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Top Calfishing.com Saltwater Fishing in California topic #14062
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Subject: "Nor-Cal beach fishing" Previous topic | Next topic
swimbaitThu Jul-13-06 11:53 AM
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#14062, "Nor-Cal beach fishing"


  

          

For the past few years in the summer I've been tagging along with Nico chasing the elusive beach striper. Beach striper fishing can be pretty exciting, it can also be utterly boring and aggravating :) This year the fishing has been so-so for us. The typical trip involves a lot of hard work hiking around and blind casting for hours to get 1-3 bites per night.

Last night we decided to get a little more gung ho and take the kickboats. Kickboating the open ocean south of Pacifica can be a dicey proposition but Nico had been watching the weather and it looked perfect. We got down and launched in the late afternoon off Rockaway in the corner, it was ankle slapper condition which was killer.

Looking at the water, it looked like it would be great for stripers but we didn't get any striper action by the rocks and surge lines. The rockcod fishing was pretty steady though, we picked up a dozen brown and blue rockfish on 5 and 6" big hammers in 12-30 feet of water, keeping about half of them and tossing back the small ones. I thought the cod fishing would be better since I don't think these areas get fished much but there was no sign of lings or cabezon. Here's a typical blue rockfish

http://www.calfishing.com/files/Images/daily_reports/7_13_06_rob_bluebass.jpg

The evenings haul
http://www.calfishing.com/files/Images/daily_reports/7_13_06_rockcod.jpg

After dark we hit a few more beaches looking for stripers. Nico drilled one about 8lbs around 10pm. Didn't get a pic. We covered a lot of water just walking down the beach casting. Tried another spot around midnight and I got hit on the 9" MS Slammer. At night sometimes the fish will hit very close to shore which is always fun :) It was another little guy about 7lbs but it managed to swallow the entire rear end of my bait. I was going to let it go but it was bleeding and getting the hooks out was a nightmare.

Some pics of that fish
http://www.calfishing.com/gallery/d/13233-2/owie.jpg

http://www.calfishing.com/dc/user_files/5147-rob_striper.jpg

We fished late but that was it for the night.

Here's a few pics from the last two trips... Doing the same kind of stuff just hiking the beaches around pacifica in the evening and at night.

This fish went 11-4 and was caught on a 6" Big Hammer in #13 baitfish
http://www.calfishing.com/gallery/d/13161-2/7_1_06_rob_11-4_striper3.jpg

This fish went 13-8 and was caught on a heavy iron called a Miki
http://www.calfishing.com/gallery/d/13138-2/13-8_striper.jpg

I didn't set out to get bit by the striper bug but it's been pretty fun. Apparently this year is kind of an off year, or just an average year as far as beach fishing goes but there's fish around if you go a lot and fish hard.

  

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Replies to this topic
RE: Nor-Cal beach fishing, Wade, Jul 13th 2006, #1
RE: Nor-Cal beach fishing, swimbait, Jul 13th 2006, #2
      RE: Nor-Cal beach fishing, Wade, Jul 13th 2006, #3
           RE: Nor-Cal beach fishing, Nico, Jul 14th 2006, #4
                RE: Nor-Cal beach fishing, dockboy, Jul 14th 2006, #5
                     RE: Nor-Cal beach fishing, Kalicos, Jul 16th 2006, #6
                          RE: Nor-Cal beach fishing, Nico, Jul 17th 2006, #7
                               RE: Nor-Cal beach fishing, Kalicos, Jul 17th 2006, #8

WadeThu Jul-13-06 12:35 PM
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#14063, "RE: Nor-Cal beach fishing"
In response to Reply # 0


  

          

Rob & Nico,
Have you guys tried walking any Pencil Poppers like the Striper Special? My Dad used to do good on similar ones in the early AM and again at Dusk
Tight lines,
Wade

  

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swimbaitThu Jul-13-06 02:41 PM
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#14064, "RE: Nor-Cal beach fishing"
In response to Reply # 1
Thu Jul-13-06 02:54 PM by swimbait

  

          

A lot of guys fish poppers on the beach. I haven't had good luck with them but Nico has caught a ton of popper fish. Mostly the cupped face type poppers.

