Sight Casting for Spotfin Croaker: An Unbelievable Experience

The bite is definitely picking up as the waters have warmed and remain warm. The summertime bite could turn on at any moment now and I definitely got my taste of it this last week with a nice spotfin while sight casting! Additionally, sand crabs are making their first appearances up and down the coast of So Cal! I hit 4 different beaches this week, and two of them had sand crabs. Regardless of my early-week lack of productivity, yesterday (Saturday) evening turned that around for me.

Conditions

The surf height was a predicted 3-4 feet while the real conditions were more like 4-5 with some really far rollers. Water temp was listed at 60-62 degrees Fahrenheit and I fished an incoming tide from 3 pm to 8 pm (0 feet at 3:17 pm) and (5.5 feet at 9:29 pm). The current wasn’t bad by any means, but it was deceivingly choppy with many changes in direction.

Sand Crabs

The day prior (Friday), I had made my way to a different beach with a friend of mine and we were fortunate enough to find sand crabs of the perfect size and even some a little too big. This time… a little different. At first, there were no signs of sand crabs. But, I was determined having known they had shown up at a few beaches. It took some time, but I managed to find a couple here and there and finally, I stumbled upon a really good bed. I was lucky to find a few the size of my pinky nail, but I was happy to use them.

Sight Casting

We began the day with a couple missed fish and a yellowfin croaker for each of us, and then, as sunset approached, the action or “activity” (I should say) really picked up. We began to see loads of huge spotfin cruising the shallows scouring for sand crabs. I kid you not, a couple times, as a wave would wash ashore, I’d see up to 6 spotfin in a single wash. From about 6 pm through sunset, we’d see fish at least every five minutes in the wash. Here and there, we’d even see their tails pop out of the water as they put their heads down and sucked up sand crabs.

While absolutely awesome to witness, not one of them was interested in our baits… neither sand crabs nor mussel meat. Every once in a while, I’d feel a “bite”, but I wouldn’t be surprised if I was just feeling them swim over my line.

All this time, I would watch where they would appear, cast behind them (where they would “recede” to), and hope they’d find my bait on the way out as I didn’t want my bait to be literally out of the water at any point. But, I thought to myself, “if they’re feeding up top here, even if my bait would be exposed on the sand half the time, that’s where they’re gunna bite”. So, I started casting closer and closer and before I really committed to the ultra shallow (casting onto the sand) technique, I got lucky.

A Monster in the Shallows

I see a group of spotfin consistently feeding directly in front of me so I cast just past where they’re feeding. I probably would have had more success if I had casted directly where I’d seen them feeding, but hey, lesson learned. Anyways, my bait’s in a solid place and I see them come up again, exactly where they were the wave prior. They’re tails flop up out of the water as they feed on tiny crabs, and they turn around heading toward my bait. I must have put my bait right where they would recede to (with the wave) just before they’d get ready to come up and feed again because it felt like they had already passed my bait by the time I felt a bite.

I feel a subtle nibble…nibble…nibble-nibble, and I set into it! I’m on and he absolutely takes off! It felt like an eternity trying to make any progress. For how shallow I hooked him, he did a really good job of staying out there while using the current and wave-action to his advantage. But, finally, I worked him onto the sand, saw its size, and freaked out a little bit. At 23-inches in length, this spotfin croaker had some shoulders on it! A quick pic and measurement and back into the water he went.

Shallow Perch

For the rest of the day, I casted shallower and shallower, and in some cases, I casted directly onto the sand in front of where I’d see them feeding. It worked well, but for some reason, all I was getting was tiny surf perch. Either way, it was fun as heck and a really nice taste of the summertime season to come… spotfin might be set for another epic season.

I almost forgot to mention, I got footage of the fight and put the video up on YouTube.

Gear and Tackle Used:

• 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

Surf Fishing Forecast

The surf should remain relatively calm, but still not the 1-2’s that should come in the summertime. The upcoming week (4/12) will be cooler relative to the past week, but by the end of the week, it looks like we’ll get another minor heat wave which could help the water temp up another degree or two.

Aside from the water temp possibly creeping up and helping the summertime bite along, look for this week’s grunion run to add to the bite. 4/12, 4/13, 4/14, and 4/15 have predicted runs. Remember that these are observation only, so you can fish through them and watch, but you cannot take the grunion nor use them as bait.