BeachFishingJournal

The Monterey Peninsula Flycasters
Beach Fishing Journal

Editor’s Personal Beach Fishing Journal

I have not gone surf fishing in 2+ years. But when I start again, I doubt I will change much. Below is what I was doing 2 years ago...

My favorite gear setup is as follows:
Rod: SAGE #8 Xi2
Reel: ROSS Flywater #3
Line: #30 HiVis Green Suffix Elite Mono line (shooting line)
Head: a 28’ length of T11
Leader: ~4 ‘ of #20 Rio Saltwater
Flies: 3 fly rig of various flies, 2 looped to dropper loops

Here are some excellent references for Surf Perch fishing:
http://surf-perch.net/Fishing/index.html
http://www.zenflyfishing.com/
http://www.saltwatertides.com/dynamic.dir/californiasites.html

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I gave you a list of my favorite gear and web sites above. I copied this rigging setup from Mark Won’s page...The Triple Fly Club”! This is the setup I use as well...more flies, more fish... And yes, I have had triples!

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July 01, 2009 @ Rio del Mar Beach (low tide was to be around 4:00 AM, with high tide around 8AM).
Sam Bishop, a friend of mine and the current president of the Santa Cruz Flyfishermen club, and I hit Rio del Mar beach this morning at around 6AM. We were fishing an incoming tide. The fishing was slow. I had 4 grabs, one fish to hand. Sam landed 5. Nothing big though, all were around 5” barred perch. The fog was in and there were some big waves, but all in all it was fishable....the fish just weren’t around.

On the way out, I saw a small CA Sea Lion. Apparently this is happening a lot these days. There isn’t enough food for them, and many of the babies are getting sick. I called the animal rescue people when I got home. It’s kind of a double edged sword so to speak. I hate these darn things, but I hate to see any baby suffer either...

The tides are again in our favor for surf perch fishing (low tides in the morning). The moon phase is not what I prefer being it is full and I ‘think’ low or no moon is better for striper fishing, but the tides definitely make it worth a try.

Here are the tides for the next 14 days...

Tides for Monterey, Monterey Bay starting with July 5, 2009.
Day High Tide Height Sunrise Moon Time % Moon
/Low Time Feet Sunset Visible

Su 5 Low 4:42 AM -0.6 5:55 AM Set 4:13 AM 94
5 High 11:45 AM 3.6 8:29 PM Rise 7:38 PM
5 Low 3:27 PM 3.0
5 High 9:39 PM 5.8

M 6 Low 5:17 AM -0.6 5:55 AM Set 5:07 AM 97
6 High 12:17 PM 3.7 8:29 PM Rise 8:21 PM
6 Low 4:07 PM 2.9
6 High 10:15 PM 5.8

Tu 7 Low 5:50 AM -0.6 5:56 AM Set 6:04 AM 99
7 High 12:48 PM 3.8 8:29 PM Rise 8:58 PM
7 Low 4:46 PM 2.9
7 High 10:50 PM 5.7

W 8 Low 6:21 AM -0.5 5:57 AM Set 7:03 AM 99
8 High 1:17 PM 3.8 8:29 PM Rise 9:30 PM
8 Low 5:26 PM 2.9
8 High 11:25 PM 5.6

Th 9 Low 6:52 AM -0.4 5:57 AM Set 8:02 AM 97
9 High 1:46 PM 3.9 8:28 PM Rise 9:59 PM
9 Low 6:09 PM 2.8

F 10 High 12:01 AM 5.3 5:58 AM Set 9:00 AM 94
10 Low 7:21 AM -0.1 8:28 PM Rise 10:24 PM
10 High 2:16 PM 4.0
10 Low 6:57 PM 2.8

Sa 11 High 12:38 AM 4.9 5:58 AM Set 9:58 AM 89
11 Low 7:50 AM 0.2 8:28 PM Rise 10:49 PM
11 High 2:46 PM 4.2
11 Low 7:52 PM 2.7

Su 12 High 1:20 AM 4.5 5:59 AM Set 10:56 AM 82
12 Low 8:19 AM 0.5 8:27 PM Rise 11:13 PM
12 High 3:16 PM 4.4
12 Low 8:56 PM 2.5

M 13 High 2:11 AM 4.0 6:00 AM Set 11:56 AM 74
13 Low 8:49 AM 1.0 8:27 PM Rise 11:38 PM
13 High 3:48 PM 4.6
13 Low 10:09 PM 2.2

Tu 14 High 3:19 AM 3.4 6:00 AM Set 12:57 PM 65
14 Low 9:20 AM 1.4 8:26 PM
14 High 4:24 PM 4.9
14 Low 11:26 PM 1.7

W 15 High 4:51 AM 3.0 6:01 AM Rise 12:06 AM 55
15 Low 9:57 AM 1.9 8:26 PM Set 2:02 PM
15 High 5:04 PM 5.2

Th 16 Low 12:37 AM 1.1 6:02 AM Rise 12:39 AM 45
16 High 6:42 AM 2.9 8:25 PM Set 3:10 PM
16 Low 10:42 AM 2.3
16 High 5:51 PM 5.6

F 17 Low 1:39 AM 0.4 6:02 AM Rise 1:17 AM 34
17 High 8:18 AM 3.0 8:25 PM Set 4:20 PM
17 Low 11:43 AM 2.6
17 High 6:42 PM 6.0

Sa 18 Low 2:33 AM -0.3 6:03 AM Rise 2:05 AM 24
18 High 9:26 AM 3.3 8:24 PM Set 5:29 PM
18 Low 12:51 PM 2.8
18 High 7:35 PM 6.3

Here’s the site I use to get tide and moon phase info
http://www.saltwatertides.com/cgi-local/california.cgi

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May 27, 2009 @ San Gregorio Beach (low tide was to be around 7:50 AM, with only an 8% moon tonight)
I hit San Gregorio beach early this morning. San Gregorio is about 11 miles south of Half Moon Bay.

