Steve Mras talks about his recent 12lb tippet WR Pacific Barracuda. It was almost incidental to his efforts in pursuing a different award. Click HERE to read the full story.

This is a multi-page article. Click HERE to read the full story.

The 2009 TYD Tournament is history... Twelve contestants and five vessels endured unsettled conditions and sketchy fishing to take a shot at bringing home the bacon. Click HERE to read the full story.

This is a multi-page article. Click HERE to read the full story.

The 2009 3Bs Tournament is over... With 25 contestants and 14 vessels, it turned out to be a big success. Click HERE to read the full story.

This is a multi-page article. Click HERE to read the full story.

Sept., 2008 - It's that time of year!

Be sure to read our notes and observations from the Denver Fly-Fishing Retailers Show...




Sept., 2008 - It's that time of year!

Be sure to read our notes and observations from the Denver Fly-Fishing Retailers Show...

We now have the results and analysis from our 3Bs Trial Tournament, held Sept. 27, 2008.

Click HERE to see the whole story...

The Beyond The Breakwater 3Bs Trial Tournament was held on September 27, 2008. Fifteen contestants fished the waters around La Jolla, down to the Bullring and the Coronados. They found lots of fish (and seals!), but only a minimal number of fish cleared the minimum tournament scoring threshhold. Here are the final results:

Place	Points	Bass	Bon	Barr	Slam	WSB	Hal	YT	Gr Slam	Contestant / Prize
1	50	1	4	-	-	-	-	-	-	Randy Norris (Temple Fork Outfitters Mini-Magnum fly rod)
2	30	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	Bryan Ida (Cam Sigler 10wt fly rod)
3	30	-	3	-	-	-	-	-	-	Stephen Mras ($100 gift certificate from Fishermen's Spot)
4	20	-	2	-	-	-	-	-	-	Craig Smith
5	10	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Steve Piper
6	10	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Matt Hale
7	10	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	Rob Baldwin
8	7	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	Bill Calhoun (guided by Peter Piconi)
9	7	-	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	Jon Hee (guided by Scott Leon)
10	7	1	-	-	-	-	-	-	-	Norm Orida (guided by Scott Leon)

Catch Summary:

 

Total Fish Submitted for Score: 19 (4 bass, 15 bonito)

Average length of bass: 14.25 inches
Average Bonito Length: 22.8 inches

Fishing Tactics & Strategery:

Two boats pre-fished the tournament on Friday Sept. 26: Steve Mras/Craig Smith on Salsipuedes, and Scott Leon with Nick Curcione on Paradigm Shift. Both boats looked at La Jolla and Point Loma. Oddly enough, pre-fishing on Friday was very slow. Even the bonito did not want to cooperate, which raised fears about a washout on Saturday. Fortunately, water conditions changed for the better on Saturday, and the fishing picked up again.

During the tournament, 3 boats fished Point Loma and points south, including Zuniga Jetty, Imperial Beach, the Bullring, and the Coronado Islands (these last two locations are in Mexican waters). The 1rst and 2nd place finishers, Randy and Bryan, were on Randy’s boat, Clouserhead, and fished the Coronado Islands for their fish. Trey Crawford and Matt Hale fished the outside of the Zuniga jetty, and ranged as far south as the Bullring. Bob Day and Steve Piper focused on the Point Loma area.

The other six boats fished the La Jolla kelp beds, mostly around the area known as the Northwest Corner, and in towards the cove. This includes the two kayak fishermen, John Dumlao and Tony Martinez, who launched at La Jolla Shores and made the long paddle out to the Northwest Corner.

Fishing was pretty good for bonito and barracuda, but most of the barracuda were a bit shy of the tournament qualifying lengths, or were lost to seals. Randy and Bryan found some great bonito fishing at the Coronados, but couldn’t get them in past the seals. They also encountered yellowtail at the Islands, but couldn’t get them to eat the fly.

Calico bass in the La Jolla and Point Loma areas were hard to come by during the tournament, despite an abundance of fish during the summer months. Matt Hale and Trey Crawford found some good numbers of bass in the Imperial Beach and Bullring areas, but they were mostly short of the tournament qualifying length. Matt did manage a nice 16" fish, however.

