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Has anyone here surf fished the Fort Bragg area.
I will be up there for Gregg's wedding. Gregg and I might have some time to surf fish a little the day before the wedding.
Anyone have some info for us?
Locations?
Flies?
Lines?
Rods?
Best tide phases?
Hey Adam,.... The area around Ft. Bragg has a bunch of very good places to fish the rocks/surf. 8) Almost any beach with a creek/river outlet/mouth will produce perch and the rocks will produce an wider variety of fish plus shellfish, if you're interested 8) . For ready access to rock fishing, the Mendocino Headlands are always good. 8) There're beaches in and around Ft. Bragg, itself, that've been cleaned up (from decades of pollution) that should produce 8) . The real keys to all of this area are:
avoiding private property :? .
avoiding crowds (at this time of year, it's gonna be busy up there) :x :x .
finding relatively calm waters 8) .
If you're fishing rocks in calm waters, use an intermediate sink rate line and weighted flies (clousers, shrimp patterns, etc.). Otherwise, you'll spend a bunch of time untangling your line and contributing flies. I always did well on incoming/high/falling tides 8) . Nothing during low tides. :?
Surf fishing equipment/flies are pretty much the same as elsewhere along the coast.... Sometimes, low tide is better on the beach/surf. The surf is sometimes calmer then and you can observe the bottom better then. 8) 8) 8)
I'd recommend going to a bookstore and picking up a copy of a booklet titled, Mendocino County Coastal Fishing & Diving Access Guide by Rouvaishyana 8) . In Mendocino that'd be Bookwinkles.... 8) This booklet describes locations, directions, fishing available and some features of interest for the entire Mendocino County coastline. 8)
One major caution, watch out for heavy surf or large waves... :( They can come up even if the surf is relatively calm.... Lotsa rock fishin' guys have found that out the hard way. :( :( :(
Thanks Darian, I was planning on taking my 8wt with a 250-300gr sinktip. As far as flies go, I was planning on lots of clousers and other baitfish type patterns. After my last trip to the area I have deicded to tie in weed guards to block some of the junk that's floating around. I will also tie up some of Jay Murakoshi's WD40 grub type patterns with the curved rubber tail. I will also tie up some of his rusty fox clousers.
If anyone else has info for me please let me know.
Here is some of my experience from surf fishing in the Santa Cruz area, I think it would be similar if you are fishing sandy beaches for perch.
I like to get out there at low tide if it is a new area because you can find some holes that will produce well as the water fills them up. Here is one of my favorite holes at very low tide.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...8/f881c9fc.jpg
Once you find the holes it is not all that difficult to get them. I started with a 300 grain head but found I do a lot better with leadcore. I use 27ft on my 8wt. I don't wait after casting, just start stripping in right away. There are tons of mole crabs on the beaches in SC and flies imitating them work best for me. If you see them there on the beaches I would use something with some bright orange or even red on it. You can still catch them on baitfish, shrimp, and worm patterns, they are not that picky.
Here is one of my nicer ones pulled from that hole on a crab pattern.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v1...8/13900f85.jpg
A spot that always produces well for me is any place the waves come together from different directions.
Also, make sure to have a stripping basket, it really helps.
Hope you guys find them and have fun.
Thanks BSD.
I will bring my lead core and some sand crab imitations.
Jay, are you out there, I bet you've fished this area....