7 replies to this topic

[BullsEye]

I got a couple dozen T&C swim grubs and I wanted to play with some bass today so I headed over to Long Beach. Managed a small sand bass who hit the lure mid water.I kept casting and managed a double! To bad these Uni aren't ripe for the picking.I kept casting for a while and managed a nice rats nest on my ambassador but when I had it orted out I had this thing to contend with. Biggest lizard fish I have ever caught or seen for that matter.I decided that the weather was nice so I would try Torrance for some flatties. Well not much structure. Clear water and little sea weed but produced nada. Even tried a c rig for perch and still nothing.All in all it was a nice day.

[pete]

Nice job. Ive tried the surf fishing thing before but my stuffs too small for all the beaches around hear. What kind of rod/reel are you using or what would you reccomend for fishing up north more (not far but Ventura County)? Im looking at a 12' Penn Slammer on Ebay, any good?Also have you ever gone for halibut in the surf? Ive heard of it but never even caught halibut before.

[jawbreaker]

Looks like a spotted bay bass.. Good times, Ron

[BullsEye]

Nice job. Ive tried the surf fishing thing before but my stuffs too small for all the beaches around hear. What kind of rod/reel are you using or what would you reccomend for fishing up north more (not far but Ventura County)? Im looking at a 12' Penn Slammer on Ebay, any good?Also have you ever gone for halibut in the surf? Ive heard of it but never even caught halibut before.

You don't need anything fancy for the surf. I have a few different setups that I use. I have 6.5 foot kencor 3 piece rod with a Shimano symetry spooled with 6lb flouro carbon. I also have a penn 4500ss spooled with 10lb on a berkley air 8.5 foot rod. For the jetties I started using a Abu Garcia 7 foot rod with an ambassadeur 6601CB reel with 15lb test cause the rocks are tough on line. In regard to Halibut I have been trying for a little while myself with my 10lb setupo and I have managed one short on a Kastmaster. If your planning on going for sharks and rays then a 12 foot rod would be nice to get you out past the breakers but I would fish 20 pound line and probably 50lb leader because of their teeth. Ventura county has some good fishing. I have seen pictures of guys pulling in 17 inch perch in that area. Thats a BIG surf perch. Plus you have halibut and many other tasty fish, your also in cleaner water so eating fish in that county doesn't come with a warning like here in Los Angeles or San Diego county. If you have some trout poles use those for now. Most of the small fish are actually very close to shore. You can find surf perch, yellow fin croaker, corbina, spotfin croaker sand bass sometimes and I have heard reports of people catching striped bass of the coast too around here.If your going to target leopard sharks, Shovel Nose guitar fish and Bat rays then I would get that 12 foot rod granted it is for heavier line. Have some fun out there

[BullsEye]

Looks like a spotted bay bass.. Good times, Ron

Its a Sand bass from what I understand because of the stripes on its side, a Spotted bay bass has more spots. Those closeups can be deceiving . Been thinking about going to Newport and fishing for them specifically but I also want to get some halibuts too.

[mackeralboy]

Bullseye,Looks like you had a good time if not entirely productive. If your looking for flatties your going to have better luck near the jetties and breakwaters. I have been diving the South Bay ever since I was a kid and I'd say about 95% off all the Halibut I have come across have been in tight next to some sort of structure. Topaz Jetty and the Redondo breakwater are two good spots for shore fishing that I have done well with the flatties. A buddy of mine use to do real well off of the beach by taking his paddleboard out and fishing the head of the ripcurrents. There is a natural reef system that runs all along the beach at Torrance about 300yards off shore. In the winter months when the water is colder you can spot the reefs by the kelp growing off of them. This is an ideal spot for a kayak fisherman but to close to shore for a boat to be legally. Mc

[BullsEye]

Thanks for the info Mackeralboy. Its funny that you say that cause I caught my first halibut next to a jetty. I have been looking for structure to locate them too. I fished Redondo on Saturday but the waves where too big for surf fishing so I just messed around on the pier for a small lizard fish and a buddy caught a small perch. It was a slow day with a lot of fishermen on the pier at 7am. I have been looking at kayaks but I am going to stick to the shore a little while longer before I pick up any water crafts.

[pete]

Fishing from the kayak is really fun. I used it to hoop net for lobster a lot. Launching from a beach is fun too. Its like whitewater rafting coming back in too, try to see if your good enough to surf the wave back in...