Clouserhead did a mix of run-and-gun and bait-and-switch trolling in the Coronado Middle Grounds for their fish. The majority of the bonito came while working under birds and breaking fish, while the yellowtail that they encountered were hooked and landed while trolling plugs on conventional gear. They were unable to get other fish to follow the troll-caught fish in to the boat.

Steve Mras and Craig Smith on Salsipuedes took the opposite approach. They mostly stayed on anchor and used a mix of frozen chum and live chum to attract the fish.

Tournament Operations:

Overall, everything ran smoothly. Remember, this was a catch-and-release only tournament, using digital photographs for verification, which, as far as I know, has never been done before in a West Coast salt water tournament. We did have a couple of minor glitches in the scoring process due to a couple of unanticipated situations, but they were resolved quickly.

SoCal Fly Fishing Outfitters in Point Loma provided the facilities for both the Contestant's meeting and the digital "Weigh-in". Peter's store is in a great location for this type of event, as it is located close to both the Shelter Island and Dana Landing launch ramps. We held the awards ceremony in the patio area behind the shop, and it was just the right size for the group we had.

Equipment Notes:

Here is a summary of the equipment used by the top 5 finishers:

Angler	Primary Rod	Primary Reel	Primary Line	Primary Fly Pattern
Randy Norris	T&T Horizon, 12wt	Galvan T14	Rio Outbound	Clouser Deep Minnow
Bryan Ida	G. Loomis Cross Current GLX, 10wt	Pate Bonefish	SA Streamer Express, 350gr	Lefty's Deceiver, brown/white, chart/white 2/0
Stephen Mras	TFO TiCr, 9wt	Tibor Riptide	Rio Outbound 400 gr	Deep Candy
Craig Smith	Sage RPLX, 8wt, 9'	G. Loomis Synchrotech 8-9-10	SA Streamer Express	2.5" #1 streamer, peacock/grey/blue pearl
Steve Piper	Echo2 9wt	Albright GPX 7/8	LC13 shooting head	Clouser Deep Minnow, blue/white #2

And here is the data on the boats used. There were a total of 9 boats - 2 kayaks and 7 power boats:

Boat #	Contestants	Type	Hull	Primary Motor	Secondary Motor	Electronics
1	Dumlao	Kayak	Ocean Kayak, Prowler 15	N/A	N/A	Garmin GPSMap 498
2	Martinez	Kayak	Wilderness Systems 16	N/A	N/A	N/A
3	Day/Piper	Powerboat	G3 Gator Tuff 18' CC	Single Yamaha 4-stroke, 60 HP	Motorguide Great White 12V 54lb	Lowrance GPS/sonar
4	Mras/Smith, C.	Powerboat	Blackman 20' CC	Single Volvo Volvo AQAD31A Diesel I/O, 130 HP	N/A	Furuno 582 sonar, Sitex Navad 2000 GPS, Furuno 1622 radar, President VHF
5	Calhoun (Capt. Piconi)	Powerboat	Jones Bros. 20' LTS CC	Single Yamaha 4-stroke, 150 HP	Lenco Troll-n-Tabs	Humminbird sideview sonar, VHF
6	Norris/Ida	Powerboat	Scout 205 CC	Single Yamaha 4-stroke, 150 HP	Minnkota motor mount, 24V, 80lb	Raymarine A60 plotter/ff, icom VHF, Clarion Sirius Satellite radio
7	Orida/Hee (Capt. Leon)	Powerboat	Jones Bros 26' LTS CC	Twin Yamaha 4-stroke, 150 HP	N/A	Raymarine GPS/FF, Raymarine VHF
8	Baldwin/Smith, R.	Powerboat	Triumph 195 CC	Single Yamaha 4-stroke, 115 HP	N/A	Garmin 198C GPS-FF, Garmin 78C GPS, Lowrance VHF fixed mount, Std Horizon Handheld VHF
9	Crawford/Hale	Powerboat	Invader Reefrunner 183, 18'3" CC	115	N/A	N/A

Special Achievement Awards:

 

Longest Drive Award:
Awarded to the person who travelled the further to get to the tournament, based on the distance from their home address to the tournament HQ, as reported by Google Maps®. The winner was Rob Baldwin, with a 157 mile one-way trip. Rob received the SPOT Satellite Messenger, which I thought would be a good thing for people travelling long distances. As Rob said, "Damn! My wife's going to make sure I get the service now!"

