FishwithJD

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Beach Popper Tips??

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Hi JD, I am new your site and wanted to ask you about the surf fishing for striped bass in or around Santa Cruz/ New Brighton Beach. I noticed on your site you said to uses poppers in the morning and swim baits later in the day. If you think the surf fishing is still good at these locations, can you expand on what the poppers are and how to use them for this area.

–Jim T.

Jim,

I’ll do a complete post on popper fishing later this fall on the site, but for now I’ll run the Cliff’s Notes by ya….

You’ll need a 9+ foot rod (spinning or casting) with 30-pound braided line on it. Grab some poppers like Cordell Pencil Poppers and head for the surf. Cast to holes between the breaks.

With your rod tip held high (to keep the line off the water) twitch the tip with your rod hand and reel with your other. You want the popper to pop and spit. When a fish blows up on it, let him take it down…wait until you feel the whole weight of the fish before you set the hook.

Good luck!

Which Hot Shot Rod?

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JD-

I’m looking for a new Hot Shot rod. Was looking to add to the HSR collection but forgot that the 930 is spinning only. Wanting to keep things light, what do you think about the HS 795C from Rogue or the Lamiglas G 1336 T. The Lamilgas seems a little short at 7’6″ and I’m not sure what ” Flame Tip” means? What’s your take?

Thanks, Derik

Hey Derik,

A sweet little number for plugging steelies with small plugs is the XCF801 from Lamiglas. It’s 8 feet long and rated for 6-15 pound line. The coolest thing about this rod, however, is the fact that it’s fiberglass. Glass is truly the way to go with plug rods — you get much better plug action and tip “readability” with glass, plus hooks stay buried better…which, of course, is always a huge plus when you’re plug fishing!

And this isn’t your granpapy’s old clunky glass, either. Modern manufacturing processes make it much lighter and thinner than in the old days… Check out ’em out at: monsterfishingtackle

OR Bills to Boost Salmon/Steelhead Populations

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1river2You’ve got to hand it to Oregon for being proactive. In an day and age when salmon and steelhead populations can use all the help they can get, the Oregon State Senate just passed two key pieces of legislation — Senate Bills 472 and 545– that will create larger and healthier anadramous fish populations in the state’s rivers. Click here to read more…