Thursday May 19, 2005. 10:00 am.
Finally got all the parts together to make a stripping basket; they have nice baskets the right size at Palace. Took it all out to Newbrighton beach, and assembled it. 8wt Albright rod, with SA shooting line .030, and 20' T14 head. Ken Hanley's "Surf grub" is the fly of the day. Started at the beach close to the stairs. This seems to be a really good beach for this sort of fishing; it is protected from the stronger waves, so it isn't too hard to wade. One still has to be careful, though. A bit of seaweed in the water, but not as bad as yesterday at Capitola. Not seeing any obvious structure to fish, I moved east on the beach as I was casting, and encountered less weeds too. The stripping basket works great! Finally I can do this and not get distracted by shooting line tangling around my feet.
Ok, but no fish. Are they further out? At this point I'm chalking it up as another practice session. The T14 head is a bit short for casting and keeps dumping. I figured out though, that one method here is to cast the line out on the sand behind me, (something I do anyway to check that the fly isn't fouled on seaweed) then walk toward the water, letting shooting line out as I do, and cast it all out in one go, with a single haul, when there is a break in the waves.
Wildlife.. a seal popped it's head up and looked at me a couple of times.
I finally decided it was time to head to work, and am reeling in the line,
when 'boom', there is a good tug at the other end, pretty close to where
I am standing. "You've got to be kidding?!", I say to myself, and sure
enough it is a fish. A nice Barred Surf Perch is on its side near me,
but it unhooks itself when I start to worry about getting the camera out.
Figures. Quick cast to the same area, thinking there are probably more
where that one came from, and shortly I had another one on. This time
land first, camera second, and a nice 13" BSP got documented and released.
Somehow it was hooked on the side under the gillplate though, not in the
mouth proper. Oh well.. good one anyway. I am now using the 2-hand
retrieve, with rod under armpit. Easier on my right hand, and it seems
like it makes for better line control, better contact with the fly.
Notes to self:
I need to get a UW housing for the camera, so I can keep it out and not
worry about getting saltwater on it.
I used a biggish fly, and caught a couple of biggish fish. Smaller flies may mean more (but smaller) fish..
I fished from around 10:15 to 11:30, middle of an outgoing tide.
Tides for today:
2005-05-19 05:56 PDT Sunrise
2005-05-19 07:59 PDT 3.19 feet High Tide
2005-05-19 13:38 PDT 1.17 feet Low Tide
2005-05-19 20:12 PDT Sunset