 

 

Captain Courageous Award:
Given to the person who showed the most courage/guts/adventurous spirit during the tournament. The recipient was John Dumlao, who entered the tournament as a kayak fisherman, even though he had never caught a salt water fish on the fly before. During the course of the event, he did manage to catch his first salt water fish on fly, a 24" barracuda, plus several others! John received a St. Croix Imperial 9' 8wt fly rod, donated by Bill and Eileen Stroud (Stroud's Tackle), for his efforts.

We also had special recognition awards for Craig Smith, Randy Norris, and Matt Hale, for their early, strong and continued support for our efforts.

Door Prizes:

We had a random drawing for Monsterdog or Straight Jacket polarized sunglasses from Oakley, Outbound fly lines courtesy of Rio Products, and earbud sets from Skull Candy

Looking Forward:

This event was labelled a "Trial" event because I was trying out a number of unusual things for rules, operations, and scoring. Most things worked, some partly worked, and a few didn't work. After the tournament, I held a debriefing of the contestants to get some feedback. Here's a few things we know will be in place for the next time around:

• We will open up the tippet material to two or three brands of IGFA-class monofilament. Rio and Ande for sure, the third is TBD.
  
  
• Captains or guides fishing as contestants will not be handicapped. However, there will continue to be some sort of handicap for having non-fishing crew on board. The tournament clearly demonstrated that having someone on board whose primary purpose was to unhook and photograph the fish was a definite advantage.
  
  
• We will continue using IGFA rules as the basis for equipment and fishing rules.
  
  
• The next event will also be a single day, but the hours will be shifted a bit to adjust for daylight hours. We may also change the length of the fishing day, but not by much.
  
  
• There was universal agreement to try to keep the event simple and low key.

There were many more suggestions and comments which are still being reviewed. Keep those cards and letters coming!

Thanks and Appreciation:

Special thanks go out to Teri Leon (Scott’s wife), my wife Carol, and my sons Joel and Joseph for helping out with the digital scoring, and of course to our sponsors. Without their support, this event would not have been nearly as successful.

And finally, THANKS to everyone that participated. Your presence was a strong sign of support of what we're trying to do with Beyond The Breakwater. You also helped us iron out the system, and lay the groundwork for an even better event next year. Even though I was pretty busy, I had a great time, and it was wonderful to actually meet people face-to-face. Now if I could just figure out a way to sneak in some fishing during the tournament, everything would be perfect!

The San Diego Fly Shop and Bluewater Tackle in Solana Beach, are sponsoriung a raffle to rasie funds for the Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research (PIER). Click HERE to learn more.

We received this flier from Jeff Stock at the San Diego Fly Shop:

The Pfleger Institute of Environmental Research, PIER, is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to education and research of the marine environment.  PIER research projects are geared towards the advancement of sustainable fisheries through investigating important biological issues that can be applied towards the management of commercially valuable fish stocks. The future of California’s marine resources relies on sound scientific research, public education, conservation, and effective management. PIER is funded primarily through private donations and through federal and state granting agencies.

San Diego Fly Shop and Blue Water Tackle are having a fundraiser for the PIER organization. Chuggi and Scootch are well known local biologists that do some incredible work for our southern Californian fishery. All of us here at the shop want to show our support for the PIER group. All the proceeds from the sale of raffle tickets go to the PIER organization and are being put toward the health and future of our fishery. We will be raffling off many great items from Patagonia, Scott, Ross, Oakley and Scientific Anglers. As well as great local fishing trips!!

On October 4^th we will be having a seminar show from 5 to 8 P.M. The seminars will include Chuggi and Scootch from Pier and Conway Bowman. Chuggi and Scootch will be talking about the work they do for all of us fisherman in So Cal. Conway will be giving his incredible Mako shark seminar to teach us all how to really do it!

Raffle prizes include:

One Mako shark guided trip from Bowman Bluewater

One Largemouth Bass Trip from Bowman Bluewater

One Inshore Kelp bed trip from Stockcharters

Scott- BW Rod, Ross- Momentum 4 Champagne, SA- Sharkskin Salt, Sharkskin Magnum Taper and Sharkskin Ultimate Trout Taper, Patagonia- Great Divide

We welcome all to come and enjoy the festivities and great catered food. Thank you for all your support!

