The first time we camped at Sunset Beach State Park was 2008. That was a fantastic year for surf fishing. With light fishing gear, my two oldest daughters and I caught several barred perch our first time surf fishing. We thought it was so easy. We were wrong.
Now in 2016 with the two oldest in college and having no time to fish with the old man, we managed another great year of surf fishing. After dinner, on Friday, May 27th, the WizTech and I went down with a new surf rig: 8-lb mainline; 8-lb, 2-foot leader; number 4 bait holder hook; Berkley 2-inch camo sandworm; and an 1-oz. sinker.
A picture is a thousand words.
Results: First cast, fish on! We got a bite almost every cast: we either loose a part of the sandworm, miss a hookset, or fish on! We quit at 7 nice perch.
I think we are starting to get it.
The following day, Saturday, we setup our two new friends from camp with the same rig and the result was a total of 18 perch for the four-member team.
Sunday around noon, we went fishing for monkeyface eel. We got 15!!!
First monkeyface eel for fisherman on the right.
Sunday evening, I went back to surf fishing. I went to my favorite spot by the log and got a small perch on the first cast. I threw it back thinking that it was going to be another fantastic surf fishing day. A few minutes later, it was fish on! I felt a heavier pull. "This must be a one pound perch," I thought to myself. When it was landed, it was a jacksmelt instead. However, Young Master (see the "Legends" tab) was having a great evening. While fishing with me, he landed five perch, including the one that was let go. I made a mental note that Young Master was using a different bait; he was using Hammer Perch Grubs.
Jacksmelt fell for the perch rig.
Monday morning I fished for an hour and landed another two perch. The awesome thing besides the fishing was that I got to see two killer whales, a lot of sea lions, and a 48-inch dead striped bass on the beach. The striped bass had been a recent kill and the thought did cross my mind regarding bringing it back to camp and impress everyone with the "catch of the day." However, it was heavy, and I couldn't think of an easier way to haul the fish back up the long steps to camp :-(
Kayaks with Beavers caught two baskets of strawberry.
In summary, the weather for this year was fantastic! Day temperatures were in the 70s, while night temperatures were in the low 50s. The wind was not blowing hard as previous years. The company was awesome as usual and the food plentiful! We gotta figure out a way to scale down on the food. And another great year of fishing. Thanks be to God!
Yesterday, the team left JU's home at zero six hundred hours (6 AM) and came back at seventeen hundred hours (5 PM) for an eleven-hour fishing trip!
They fished at Discovery Park until twelve hundred hours (noon). Da Captain landed three shads by casting shad darts. Patriarch and JU got skunk.
They picked up and went to Freeport afterwards. They fished from thirteen hundred hours (1 PM) until sixteen hundred hours (4 PM) and landed twenty (20) shad!
At one point, the bite was so hot, that they had a quadruple hookup! Yes, quadruple because JU landed TWO fish simultaneously on the same line. That was awesome. JU thought he had a monster striped bass on. The drag from the ultra light pole screamed back and forth and JU had to tighten the drag to haul the fish in. Finally, when both fish were netted, they were both BIG hens. No wonder, JU thought it was a large striped bass.
Eleven hours for twenty-three (23) shad is not quite yet dialed in.... The team is still longing for a seventy-five (75) fish day! Maybe it's because JU misplaced his counter so there was no way to keep track of the number of fish caught is why the limit has not yet been achieved this year :-(
However, they feel exceptionally blessed; especially, the smile on the Patriarch's face says it all.
It was cold in the morning at Discovery Park
Twenty three shad total.
Check out this video of the Captain multitasking....
I went fishing on Friday, April 29th, with my brother and his brother-in-law. And yesterday, Sunday, May 1st, I went fishing with my brother and my dad. We targeted for American Shad, supposedly, President George Washington's favorite fish.
On Friday, we sat around for about three hours, from noon at high tide until 3:00 PM, without a bite. Then, from 3:00 PM until around 4:30 PM, the action was nonstop. We had double and triple hookups! We landed 17 fish total! I know it's not a lot as compared to others, but I am one happy camper. I was using light fishing gear, so each fish landed was a thrill! At one point, the Captain got a hookup and he started to fight the fish; after a few seconds, his drag screamed as the line went straight out and never stop! Eventually, the line broke off! We thought perhaps a big striped bass swallowed the shad and took off. We will never know....
Yesterday, we fished from 3 PM until 7 PM. However, only one fish was landed. I did hookup with a monster fish! You gotta see the video to believe it.
Until next time, may God bless your day!
TWO fish at the same time on one line!
The Captain landed the first fish (Friday, 4/29):
Sportive Fisherman with his $250.00 fishing rod & reel (Friday, 4/29)!
A triple hookups for the brothers (Friday, 4/29):
Maybe a big striper swallowed the shad; we never got to see this fish (Friday, 4/29):
Fish on for JU (Sunday, 5/1)!
