Grunion Galore and a Last Cast Ghost
In the world of a fisherman, what does the term “last cast” really mean? Is it actually your literal last cast of the day? Is it your last cast into a certain zone before moving down the beach? Maybe it’s what you tell your wife when she calls wondering where you are and when you’ll be home. The last cast is a mystery, but let’s be honest… it’s best that way.
These last few weeks have offered two… actually three instances in which I was grateful for having thrown my one last cast just a few more times after the first “last cast”. Here’s the first one.
The Story of the Session
A couple of grunion runs ago, I went out with a buddy with hopes of catching seabass and halibut during the grunion run. We checked the predictions for the 2023 grunion run (check this schedule for when the next rub is), planned our outing and hit the sand. Upon arrival, conditions looked good. A little kelpy, but nothing we couldn’t fish through.
Through the first hour of the predicted grunion run, only a couple “scouts” could be seen darting back into the water after an occasional large receding wave. Meanwhile, the bite was slow.
If you’re curious about fishing during grunion runs, check out the linked article and be sure to read one of my recent articles on predicting when the grunion run and which night of the grunion run is best.
Gear and Tackle Used
I was using the following rod and reel and for my lure, I was using a Keitech Fat Swing Impact paired with a Mustad KVD Grip Pin Swimbait hook (5/0 | 1/8 oz) via the Texas Rig – see the links below in the lure options.
- Rod: Okuma SST-S-902HA – 1/2-2oz | 10-30lb | 9ft | H | MF
- Reel: Penn Spinfisher VI (3500 or 4500)
- Main Line: 30-pound braid
- Leader Line: 30-pound mono
- Lure Options:
The Grunion Show
A little more than an hour in and the grunion began to show up in numbers. Before we knew it, they were literally everywhere! One problem though. Where were the fish? Still no bites yet, and as tempting as it was, we couldn’t use the grunion for bait. We were limited to using lures because grunion are observational only during the months of April, May, and June.
It was nearly 1 AM and I had decided my night was over. I gave it a go and the fish were seemingly not here or not biting at least. It’s funny. On any given day, an angler’s mentality, confidence and persistence are at different levels. On this night, my buddy had more of all of those things. While I packed up my gear, preparing to leave and get some sleep, he continued casting.
I actually stood there for about 5 minutes, fully packed up, watching him cast as I waited for his final “last cast”, until I decided to drop my bag and give it one more cast. I’m glad I did too, because a couple seconds later, I got slammed by something nice!
The Fight
“I’m on! I’m on! I say.
My buddy asks, is it taking drag? Is it nice? It looks nice.
It sure felt nice. After a couple good runs, I had the fish in close but there was a deep trough where the surf was washing ashore and every time I tried to beach it with a wave, the fish would turn and use the trough to its advantage. One final wave would do it though as she washed ashore. Nothing crazy but a white seabass at 26 inches to beat the skunk felt nice.
Apologies for the terrible photo. We were in a hurry to get the fish back into the water.
Of course, I can’t honestly say that was my last cast because after that fish… why would any angler stop fishing. Where there’s one, there are many. So, we continued casting and long story short, we eventually called it with no further luck.
The next two last casts that I was grateful for making occurred on the same day of a session earlier this week. It was halibut madness! Stay tuned, I’ll have to tell you about that next week.
