Close Call: A Wild Day of Surfperch Fishing

You’re probably wondering, “Hmmm, Close Call: A Wild Day of Surfperch Fishing… why the aesthetically pleasing picture of a bird over a gorgeous sunset?”. You’ll just have to trust me on this one as it’ll all make sense later. I promise.

The Back Story

I arrived at the beach like I would any other day, scoped out my spot, assessed the conditions and started rigging up. I was excited to get out there for my first session of 2022 and I had something other than my own pleasure to fish for.

About a month back, I entered a local surf fishing tournament put on via a small group of guys that would last the entire 2022 winter season. There were numerous stipulations, a main event and multiple side pots. I decided to enter for what I knew best, surfperch and halibut. And since yellowfin croaker was an option as well, I decided to enter for that one too. For all intents and purposes, the event would last all of winter and the biggest fish per species-pot would win.

Conditions

It was January 8th, 2022 and the ocean looked beautiful.

• Session Duration: 1:45pm – 5pm
• High Tide: (4.1ft at 1:19pm)
• Low Tide: (0.7ft at 7:57pm)
• Surf Prediction: 1-2ft
• Surf Observation: 1-2ft
• Lunar Data: Waxing Crescent at 32%
• Current mild back and forth
• Sunrise: 6:51am
• Sunset: 5:00pm

My bait selection for the day would include mussel meat, lucky crafts, and Keitech swimbaits with Warbaits weedless heads.

A Nice Start

I started with mussel meat and planned to swap to lures eventually. About 30 minutes into the session, I had a really nice feel for the structure that was out there. I focused my time on a nearby rock that was showing some deep water to the left of it every time the water would start to recede. Sure enough, I got a quick bite that surprised me. Whatever took my bait on that one got the best of me, so I put a new chunk of mussel on my hook and placed my cast once more. Only a couple minutes later, I feel a bite, set the hook and soon enough, she’s on the sand. A nice 13.5-inch barred surfperch and a mark I was pretty happy with for my first surfperch of 2022.

After landing one more surfperch in the same spot, I made a move to another nearby hole. A few minutes of soaking and I feel some nibbles and set the hook… into a rock. Don’t get too excited though, that wasn’t a metaphor. I literally set my hook into a rock. At least that’s what I thought. I spent a couple minutes applying steady tension along with some sporadic quick jerks to see if I could get my rig back without breaking off and having to retie. Finally, I popped my rig away from whatever was out there and to my surprise, I reeled in a small yellowfin croaker. I really would have loved to see what happened from an under water perspective on that one.

The Calm Before the Storm

As the bite lulled, I decided I’d try my luck with the Lucky Craft FM 110. It took me a total of maybe 10 casts for me to give up on that one as there were just too many loose pieces of grass and kelp in the water for the lure to run properly. This factor is one of the many reasons I’m really enjoying the option of working a weedless swimbait. When the conditions are too weedy for a jerkbait, weedless swimbaits will likely work just fine. Read more about jerkbaits vs. swimbaits here.

After swapping the LC for the swimbait, I switched back to my Carolina rig set-up and decided I’d finish off the remaining mussel meat before committing to halibut with my swimbait. Below, you’ll find my set up that I use for a Carolina rig:

• Rod: Okuma Celilo (8’6″ MA) or the Okuma SST (8’6″ MA)
• Reel: Penn Battle II or III 4000 series
• Mainline: 15-pound monofilament
• For Bait: Carolina Rig:
  • Leader Line: 15-pound fluorocarbon
  • Swivels: 15-19mm barrel swivels
  • Hooks: size #2 or #4 owner mosquito hooks
  • Weights: 1-oz egg weight
  • Beads: 8mm fishing beads
• For Lures: Lucky Craft FM 110 and Shimano WM 115 SP
• Other best surf fishing rods and best surf fishing reels

It took a little bit of time, but the fish eventually began to feed again. In reference to how tides affect fishing, the tide for this session was getting a little low for my liking at this spot, and I was running out of room. I noticed another deep hole in front of a rock that was pretty close-in to shore and I placed my bait there. A few seconds later, I got slammed for another 13-incher!

