San Diego surf?

[Natekursow]

Saw an article about fishing for corbina near San Diego, and the guy mentioned catching other species such as halibut and surfperch on the fly... I might be in San Diego early April and I know the corbina won't be there, but will there be surf fishing for other species, and if so, any tips? Fly fishing for halibut intrigued me, but I have no idea on how I'd set out about doing that. Any tips?
Thanks!

NK

[Sheepdog8404]

Nate,

You’d be missing out if you skipped bringing the rod with you. A 7wt with a sinking shooting head is what you’re after. Some dudes get crazy with high end sealed drag saltwater reels but I was able to get away with an old click/pawl reel and just rinsed it (and the rod) very well after each trip. For a line, any sinking head with a intermediate line is perfect. I used a Rio outbound short WF7s6/i. A stripping basket is a must. You can make one for a few bucks with a small basket from Home Depot and a bungee cord. Make sure it has some drain holes in it in case you get swamped by a wave. As for flies, a handful of small clousers (chartreuse/white and red/yellow) will get the job done. Make sure you watch your back cast too. Folks will like to stand behind you and watch. Look for rips buckets and troughs in about ankle to thigh deep water. No need to get deep. Most perch are caught in shin deep water. The Corbin’s are pretty tough but tying into some perch or a halibut is fairly easy to do. A small perch on a 7wt will take you for a ride. Hook into a sub-legal halibut even and you’ll have your hands full. Good luck!

[Natekursow]

Nate,

You’d be missing out if you skipped bringing the rod with you. A 7wt with a sinking shooting head is what you’re after. Some dudes get crazy with high end sealed drag saltwater reels but I was able to get away with an old click/pawl reel and just rinsed it (and the rod) very well after each trip. For a line, any sinking head with a intermediate line is perfect. I used a Rio outbound short WF7s6/i. A stripping basket is a must. You can make one for a few bucks with a small basket from Home Depot and a bungee cord. Make sure it has some drain holes in it in case you get swamped by a wave. As for flies, a handful of small clousers (chartreuse/white and red/yellow) will get the job done. Make sure you watch your back cast too. Folks will like to stand behind you and watch. Look for rips buckets and troughs in about ankle to thigh deep water. No need to get deep. Most perch are caught in shin deep water. The Corbin’s are pretty tough but tying into some perch or a halibut is fairly easy to do. A small perch on a 7wt will take you for a ride. Hook into a sub-legal halibut even and you’ll have your hands full. Good luck!

Thanks for the tips! By "small" flies, how big are we talking? Like between a size 6 and size 1?

[Sheepdog8404]

I think that’s about right. I want to say I tied probably 80% of them on a size 4 Mustad oshaughnessy hook. Or similar shaped hook.

[Natekursow]

I think that’s about right. I want to say I tied probably 80% of them on a size 4 Mustad oshaughnessy hook. Or similar shaped hook.

Thanks!

NK

[Sheepdog8404]

You got it. Good luck!

Also, maybe call or drop into Stroud Tackle while you’re there if you have a minute. Super solid guys and it’s the kinda shop you can just show up to drink coffee and talk fishing without any imposition to pull out your wallet. They’d probably have some advice for where and when to go also.

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

https://www.stroudtackle.com/

One of the oldest shops on the West Coast.




Here is a nice story about the founders, Bill and Eileen Stroud.

https://www.stroudtackle.com/stroud-legacy/

[Larry S]

Nate,

Several of us fish the Farms-Blacks-Torrey surf several
times each week. Sheepdog gave you some excellent
advice. We use 5-6 wt rods and our choice of lines
is Rio's Striper sinktip.
In spite of some epic high surf at times this winter,
our stretch of water just isn't containing many feeding
zones. The cold water seems to be a turn-off for the
usual suspects like the rays and shovenose guitar
fish. We're not seeing any of those for the past month
or so.
However, things do change and that keeps us going back.
Besides the perch, halibut, rays,and corbinas, we also
have spotfin and yellow fin croakers . The last two are
our favorites. The YFC will follow the bait fish in and the spotfin
can often be seen doing headstands at high tide in less than
a foot or two of water.
I'll try to dig out my journals and see what April has been
like.
Best,
Larry S
Sun Diego

[Natekursow]

Thank you for the tips... hopefully the fish will be more on the feed when I'm there... either way it'll be fun to give saltwater try.

On a side note, will soaking some bait on a spinning rod be effective as I'm fly fishing? Maybe catch some other species?
Thanks!

NK