I arrived about 4:50...too dark, so I stayed in my car for a while. I thought it was going to take me longer to get there...

I made my way to the beach around 5:30.

The waves were on the big side, but fishable. They were strong, had lots of force to them, and San Gregorio Beach has a steep drop off, so you can't wade in far. I have fished here before but I felt more comfortable this time, I finally broke down and set up my inflatable life vest and wore it!

A low tide of -1.6' was going to be around 7:50AM, there was only an 8% moon, and it was foggy. I had high hopes.

When I walked up to the water, I was amazed. Almost the entire beach looked fishable. The whole place looked like one big hole, or a trough that stretched the length of the beach as far as I could see to the north. It looked awesome.

I made a cast, nothing, moved a few steps up the beach, cast...nothing...repeat... Until I finally found the end of the hole. Moved up the beach, fished another large hole...nothing. And so it went for a while...finally at 6:18 I felt a light tug...kept stripping, another tug...did I have one on? If so, it was a small one...kept stripping...as I got the head into the rod tip and lifted the rod...yepp, there was a small Silver Perch on. OK, no skunk. Landed a Barred Perch on the very next cast! OK I'm thinking, here we go...

Well, I thought too soon. That was it for a while. I fished the hole for another 15 or 20 minutes covering the entire hole well, but no more tugs. So, up the beach I move to the next hole, and the next, and the next...got another grab..another Barred Perch. Fished my way thru the hole...no more grabs. Up the beach to the next hole...got another Barred Perch, but again only 1.

Then I found this absolutely beautiful hole...looked like a Cul de Sac running parallel to the shoreline...you could see the sand bank coming out and behind the hole and it was easy to see the trough where the water came/went. I fished the heck out of this hole, covered it from all angles and not 1 grab.

Moved up the beach and found another one of these Cul de Sacs...same thing...no grabs.

I found another beautiful long trough that looked just perfect and fished it to death...no grabs.

It was now about 7:45 and low tide was evident...the current seemed to change and was pushing to the north now, and coincidentally, the wind picked up coming from the south. I decided to work my way back down the beach and hit the holes again on the way back...and man, they looked great...but no more grabs. Ended with 4 small 6" or so perch...

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May 16, 2009 @ Palm Beach (low tide was to be around 11 AM, with a 60% moon last night)
3 friends joined me at Palm Beach today. We arrived around 6 AM and fished until a bit after 8 AM. It was a beautiful morning, and as I expected, the holes were well defined and easy to spot. The waves were larger than I would have liked, but still it was fishable. Typically, we like low tide n the AM. I like to fish thru the low tide. And most beaches have well defined holes with a negative ow tide. But from what I have observed at Palm Beach, a negative low tide is too low and at that point the holes are high and dry. So, I figured today would be perfect since low tide wasn’t until 11 AM. And I was right, the holes were perfect, except for the fact there were no fish in them... 4 of us fishing, and not 1 single tug....but never get discouraged...that’s why they call it fishing and not catching.

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May 13, 2009 @ Rio Del Mar Beach (low tide was around 8:30 AM)
I arrived around 6 AM. The water looked perfect! The waves were small and the holes well defined. The swell/current was coming from the NW as usual. And there was no wind to speak of. OK, I figured it was going to be a good day.

I had to cast at a 45 degree angle to the shore line north of me so that my line would be where I wanted it by the time it reached the bottom. By the time I counted to 15, my line was straight out in front of me...where I wanted it....then slow retrieves, and by the time the head loop was in the rod, the line was at a 45 degree angle to the shore line to the south of me.

I fished for 2 hours and only landed 1 small Barred perch, the size of my hand.

Still, it was a beautiful morning at the beach.

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May 11, 2009 @ Beer Can Beach (low tide was around 5:55 PM)
I arrived around 4:00 PM. The water/waves were NOT nice, but I gave it a go anyway.

Today, the waves were not nice. The tide was perfect, but the waves were too big, too many and too close to each other.

The waves were 2 to 4 feet high, one on top of the other...sometimes building on each other going 5 feet high. They were breaking virtually at the shore line. I couldn't get into the water very far at all as the waves were breaking in so close, and sometimes behind me even though I was only out 10 feet or so from dry sand. There were 3 to 5 waves per set, separated sometimes by no more than 5 feet. And the sets were only 5 to 7 seconds apart at the most. It was nuts!

I was able to reach the holes none the less. I was using 30# High Vis Suffix Elite mono line to shoot a 28' T11, with a short leader, and 3 flies. So I was casting at least 80', but no fish. The holes weren't out that far since it was low tide, but because of the waves, the water in close was all churned up...so I cast to the backside of the holes and way out into the channels...but no fish...not one single tug...

All that said, it was a beautiful afternoon at the beach...I could think of worse things to be doing... :)

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May 9, 2009 @ Rio Del Mar Beach (low tide was around 5:45 AM)
I arrived around 5:00 AM but it was still dark. I was joined by my friend Jim Knecht shortly thereafter. We took our time getting ready and started fishing around 5:45. I landed my first fish, a nice Barred Perch pretty quickly, maybe my 6th cast. And not long after, maybe 10 casts, I landed a double. It slowed down after that and didn’’t get another tug for at least an hour. I finally got a 4th, and maybe a half hour later got one more making it 5. I had one more tug after that but missed it. 3 of the fish were Barred and 2 were Silver Surf Perch.

There were loads of people fishing the beach that morning.... I met members from the Santa Cruz, Peninsula & Diablo Valley Fly Fishing clubs.

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