surf report

[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. 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.

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

[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.

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!

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.

- 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 , 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!
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/

[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!!!!!!!!