JD, I just moved to southern California and I looking for fishing suggestions at the beaches. I got no problem with getting wet, was even thinking about a kayak. What do you think?
–Damon
Well, there’s some pretty darned good perch, corbina and croaker fishing to be had on the beach right around the Santa Monica Pier if you can believe that. It’s more of a summer thing, but you can get halibut there too. Just north of Malibu are some nice beaches and Leo Carillo is always good. If y ou get a kayak, head for Newport Harbor/Balboa Island for some sweet sand bass action on plastics. Good luck!
Sometimes you’ve just got to get back to the basics. You know — ditch the boat, the 50-pound tackle boxes and $20 baits and keep things simple. Grab a rod, throw some terminal gear into a box that fits in your pocket and head for the water.
That’s precisely what Reilly and I just did…we hit some Nor Cal beaches for redtail surf perch last week for a couple days — and I have to say we both had a blast. Here’s a little photo essay of the mission. If you get fired up and want to try it on your own, check out my little how-to article Light Tackle Surf Perch. Otherwise, sit back and check out the pix… [click to continue…]
So, we had a little family camping trip down near Santa Cruz last week, so, of course I had to bring a rod (or 10). A quick call to my pal Mike Baxter, all-around S.C. ocean fishing guru and host of the Let’s Go Fishing Radio Show told me that there was a pretty good shot at getting a striper or two…and maybe a halibut…off the area beaches.
I’ve caught stripers in the rivers, bay, inland lakes and even in the surf from a partyboat, but never while standing on the sand…so the whole concept sounded cool to me! I grabbed a box of poppers and swimbaits and the closest thing I have to a surf rod and headed to the beach.
Well, you know the story of best laid plans and all. It was a family vacation with boo-koo kids running around, so fishing time was very limited. [click to continue…]
by JD on December 19, 2008
The wife and I are headed to Maui and Honolulu for Christmas get together with her family. I’ve seen that in past trips you caught reef fish on Kastmasters and such. What kind of gear and licensing do I need to bring to sneak away from the in-laws and catch some fish?
Word! –Sabs
Yo, DJ Sab-A-Loooow,
I just took a 7-foot trout rod with 6-pound test and some 1/4-ounce Kastmasters one year. This summer, I had a ball with white Flukes for larger meat-eating critters and then slow-crawled Carolina-rigged Berkley GULP! Sandworms for all sorts of interesting fish. Take several bags as many of those reef fish have teeth!
As fas as the license goes, I looked all over the internet and asked the sporting goods person at Wal Mart over there and couldn’t find anything about needing a license while shore fishing in the ocean. You for sure need one in freshwater, though…
by JD on September 8, 2008
JD, my wife and I are headed for Baja’s East Cape next month for a little vacation. While it’s possible I’ll get out on a panga one day, this really is more of a relaxation trip, not a fishing trip. However, when the wife’s getting a tan, is there any shore casting I can do off the beach?
Thanks, Terry M.
Yes!!Beach fishing down there is awesome! I’m not sure if the roosterfish bite is happening at the moment, but if you don’t mind just catching “stuff,” you’ll have a blast! All kinds of critters cruise the beach (especially in the mornings) and you can go too wrong with tossing iron like Kastmasters and Krocodiles or soft plastics like Fish Traps. Take a few wire leaders with you in case you run across some sierra.
Spring’s here and that means it’s surf perch time all up and down the West Coast. From Baja to Washington State, these little bad boys will congregate along sandy beaches and you can have a ball catching them on light gear.
Here’s how to do it…
[click to continue…]
