Now, you wouldn't see me wading without waders. I love the Simms boot foot waders

Got me worked up. I might have to take a trip over the hill and get a taste of the salt.

Jay

[flygolf]

I just love your guys reports, especially the ones with the pics. Keep them coming.

[dtp916]

Damn! I wanna catch leopard sharks from shore!!!

[lee s.]

HEY!!!
You's guys are fishing right below the barn we're hauling hay to this winter! :roll: NO FAIR! Gonna have to do somethin.... :lol: Good reports. The boys from the ranch have been doing well on the dungees right outside of you also.
....lee s.

[Loren E]

great pics Mark, those sharks must have been a kick on the 0 weight, in regard to what flies i was using, i bet Jay M. recognizes them, he sent em to me about 2 years ago. i fished an orange roughy down to that rootbeer colored streamer pictured in the closeup, the rootbeer seemed to be the ticket. Thanks for the support everybody, hope to see all you guys out there on the beach this winter! -loren

[Ed Wahl]

Shorts and sandals? Is that all that's required to fish over there? If some Joe inlander like, say, me went over there to try that what would he/I have to know. Do you just hit the beach and start casting? Do you have to wade deep or just hit the shallows? That looks so far from my normal fishing that it's got to be fun. Ed

[Darian]

Ed,.... I'm sure others will chime in with info that'll help you get started. It doesn;t take a lot of anything special to get goin' in the surf. 8) 8) In the meantime, here's some websites that will help:

www.garybulla.com

www.zenflyfishing.com

These sites have links to other surf websites, as well. If you do a Google search, you could probably come up with a bunch more sites. 8) 8)

Some places (like Bodega) offer the ability to catch crabs or dig clams off the beach. Surf fishing (fly or bait) is really fun. :D :D :D

[Hairstacker]

Uh, I'm with Jay, when I'm standing in the surf tossing into the horizon, I like to at least wear hip waders with the built-in boots to keep sand out. It can be cold enough out there without getting wet. :lol:

Thanks for the info, Loren. Rootbeer & blood-red colored flies work really well for the perch.

No doubt about needing waders in the NorCal surf, especially around this time of the year when the water temperature gets down into the low 50's or upper 40's at times - that's when the ice cubes start showing up in the waves! :lol: :lol:

Hey Jay, I fished your old stomping grounds around Watsonville (Palm-Pajaro) this afternoon. It was raining, but the fish didn't care - I wound up C&R'ing about 30 BSP's, mostly dink- to hand-size. I'd give it another week or so for the surf to clear up more as there's a persistent redtide slick still sitting in the middle of Monterey Bay & dirtying things up periodically (the surf looked pretty orangish, especially further north around Manresa & Aptos). Hope you get a chance to wet some flies in the local coastal waters this winter - the fish will be waiting for you. :wink:

- Mark

[Loren E]

Hey Ed, fly fishing the surf is definitely a lot of fun, you have got to give it a try(shorts and sandals optional :D, waders might be a good idea ). To get started i would say that all you need is : a 6-8 weight rod (Mark fishes much lighter, something i'd like to try, but i would get a feel for it before going super light), reel loaded with probably a type 3 shooting head and running line or an integrated sink tip (you could go lighter on real calm days or heavier in rough surf), a stripping basket, and somewhere to keep your gear dry like a fannypack (i use the simms one) or a backpack. Gear is super simple compared to trout, all you need is a pair of hemostats with cutters on them, some leaders (varying from 5-9 feet, going down to as light as 10 lb or as heavy as 16, but 12 is fine for most everything), and some bugs. Jay Murakoshi makes som great surf flies, or you could tie some of your own, perch are not picky, anything size 6 or 8 with some rootbeer like in the picture above, and you could try some pinks or oranges too. perch eat sand crabs, ghost shrimp, and pile worms mostly, so something that comes close to that, even bonefish flies should do the trick. Then all you gotta' do is scout out a probable beach (i like protected beaches like stinson or drake's) and go give it a shot. wading in deep is not necessary at all and on most of our beaches isn't very safe either. Just knee deep keeps you dry above the waist and gets you plenty close to the troughs, holes, and rips that you are gonna want to fish in. Incoming tide has seemed best to me, but i have had luck on outgoing too. Just cast the thing out there, let it sink a little, strip it in, move down a bit, cast again, etc. this will let you cover water and once you find em you will probably be into a school where action can be nonstop. And you also can catch stripers, halibut, flounder, sharks, and all kinds of cool fish while looking for perch. Good luck out there -Loren

[Jay Murakoshi]

I thought a couple of those flies looked familiar. I guess when I get back from Florida, I'll have to head over the hill.
One thing about the perch fishing, they are there all year round but not big this time of year.

Hard to believe the red tide is still lingering. Usually the summer months is when it stays close to shore.

Well, I guess it's time to use the 100 dozen perch flies I have sitting around here. Ken, are you ready to shoot some video

Jay

[k.hanley]

Let's do it. Gotta love perch! :D
Cheers, K

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

I have always wanted to make one of Jay & Ken's Surf Fishing Seminars in the summer down near Monterey, CA. Keith Kaneko said it was excellent. I don't know if they have any scheduled this summer.

I think they are doing them down in La Paz, Baja Mexico. More exotic fish down that way.

http://www.fliesunlimited.com/

http://www.fliesunlimited.com/images/gallery/baja_bg_5.jpg

[k.hanley]

Thanks for the kind words Bill. Yes indeed, there are surf clinics for California. Folks that are interested can send me a PM for dates etc.
Cheers, Ken
PS: AND Yes.......you need to stand in the surf with us!!!!!!!! 8)

[Jay Murakoshi]

The surf clinics are on the schedule for 2007 and the Baja Inshore clinic is set for May 11 -17, 2007. If you need more info, send me an email or go to the website.

So many places to fish, so little time

Jay

[Anne Vitale]

Those are great shots Loren. Congratulations on a job well done \:D/ \:D/ . As you have managed to do with several others on this board, you have whetted my appetite to hit the beach for some saltwater action. Especially since Drakes Bay is almost in my back yard. If you ever need a fishing buddy for one of your trips, let me know. However, don't expect me to wear shorts and sandals. In fact I more then likely will be wearing everything I own under my neoprenes. ;) ....Anne

PS. Spoke to your mom this morning in front of the PRS Post Office. She tells me you and your dad are off to Christmas Island for bonefish for the holidays. Nice. O:) O:)

[Loren E]

Hey Anne, great to hear from you. I am super excited to go to christmas island, especially about the huge GT's. This sunday my dad and i are trying to get out on the delta, but if it doesn't happen we will head out to point reyes and give drake's a try, and the next sunday im planning on going out again too, probably drake's, maybe give some other spots a shot depending on tides/weather. IF you are free it would be great to fish with you.