Surf Perch Tourney
Geez, I'm tired.. it was a long day.
Alarm at 5:30, out the door with extra food this time. Gear packed the night before, trying to think of all the situations I'd encounter (cash, checkbook, spool with mono in case we bait fish from the pier, etc). Forecast said high surf and lots of rain, but so far it looks good.
I'm Allen's photographer, so I'm there at 6:15 and take some pics of the check-in. Coffee and bearclaws, yum. I meet Steve Carson, a rep for penn, outdoor writer, and an nice guy.
Deva and I go together in my car. We decide to head down to Manresa first, and work our way back. Looks pretty good from the parking lot.. kinda rough surf when we get down. About 8-10 guys end up fishing there, and nary a fish caught until I get one. Yay, first fish and its looking to be a good day. I'm fishing the XTR/Outbound combo again. Grub on point, and zenworm on the dropper. I finally meet Patrick (PK - sincoast from the fishing board), and the 3 of us stick together for the rest of the day.
Eventually, not catching anything, we turn back and fish in the other direction. Then we decide to try Rio Del Mar. Bathrooms are closed, and I need to pee. I decide to wait. Deva likes the look of this beach a lot.. looks more fishable than Manresa, so we start and work our way toward the cement ship. I'm not catching anything here. It starts to feel like a long slog through the surf.. no fish. I meet one guy fishing ghost shrimp, who's caught a big perch, had a striper on, and catches another big perch right in front of me just then. Ends up cutting the line by the hook and releases the fish, as the hook was apparently caught in the gills. Guess he isn't using barbless. I wonder what the survival statistics of that is..
PK catches some fish. Deva finally gets a couple. I'm not getting any nibbles, even. Sucks.. frustrating, my arm is getting tired, I'm getting hungry too, and I have to pee really bad now. I walk back to the bathrooms and find them still locked, so I hop in the car and drive down to RDM center and use a deli's bathroom.. get a cup of coffee on the way out. I eat my sandwich too, which all makes me feel better. When I get back to the lot, Deva is coming up and we decide to hit it back to the weigh in.
Tides for today: ------------------- 2008-02-23 05:35 PST 1.19 feet Low Tide 2008-02-23 06:47 PST Sunrise 2008-02-23 07:52 PST Moonset 2008-02-23 11:36 PST 4.37 feet High Tide 2008-02-23 17:36 PST 0.70 feet Low Tide 2008-02-23 17:55 PST Sunset 2008-02-23 20:52 PST Moonrise