Now down to my last few chunks of mussel meat, and that short cast revelation turned out to be a one-and-done for me. I noticed the current was pulling left now ever-so-slightly, and I liked the way the water looked toward the back/left-end of the same rock. So, I threw it just a touch further on the backside of the same rock and let my bait drift into position. What happened next was the beginnings of my wild day.

An Absolute Monster

To this point, my biggest surfperch was a 15.5-incher and I’d been lucky enough to hit that mark a handful of times. I knew surfperch didn’t get much bigger than that, but at the same time, I knew they got a little bigger.

As I’m letting my bait do its thing, I focus on keeping tension through the current and the surf. Just as a wave passes through my line, I feel a quick “tap… tap-tap-tap-tap!” and in stride, I set the hook. Surfperch, even the biggest of them (in my experience) don’t really go on large or long runs. At times, they try to bring you back down into rocks or troughs, and other times, they give a couple head shakes and slowly work their way horizontally. If they’re small, they just come right in, but that’s not the point here.

Whatever I set into here wasn’t fighting like a surfperch, if I had to bet, I would have thought either a good-sized spotfin croaker, or a massive yellowfin croaker. Given the season though, I was pretty set on it being either a massive surfperch or a massive yellowfin croaker and one way or another, I was right.

After multiple runs and some music from my reel, I finally had it in close. Before I could confirm what it was, I saw the shape fall onto its side as the water became too shallow for the fish’s abnormally tall frame. It was the biggest surfperch I’d ever seen in person! Right at the 16-inch mark, this was now my new personal best.

Ever Hooked A Bird?

At this point, I was pretty content with the session. I didn’t have much faith I’d beat the mark I just laid down, but I had a few chunks of mussel left so I kept at it. I was getting a little too confident with my casts and it was only a matter of time before my rig got snagged in some sort of underwater structure. That was the end of that rig. Although I had one more mussel chunk left, I wasn’t going to tie another rig just for that one chunk.

Since my other set-up was ready to go with a Keitech swimbait with a Warbaits weedless jighead I took that rod in hand and made my way back to the water. The tide was definitely getting a little low at this point, but I was pretty confident in my swimbait not getting snagged even with all the structure. I spent all day reading the surf through the tidal change and I dialed in on a lane of sand between multiple rocks/reef, and that was where I’d start. I had a plan for my next few casts as well, but I didn’t end up needing it.

My lure landed at the edge of the lane, about 15 feet beyond a bird that had been cruising back and forth, and occasionally diving down and resurfacing. I’ve thrown lures around these birds countless times and I guess at this point, I just assume they’re smarter than the fish I’m after. I mean, I’ve had seagulls and other flying birds dive down at my lure before, and I’ve had other bird encounters that are worth mentioning another time, but this bird was essentially sitting on the water’s surface. I’ve never had any issues with such birds (especially in this kind of scenario).

I Might Have Just Hooked a Bird

As my lure crosses underneath this “sitting duck”, the bird disappears, diving in the direction of my lure. In about the amount of time it would have taken the bird to reach my lure, my lure gets annihilated!

Instead of excitement and adrenaline flowing through my veins, my heart sinks and I’m scared I’ve hooked a bird.

The two reasons I was convinced I’d hooked the bird were one, the timing was perfect. And, two, it didn’t feel like a halibut and I was sure no surfperch could fit a 4/0 Warbaits jighead in it’s mouth so surfperch was off the table.

As I settled into the fight, I felt sporadic head shakes, but it didn’t feel as violent as I would have thought an angry bird might feel. After a few seconds, I hadn’t seen any splashes, nor had the bird surfaced. I was starting to become hopeful. It was all one big blur, but somehow, some way, this tank of a surfperch gobbled up a 4.8-inch swimbait with a 4/0 hook! While it wasn’t as long as the first surfperch (short by maybe a quarter inch), it was much stouter and taller. And it had certainly been eating well.

What A Day

It was a phenomenal day to say the least, and one I’ll remember for a lifetime. I don’t expect to catch another surfperch on a swimbait of that size, but I’m certainly open to it. Below, you’ll find the measurement of the first big surfperch and if you haven’t subscribed to the blog yet, take the time to do so at the bottom of this page.