Monterey Bay winter surf report (1/19-21)

This past weekend, I fished the south Santa Cruz beaches with a couple of buddies during the afternoon outgoing into the evening minus tide. Each day was a little different in terms of the weather, surf & bite activity, but there was sufficient action in the suds to keep things interesting. The water was cold & relatively clear in most areas, with light to moderate debris floating in the backwaters of the rip channels & troughs that lay along the shorebreak. The negative tides provided excellent opportunities to explore & fish the exposed structure left behind by the receding surf. The pools of slackwater scattered between the sandbars often held schools of fish that roamed the sandy depressions. We fished well into the dusk hours pursuing the surfperch that lurked within easy casting reach during low tide...




The majority of the fish that we caught were generally on the small side, perhaps hand-size or less. However, there were moments when the #12 Dingleberry flies were grabbed by platter-size BSP's lurking in the sandy pockets & channels...




...& what a pull they gave on the 00-wt TXL!




Although it's quite early in the year, I incidently caught these two short linesides...




...& a buddy of mine who fished with me on Sunday also landed one around 18-20 in. We saw pelicans & other birds divebombing for baitfish just beyond the breakers, so maybe the stripers have already arrived in the surf this year? Perhaps these fish are holdovers from last year or previous years?

Otherwise, the weekend turned out to be pretty decent for some light-action winter fly fishing in the Monterey Bay surf. I'm looking forward to heading back out there soon for more fly line fun in the suds!


TL's

- Mark

[Loren E]

nice report Mark, thats a great sign that you are getting into linesiders already. come may i'm going to break the 9 weight out and try to get a big boy. i'll have to show you some jighook half and halfs /clousers i've been tying for the surf and bay (surf models have synthetic hair on bottom to protect the hackle feathers from getting torn up from the sand, a tip from tim p on bulla's board). i really want to make it out to kehoe soon, just feels impossible to get the time these days. tight lines -Loren

Hey Loren,

Check your email. You've got quite an arsenal of fly tackle for targeting those linesides this year - your clouser pattern sounds pretty cool. The small guys are showing up in the suds early - could be a good sign of better things to come from the surf this year. Hope you can find some time to take a break from your studies & wet a line soon!

- Mark

[Loren E]

Mark, i didn't get your email, i'll shoot you one so you have the right address