Pencil poppers have good action in calm water but its hard to work them in the waves and hard to see them in the chop. One of the first times I went to the beach I did throw a striper special during a pretty much wide open run. Guys around me were all hooked up on poppers and I had a big striper jump completely over the bait but not eat it. So I figure they'll work but its not really ideal for you typical beach conditions.

Pretty much at the beach guys do four things... They throw either hair raisers, poppers, bomber long a type baits, or metal jigs like kastmasters and miki's. You almost never see anyone throwing swimbaits or trout plug type baits. When I caught that big hammer fish a few weeks ago some kid saw me get it and was totally surprised that a fish would eat a big hammer off the rocks. To me, its a no brainer... big hammer's look like anchovies... stripers eat tons of anchovies... therefore big hammers catch stripers. Simple huh :)

  

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WadeThu Jul-13-06 04:20 PM
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#14065, "RE: Nor-Cal beach fishing"
In response to Reply # 2


  

          

Obviously all of those baits will get bit. The biggest problem for most guys is that they don't have confidense from the beach unless they can bomb out atleast 1/2 their spool. The Miki's flat out LAUNCH and stay on target (if the cast can aim). The Pencil Poppers are almost as good for both distance and accuracy, but they have the advantages of attracting a bigger grade of fish and the awe inspiring Top-water strikes they get.:7 The others don't cast quite so well and hence don't land quite so many. Of course I'm sure you've both figured these things out.
As for your misses on the PP, the times I've seen them work best was when they were walked down the face of waves and pulled when they weren't in the face. If that's to much of a hassle, just slow your cadence a little and keep it steady. Too many people get too excited and end up ripping them away from the fish. Hope this helps.
Tight lines,
Wade

  

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NicoFri Jul-14-06 01:25 PM
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#14066, "RE: Nor-Cal beach fishing"
In response to Reply # 3


  

          

Random thoughts... Most (if not all) of the really big stripers I've seen caught on the beach have been caught on very small lures. Hair Raisers, small Kastmasters, small minnow baits, etc... Check out the 38 lb fish on the Cool Photos gallery (zoom in if you want to see what happens if you use cheap hardware). I was catching 8-15 lb left and right that night on a MS Slammer. No one else was catching fish except the one guy who got the 38 lber on a small Bomber. Another dark and stormy night I was throwing all kinds of big lures like MS Slammer, poppers, big wooden divers, and someone next to me got a 35+ lber on a small hair raiser. Maybe just bad luck? The popper bite last year was very good. This year it's been really bad. The main reason I never use pencil poppers is because it's a PITA to make them walk right with baitcasting gear. Regular poppers seem to work just as well, anyway. I had a lot of luck last year using a D.A.M. popper, which actually looks like a fish and is easy to work using baitcasting gear.

  

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dockboyFri Jul-14-06 03:29 PM
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#14067, "RE: Nor-Cal beach fishing"
In response to Reply # 4


  

          

I've got the striper bug too now! I just got back from nearly 3 weeks in Boston ,NYC, abd Maine. I flyfished for schoolies when we were in Maine.. awesome. I only caught a couple of smaller schoolies on flyfishing but a 20 inch striper on the rocks with a fly rod is a lot of fun! Now I wish I lived up in NorCal.. no stripers here down south. :-( Oh well, I'll have to make a couple trips up to SF to fish the bay with flies, sure looks like a lot of fun. The samller lure do seem to catch bigger and more fish. Back in Maine a guy was just kicking my butt with a green Hair Raiser, I mean he was getting 4 or 5 fish every 20 mins, during the daytime!

Bass + Fisherman= BAASS ADDICTT!!!

  

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KalicosSun Jul-16-06 09:48 PM
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#14068, "RE: Nor-Cal beach fishing"
In response to Reply # 5


  

          


what kinda rod r u using to cast the slammers in the surf?
I have never seen slammers fished in saltwater.
interesting...
}(

  

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NicoMon Jul-17-06 02:41 PM
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#14069, "RE: Nor-Cal beach fishing"
In response to Reply # 6
Mon Jul-17-06 02:42 PM by Nico

  

          

The same rods you use in freshwater for the slammer should work in saltwater. I think Rob was using an Okuma swimbait rod for that fish. If you need to cast far most surf rods rated up to 3 oz should work fine.

  

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KalicosMon Jul-17-06 03:28 PM
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#14070, "RE: Nor-Cal beach fishing"
In response to Reply # 7


  

          

ic thanx :7

  

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