Using light fishing pole, JU got to fight this monster fish for three minutes (Sunday, 5/1)!!!
I've been super anxious to go fishing! Finally, I got another opportunity to go yesterday.
American Shad are supposedly returning to the Sacramento region. Last week, there were good reports of fishermen landing many shad in the Sacramento River. My dad and brother went last week and landed seven, which is a very small number when the limit is twenty-five per person!
Yesterday was very windy, with gust of around 20 mph. For California, that is a lot of wind! We persevered with around four other boats trying to catch some shad. At the end of the day, there were not a lot of fish caught. We landed four fish total. I landed a whopper 18-inch shad and a tiny 3-inch striped bass. Yes, it's not a typo; it was a 3-inch striped bass! My brother landed the other two shad. Dad caught some last week, but none this time. So I got to bring home three shad.
I used a micro fishing pole and forgot to set the drag. The shad swam all over the place and tangled with dad's fishing lines :-) The drag was screaming and I thought I had a big striped bass on. Eventually, the adrenaline rush came to an end and the shad was netted. Maybe, I set the drag loose on purpose?!?! :-)
There are a lot of nut groves in California. You just have to find the good grove. Solvang, CA, is definitely a grove full of good nuts.
We got a chance to spend a week here for the Easter break. Although all the public fishing piers in California do not require a fishing license, none in our group fished during the vacation. We visited places that we have not been to for some R & R. The amazing thing is that most of the beaches were empty.
With the weather forecast for rain the next two weeks, yesterday, we
decided to try for sturgeon again.Same
time, same place, and same technique as the last time, accept that I did not
attempt to use the salmon roe as bait :-( I swapped over to ghost shrimp also.
We managed a few sturgeon bites!
Once again we landed 2 keeper striped bass, with the Captain
landing the most.
The Captain landed four total! While trolling, two “shakers”
(these are known as undersized striped bass) were boated. Another two were boated with ghost shrimp while fishing for sturgeon.
The Patriarch landed a keeper while trolling with his
favorite white with red-eye striper lure.
And, JU is still searching for his striper/sturgeon game for 2016 :-)
So again, same result as the last outing, two keeper striped
bass and still NO sturgeon.
The past Friday, February 12th, was my first
fishing trip for 2016.The Captain and
the Patriarch were to meet me at O six thirty.
I woke up at 1:00 AM: “Is it fishing time, yet?”
At 3:00 AM: “Now, is it fishing time?”
Finally, at 5:30 AM, I got up to get ready.The Captain and the Patriarch must have been
just as excited as I was because they came by at 6:20 AM.
The boat was ready: battery charged the night before, check;
gas: check; trailer tires, check; fishing poles, check; tackle box, check; and
camera, check.
Did I brag about the quickest route to the Sacramento River
yet?Recently, the Cosumnes River Blvd
was opened and connected Hwy 99 to I-5 and through to the Sacramento River!We made pretty good time out to the river.
We were planning on doing two passes trolling for stripers
at Liberty Island then head out to our sturgeon honey hole.
During the first pass, the Captain hooked a striper.We were all excited, blood pumping and a lot
of “Wahoos” all around.However, when we
saw it, we were all laughing because it was a baby striper and was not even worthy
of the net!The Captain let it go to
tell all the big boys to come out and play.Unfortunately, that was the only striper while trolling for the first
pass.The outgoing tide was changing
quickly; so we changed plan to do the second pass for striper and instead
headed towards our sturgeon honey hole.
At our location, the Captain and the Patriarch used ghost
shrimp and I used salmon roe as bait.Just as the first pole was in the water and we were preparing the other
poles, “Whack, whack!”The Patriarch got
a hit!He set the hook hard;
missed.We were all pumped.Then it was quiet for the next hour after we
were all setup.
Then it was the Captain’s turn.Sturgeon sucked on the ghost shrimp.Bam!The
Captain set the hook!Missed, again.
A few minutes after, the tip of the Captain’s pole bobbled
up and down.Lighting quick hook set and
it was fish on!The Captain was shaking
his head motioning that it felt very small.He was correct.It was barely a
keeper, but it was not a sturgeon; it was a striper!
The next few hours, the Captain and the Patriarch had more
sturgeon bites, but they missed them all.However, the Captain managed to land another bigger striper in the
process.It was the Captain’s day: “The
Captain is in da house.”Or rather, “the
Captain is on the river :-)”
Where was I in all this?I didn’t get a bite all day!The
sturgeon and the stripers did not like salmon roe that day.I tested out my GoPro with a shoulder strap
and that didn’t work out either.I went
back with my reliable Canon camera for all the actions.I ate well and was among one of the best
company.
Until next time, have a blessed day.
First Keeper!
Barely Hanging By the Lips.
Second Keeper!
Testing out the GoPro Shoulder Strap. It didn't work out. I like the Chest Strap more. Here's the video of the baby striper that was released.
Back to the Canon Camera. The white stripes are annoying. Here's the video of the first striper that was kept.
