I've been fishing the surf perch pretty hard at guadalupe beach and pismo beach and although i have been scoring big numbers of surf perch(around 30+ in 3 hours caught and released) I have yet to get another species of fish such as halibut or corbina.am i too far north to catch these types of fish off the shore? I mainly use motor oil grubs but will for grins use a sand crab is there something else i could be using to maximzize the chances of catching other species too?
thanks , brian

i would try throwing something a little larger. i like the 3 inch swimbaits with a 1/4 or 1/2 oz head. my favorite pattern is Wookie Wacker though i'm also a big fan of Sea Wolf. give it a try. you will probably also manage to get some monster perch on the bigger baits.

Hey Brian,

I've been doing the same kind of fishing in about the same area....using Grubs....I have caught a "shovel nose" . But nothing else yet. Last post said it, Try Swimbaits, 3". I know the guys down in SB have been getting thier share of Hali's using the swimbaits....and they are starting to show more up here on the central coast. There is a high tide late this afternoon, I am going to flip a coin between Oceano or North of Morro Bay.

Have Fun!

Bryan V.

Corbina I have never heard of past Pt. Conception. They are probably not common that for North. Halibut range up past San Francisco Bay, but once you get past Pt. Conception the odds of getting one from shore go down quite a bit. Halibut just don't really like pounding beach breaks like the Guadalupe River Mouth :) The place to try to get a halibut from the surf would be in the bays. Avila has some calm water and lots of places to fish from shore. Morro Bay has some shore access, espeically by the mouth, although I think most of the halibut that come out of there usually come from the back of the bay. In general, I'd try to fish on the warmest afternoons when it's not too windy or rough.

thanks everyone for the replies,I am going to get some of the swimbaits you mentioned and give it a try,please use this forum to post surf perch reports as well i 'm always willing to travel for that hot bite.

Hey Brian,

Have you tried off Oceano? Just to the left of the entrance to the dunes? It is really hot! Like you said, I was catching/releasing 40+ BS Perch in less then a couple of hours, nearly every cast had one on. If you havn't, try it...

Yes as a matter of fact i did a similar run last week and despite the tides being against me i caught quite a few .i am going to try jamala
beach tomorrow for an expieremental run.I'll let you know how that goes or doesnt.i'm finding pumkinseed to be a hot bait here locally and havent done too well with the reccomended motor oils.what color grubs do you use?

Yep.....That is what we are using...very hot....one grub lasted me through at least 30-40 fish...too funny.

Bryan V.

Jamala beach is a nice beach but i didnt do so well ,caught and released a few.maybe i shouldnt have fished the 'barni' hours.the water was clear and i'm sure the corbina were there but i couldnt muster up much of a bite.if i had a kayak the kelp beds off that beach are really close to shore,which made it hard not to cacth the floating debri (kelp) which was everywere.will try guad again tomorrow a.m. and see what i can muster up.

Definitely not too far north to catch halibut. A few years ago I was at a conference in Monterey for work. We were staying at the Monterey Plaza Hotel which is on Canery Row right on the water (boy I miss that place!). Anyways, in the mornings before the conference and at lunch I would go out to the beach (off the back of the hotel and to another beach down the road a bit) and throw the 3" Big Hammers and caught lots of short halibut. I never caught any legals but it was a fun, quick way to get a little fishing in "while at work" :)

Brian....

Made it out to Oceano the other day after work..Caught an released 2 10" and one nice 14+ BSP. Could of caught more but I wanted to use a bigger grub to get away from catching so many of the smaller ones.
I got your email....I am going to fish Port San Luis this weekend or maybe go for some more Surf fun...I'll email ya later today..

Bryan V.

What size grub/hook and how are you rigging them for the surfperch? I enjoy catching these guys on light tackle!

the godfather

Hi Gordon, We met at the Naci Tourney...I use a simple Carolina rig with the main line 8lb, 1oz egg sinker, #7 swivel, 8 to 18" 10lb leader, and a #8 to #2 Red Gamakatsu.....Lately the 2or3" Berkley Power grubs have been the ticket around the Central coast. Just walking out in knee high water and casting out in the surf on good days have been getting bites every cast for me....

Have Fun,

Bryan V.

fished oceano last night-eve. for a few small ones and morro this a.m. for less,I think its actually starting to slow down a bit? didnt get one bite on the big hammer swimbaits but saw a ton of birds working the bait ball just outside the surfline ,give me a kayak and a crokodile and i might have had better results.saw some boats out further wonder how they did and what the were targeting?
Brian
Catch alot , Photograph a few and ,release them all..