I’ll Never Know What I Hooked That Day

“Many men go fishing all of their lives without knowing that it is not fish they are after.” – Henry David Thoreau

It was June 5th, 2018 and I remember the entire day like it was yesterday. I woke up around 8:00 am, made some breakfast, packed my gear into the car and I was out of the house by 9:15 am. Before I could hit the sand, I had one thing to do. Don’t ask me how or why I remember all this stuff, but I do. It was voting day for the county primary. I made a quick stop and I was off.

My buddy, Kyle had already told me he wasn’t going to make it out today but I decided to give him a call anyway. He confirmed he wouldn’t be able to make it and that was that. I arrived at the beach around 10:30 am and began my walk to the trusted spot. Parking was lucky and quick (as usual) so we were good on time.

Just for some reference, I’ve kept logs of all my sessions since 2017, but as time has gone on, they’ve become much more detailed. So, the log I have for this session is pretty vague. For whatever reason though, I remember everything so vividly that day. Here’s all I had to jot my memory:

On The Sand

As I walked along the beach to my predetermined spot, I scanned for sand crabs and all I could see were the super tiny ones. Upon arrival, I set my gear up and really started looking for bait. No difference. These things were tiny but it’s all I had so it would have to do. I filled my bottle with my limit of 50 (ballpark) and strolled south a little bit.

I piled 3 tiny crabs crabs on my hook and threw my first cast… stuck on a rock. At this point, I recall being frustrated. I snapped off and had to retie my line. Things weren’t looking great. As I got my bait back into the water, the frustration would subside. The next 2-hours were non-stop with yellowfin croaker and barred surfperch hitting every other cast. Somewhere in there, I even landed a lobster! All safely released to fight another day.

I wasn’t in any rush and I was having an absolute blast. So, when the bite slowed a little bit, I didn’t hesitate to sit back and crack open some snacks as I took in the ocean and the beautiful weather. When I picked up the rod again, the bite had cooled off significantly. I took the time to search for some better-sized crabs but no luck there. No complaints so far though as these little guys were getting the job done. I was in double-digit numbers in under a couple of hours!

The Bite Every Angler Waits For

I strolled north a little bit and gave it some time. What happened next was unexpected but unforgettable.

I’ve got my rod in a good position with four sand crabs on my hook. All of which were smaller than I would have ever used prior to today. As I await some action, it happens. I feel a quick couple of taps and wham! As soon as the fish takes, the drag ticker is absolutely screaming. My rod tip dips and dives a couple times and I know it’s not a ray.

It continues on a good run for maybe 15-seconds. One quick rest and he goes on another one! I’m letting my drag do its job, but I’m watching my line quickly disappear off my spool. Its’s time to tighten my drag. Still, it’s running! My heart is pounding and I start freaking out a little.

I’d hooked a 5-foot leopard on sand crabs before, but whatever this was had a lot more energy and/or power than that fish. I see my line capacity really start to dwindle so I tighten the drag once more and try to move a little closer to the water to gain any advantage I can. Just as I step forward, “snap”, I’m off. “EHHRRRRRRRR!!!” Unbelievable. At that point, I had a little bit of a crowd. I mean, you didn’t even have to see the bend. If you had ears that worked, you’d have known something crazy was on the other end of my line.

A Little Redemption

All morning/afternoon, croaker and perch were an easy catch, but at this point, anything was tough to come by. I spent the next hour hoping for a yellowfin croaker or a barred surfperch for cutbait. I reasoned that whatever had taken sand crabs would easily (and more likely) take on cut bait, so that was my goal. It took some time, but I finally got my yellow. I chopped it up, put the head on a hook, and threw it out there.

This was the year before I started taking surf fishing really seriously. I was using Walmart shark rigs and I didn’t have any sort of rod holder. So, I stood there, thinking, pondering, waiting, going over the possibilities of the bummer that had been the earlier miss. Was it a shark? What about a white seabass? Or a striper? Maybe something completely unheard of! You literally never know!

It was getting late now and I had to get back to the car to meet my girlfriend for ice cream. But, you know how the whole “one more cast works. I stuck it out and just before 6:00 pm, I felt it! A couple of big taps and a drag screamer! Again, a crowd began forming as the fish took me down the beach. It wasn’t quite as big as what I’d hooked earlier, but it was solid for sure. I got her on the sand and looked back at how far I’d moved down the beach. Luckily a couple of guys who were in the military were taking a stroll down the beach were kind enough to snap a pic for me and send it my way.

My Gear for Sharks Below

• Rod: Fiblink Moonsniper (12 or 13 feet)
• Reel: Penn Battle 6000 or 8000 (II or III)
• Mainline: 50-pound braid
• Top shot: 100-pound nylon coated mono
• Shark Rig: (Buy Here)
  • Wire: AFW 90 lb Nylon Coated Wire Leader Line
  • Hooks: 7/0 Circles
  • Swivel: 3-Way Barrel Swivel
  • Crimps: AFW #6 Crimps
  • Weight: 8-ounce pyramid or 6-ounce sputnik

What A Day

That was enough for me to call it a day, so I packed up and made my way back to the car. Still haunted by whatever monster broke me off, I called my girlfriend and explained to her why I’d been so late and the type of unforgettable day I’d had. Just before I reached the parking section, I hear, “that’s the guy!… he caught a fricken shark. You’re a beast bro!”. I smiled and gave them a wave as I looked forward to unwinding with some ice cream later.

The longer you fish the surf, the crazier it gets. To this day, I still think the ones that I’ve lost have had the biggest impact on me and my fishing endeavors. I explain this mentality well in my past article: A Fish’s Worth: Inside The Mind of a Fisherman.

Surf Fishing Report and Forecast 8/28/21 – Below

Before you guys read the forecast for the upcoming week of surf fishing, here’s my latest YouTube video. I finally complied enough footage to make a leopard shark fishing “how to” video. Enjoy!

We’re entering September but the bite’s shown no signs of slowing (for me). I think one thing that’s really worth noting here is the surf conditions. With surf fishing, the conditions are one thing, but the seasons are another. The early through mid portion of this summer season offered some pretty harsh conditions between surf height, currents, and seaweed. It really wasn’t until late July that the surf started looking like our typical easy-going summer here in So Cal.

This next week is predicted to be some of the lowest surf we’ve had this summer and I’m looking forward to another hot bite. After water temps popped back up to the 70-degree mark, they’ve recently tapered off (just a little) back down to the 67-69F range. That’s nothing for us to worry about as we head into the week.

Days to Fish/Not to Fish

I can’t say there’s any day this week that would be bad for fishing. If I had to choose one, Sunday looks to have the “roughest” surf. But it shouldnt be more than 3-feet at most beaches so not a big deal. If I had to choose the most appealing days, I’d look for Tuesday-Thursday (but literally every day this week looks fantastic) simply as it’s the lowest average predicted surf across the board. You’ve also got a nice tidal set occuring. If you like fishing a rising tide, I’d recommend Wednesday-Saturday as the mornings and the evenigs line up really well.

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