Drake's Beach - 1/3/07

Well, since the recent topics have been about fishing at Drake's, I may as well file another report on yesterday's excursion to the south shores of the Pt. Reyes peninsula. I snuck in a few hours with the 0-wt TXL soaking flies during the mid-afternoon slacktide. The skies were heavy with clouds that produced patches of light drizzle over the area. Unlike last week's sunny, placid conditions when I fished the beach with Anne & the gang, the day's surf was noticeably more agitated, but still fishable. A light southwest wind blew into the beach & kept the shoreline partially flooded into the minus tide. The water clarity was quite good, despite the increased wave action & surge produced by the building offshore swells accompanying the approaching storm system. I found more seaweed & other salad towards the west end of the beach. There were periods of calm, slackwater that kept the fish in the skinny portion of the surf for the first hour or so after I entered the suds:




With the increased aeration & turbulence of the surf, it seemed the fish were a little more active today than the last time while fishing the same period of the outgoing tide. Most of the fish were caught by allowing the flies (a triple of Slinky Seducers) to swing with the current & drift in the surfwash while maintaining tension in the line. I'd sometimes twitch the rod tip periodically to entice the fish into grabbing a fly. The day's catch included 5 BSP's, a redtail & a calico that were all released:


BSP


redtail


calico


Towards evening, I could hear the snorting calls of the bull elephant seals echo from the far west end of the beach. It's about that time of the year when it's probably best to stay clear of that side of Drake's Bay while the mammals congregate for their mating & birthing ritual over the next several months.


TL's

- Mark

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Wonderful post and pics.

I thought that summer was the surf perch time and I am excited you don't need an 8 weight outfit.

Thanks Mark

[Anne Vitale]

Thanks for the great report Mark. It looks like Drake's is still the beach to fish these days. I also noticed that all of the fish you pictured looked nice and healthy. If there was a pollution problem harming fish as Loren speculated, all of the perch of that size would show at least some physical deterioration. Predation is one thing, pollution is another. I can live with the predation (as long as I am not the intended target ).

I was also interested in how you fished for some of those beauties. Very clever . I hope to get out there to fish the incoming tide Saturday morning. Thanks again for the report. Gosh..those were very nice fish.......Anne

Besides summer, the winters can be an exciting time to venture into the suds whenever Ma-nature isn't unleashing her fury along the coast. The seas are forecast to be very lumpy with gusty winds blowing over the next few days (get the latest NOAA forecast for the coast between Pt. Arena & Pidgeon Point at: http://www.wrh.noaa.gov/mtr/getcwfzo...MTR&zone=PZ550):

PZZ550-050000-
/O.CON.KMTR.GL.W.0001.070104T2000Z-070105T1500Z/
/O.CON.KMTR.RB.Y.0001.070105T0000Z-070105T2000Z/
POINT ARENA TO PIGEON POINT TO 20 NM-
842 AM PST THU JAN 4 2007

...GALE WARNING REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM NOON PST TODAY THROUGH
FRIDAY MORNING...
...SMALL CRAFT ADVISORY FOR ROUGH BAR REMAINS IN EFFECT FROM 4 PM
PST THIS AFTERNOON THROUGH FRIDAY MORNING...

.TODAY...NW WINDS 10 TO 20 KT INCREASING TO 20 TO 30 KT WITH GUSTS
TO 35 KT IN THE AFTERNOON. WIND WAVES 3 TO 6 FT. NW SWELL 10 TO 13 FT
AT 16 SECONDS. SHOWERS.
.TONIGHT...N WINDS 25 TO 35 KT. COMBINED SEAS 15 TO 18 FT DOMINANT
PERIOD 16 SECONDS. SLIGHT CHANCE OF SHOWERS IN THE EVENING.
.FRI...N WINDS 20 TO 30 KT. WIND WAVES 4 TO 6 FT. NW SWELL 13 TO
16 FT AT 15 SECONDS.
.FRI NIGHT...NW WINDS 15 TO 25 KT. WIND WAVES 3 TO 5 FT. NW SWELL
12 TO 14 FT.
.SAT...NW WINDS 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT.
NW SWELL 12 TO 14 FT.
.SUN AND MON...NW WINDS 10 TO 20 KT. WIND WAVES 2 TO 4 FT.
NW SWELL 12 TO 14 FT.


.....SAN FRANCISCO BAR/FOURFATHOM BANK FORECAST.....

IN THE DEEP WATER CHANNEL...NORTHWEST SWELL 5 TO 7 FEET AT 13
SECONDS THIS MORNING BUILDING OVERNIGHT 10 TO 12 FEET.

ACROSS THE BAR...NORTHWEST SWELL 6 TO 8 FEET AT 13 SECONDS THIS MORNING
BUILDING TO 10 TO 12 FEET TONIGHT. BREAKERS OCCASIONALLY TO 13 FEET
DURING THE MAXIMUM EBB OF 2.7 KT 4:06 PM.


If anyone's planning to fish the surf this winter (or any other time of the year), I'd highly recommend wearing a personal floatation device (PFD). Get one if you don't already own a PFD - it's worth the investment.

Anne, the fish weren't into chasing fast-stripped flies in the skinny slackwater - as you discovered last week, they were mostly hitting drifting flies, often suspended off the bottom. I noticed your roll-casting method worked pretty well for you last time (you've got the touch!).


- Mark

[SteelieD]

Your report rock. Makes me want to move 'home'. As much time as I've spent on those beachs, I'm just sick that I never hit 'em with a fly rod!

Nice job!