What I’ve Learned About Surf Fishing

It’s great to think about how much you know about surf fishing, but it’s crazy to think of how much you don’t know. Today, I wanted to take the time to write about a few of the things that I’ve begun to grasp within the past couple of years: What I’ve Learned About Surf Fishing. With anything, learning comes naturally if one continuously practices whatever sport, job, hobby, or task at hand. Surf fishing is no different.

But, no matter how much knowledge and experience I gain about surf fishing, I’ll never know it all. In fact, if I do it right, I should be pondering new questions as quickly as I accrue knowledge within the subject. And to be clear, within the sport of fishing, getting a “grasp” of a concept is more so – finding a possible pattern and speculating why that pattern might be. I don’t think much in the world of fishing is set-in-stone, or known to be true by anyone (aside from pure biological facts). But here’s a quick summary of my newest speculations as of 2021:

• Barred surfperch might bite best in the warmer part of the day (during colder months).
• Fishbites work well for croaker, but surfperch don’t go crazy for them.
• Lucky Craft success picks up with the surfperch spawn.
• Of the winter baits I’ve used, mussel meat is #1.

Barred Surfperch and the Mid-day Bite

This theory came up because of some relatively low water temps we’ve had this winter. I believe the water temp is colder than our surfperch and even halibut prefer.

My theory: Since the water temp has remained colder than these fish prefer, the perch have remained inactive during the colder parts of the day. When the sun begins to warm the water in the late-morning through the early-afternoon, they start to get active and feed.

I’ve noticed a pattern of a somewhat reliable first few casts, a lull in the action, and then a burst toward the mid-day. Around 10 am we usually see an uptick in the bite and we’ll start catching fish again. Here’s my report that spurred the theory.

Fishbites are Great for Croaker but Just OK for Others Species

Last year I came across an artificial bait by the name of “Fishbites”. [For reference, I am referring purely to the following colors: EZ Flea Orange/White, Bag O’worms Red and Bag’oworms Red/Chartreuse] I have to admit, I was skeptical at first as their appearance wasn’t very convincing. I tried ’em out and man! They work for sure! I haven’t a doubt in my mind that these things work when it comes to catching yellowfin croaker and spotfin croaker. But, it seems it has a target fish, it’s good with that target, and that’s that. I’ve caught corbina with good success and I know of people who have caught perch on them, but for the most part, they catch croaker and they catch them well.

Croaker vs Drum… A Croaker is a Drum

It makes sense, as the company that manufactures Fishbites is Florida-based and they were designed with target species such as black drum, redfish, and whiting. Interestingly enough, these are all classified as “drums” in the fish world. Doubly interesting, is the fact that corbina, yellowfin croaker, and spotfin croaker are also under the drum family. And, to put things into better perspective, a whiting looks nearly identical to a California corbina, and the black drum looks like a spotfin croaker on steroids. Bottom line, it makes sense that these fish are attracted to these baits.

Lucky Craft Success Picks Up with the Surfperch Spawn

In an earlier article, I wrote about Lucky Craft lures picking up in productivity as we get closer to spring and how in early winter, mussel meat is the better option. While a lot of that can be attributed to water temps, I think it’s actually a combination of many factors. But, mainly water temp and the perch spawn. The perch spawn makes for an easy and abundant food source and the rising water temp provides comfort. So, when those two align, the bite (theoretically) takes off. The timing on that this year seems to be a little off so the hali bite hasn’t been terrific, but maybe as the water temp cranks up, the grunion runs will become more attractive and thus, productive.

Mussel Meat is #1 for Alternative Baits to Sand Crabs

Earlier, I wrote an article on exactly this topic: Alternative Baits to Sand Crabs. But, for the time being, out of the baits that I’ve put a substantial amount of time into trying, mussel meat reigns supreme. The baits in circulation here are shrimp, frozen mussel meat, gulp sandworms, frozen clam meat, fishbites, squid and anchovies. Mussel meat is simply the best producing and most consistent bait out of the list.

Disclaimer: Lucky Craft is a different category and although I do believe fresh clam meat has the potential to be better than mussel meat, I haven’t put in enough time with it as I’ve never had great access to it. . Additionally, I’m in the process of evaluating a local bait called “superslayers”.

For a reminder, here’s the gear and tackle I use when fishing these baits:

• 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

Some other interesting hypotheses and theories I’ve come to believe over the years:

• Corbina and other surf species are NOT line shy
• There is a sunset bite… especially in fall.
• Upwelling could be good for surf fishing… but maybe not.
• Sand Crabs: Size Matters

Surf Fishing Report and Forecast 3/28/2021

I was fortunate enough to fish twice in the last week, so let’s get into what’s biting. The first session followed the same “mid-day bite” pattern as we had a slow start to a strong finish with all sorts of surfperch from barred, to walleye, to black surfperch (session time: 7:30am-12:30pm).

The next session was this Sunday morning (3/28/21). The surf height was predicted to be 2-3 feet, but after about 8 am, I’d say it really calmed down to a nice 1-2. As the surf mellowed, the current did too. Seaweed was no problem at all and the water temp was listed at 57-58 degrees Fahrenheit. All-in-all, conditions were great!

Superslayer Success!

We started slow and the first fish didn’t come until about an hour into the session. It was a small corbina for my client on mussel meat. Given a slow start and a slight increase in croaker and corbina numbers as of late, I figured I’d try some Fishbites (ez-flea). I fished that for a while, but again… super slow. Before we gave the LC’s a try, I figured I’d experiment with one of the newer baits I’ve been trying… a superslayer from Honey Badger Baits. Within the first 10 minutes, I’m on and it’s a nice little barred surfperch!

We continued throwing the superslayers and although I don’t know much about them, (nor have they proven to be consistent for me yet) I was pretty impressed. We caught some 6 more fish in about an hour and it was lots of fun. Among those fish, were barred surfperch, corbina and a little dinky halibut about 14-inches in length.

Surf Fishing Forecast

We have a grunion run starting tonight, Sunday 3/28 and it will continue through Wednesday, 3/31. Given the last run’s turn out, I like our chances this week for the grunion showing up. Expect the surf height to stay relatively down and the weather to be great! I’m really hoping this week marks the turning point in our water temps as we should be experiencing some of the warmest weather in a while.

While water temp is extremely tough to predict given the numerous factors that could affect it (as we learned last year with upwelling), the air temperature does play a role. I like to look at the average air temp along our coast and treat that as a directional factor. For example if the water temp is 60 and the mean air temp is 65, over a longer period of time, I would expect the water temp to slowly be brought up by the air temp. If the water temp were 65 and the mean air temp were 60, I would expect the water temp to pulled down. But, for the air temp to really have an effect on the water temp, it takes prolonged exposure of consistently higher or lower temperatures.

Over the next 9 days, the mean air temp on San Diego’s coastline is predicted to be the following in order starting tomorrow: 63, 62, 67.5, 68, 65, 63.5, 59, 56.5, and 56.5 (Fahrenheit). I think this little stretch could result in a slight rise in water temp, but it really depends on the weather that follows. Either way, spring is here and summer is right around the corner, so get ready for the summertime bite, look out for sand crabs, and go watch the grunion!

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