When does 1 + 1 = 5? When fishing in Mexico, of course! Click HERE to read why you need to know the "New Math".

Warm summer waters bring lots of good fishing. And while we encourage catch and release, we also realize that people like to eat fish. Certainly, the fast-growing fish that we run into offshore can absorb harvesting a lot better than slow-growing fish like rockfish and kelp bass.

In the last few weeks, there's been a lot of radio chatter over what constitutes limits in both Mexico and California. We heard lots of different answers, so many that it felt like it would be a good idea to review the regs, make some calls, and make sure that we understood what the laws really said. California regs have changed for 2008, and Mexican regs have one particularly confusing point, so as it turns out, the review was a good thing. Our understanding was wrong on several points.

First, here is the Mexican regulation on bag limits, taken from the Mexican National Aquaculture and Fishing Commission (CONAPESCA) website:

"In ocean waters and estuaries the limit is a total of ten fish per person per day, with no more than 5 catches of a single specie, except of the species of Marlin, Sailfish, Swordfish and Shark, of which only one specimen from this group is allowed per day, and which counts a five toward the overall 10 fish limit, or Dorado, Roosterfish, Shad, or Tarpon, of which only two samples from this group are allowed, and which count as five toward the overall 10 fish limit."

OK....everything sounds pretty straightforward, except for that last point: "only two samples from this group are allowed, and which count as five toward the overall 10 fish limit".

Say what? Does this, as has been reported on other websites, mean that one dorado counts as 5 fish, and two fish means a limit of 10 fish? As it turns out, the answer is "NO". According to the San Diego CONAPESCA office, the answer is that 2 dorado count as 5 fish in the overall bag limit. That means if you catch two dorado, you can catch 5 additional fish (or 1 marlin/swordfish/sailfish/shark).

So what does one dorado equal? The CONAPESCA staffer we spoke to said "The law is not clear on that. I can not give you an answer, other than that it is not more than 5".

Keep in mind that the above applies to rod & reel fish. If you are spearfishing, the limit is 5 fish total (so if you spear two dorado, you have to stop).

Now what about California? The California regs are not as confusing, so we'll just point you to the California DFG website. The main thing that we wanted to point out is that the limits on most of the tunas have changed.

In general, the California bag limits are 20 fish total, no more than 10 of any one species. However, it used to be that albacore, skipjack and bluefin tuna had no limits. Now, the limit on albacore (south of Point Conception) and bluefin tuna are 10 fish, but these fish do not count against the overall bag limits. There is still no limit on skipjack, while all of the other tunas (yellowfin, bigeye) must be included in the species and overall bag limits.

A closer look at Oakley's Asian Fit sunglasses. Nose-bridge impaired? Click HERE to read the full story

Oakley, Inc. is a leader in the field of action optics. Their products grace the personas of such notable athletes as cyclist Lance Armstrong, snowboarder Shaun White, skier Daron Rahlves, golfer Annika Sorenstam, auto racer Tony Stewart, and surfer Bruce Irons.

Their designs have a reputation for combining razor-sharp optics with bullet-proof construction, which they wrap in cutting-edge styling that does not compromise performance in sports or heavy physical activity.

I used Oakley products in the early 90s, when I was actively skiing and windsurfing. While I liked them, I had a tough time getting a good fit. As mentioned in our article “Getting Started in BTBFF - Part IV: What to Wear”, I don’t have much of a nose bridge, and my face is relatively flat. Oakleys, as well as similar frames from other manufacturers, just didn’t work for me. The frames either sat on my cheeks, or put the lenses so close to my eyes that my eyelashes would brush the insides when I blinked.

Either situation was uncomfortable (at best) when I was active. The usual result was fogging, or the frames would constantly slide down my face when I started perspiring. I liked the styling, the rugged construction, and the great optics, but I just couldn’t tolerate the fit. And since Oakley did not offer polarized lenses at the time, they weren’t very useful for fishing, either. So I stopped using them.

Fast forward about 15 years or so...

Field Editor Scott Leon and I are idling out of Mission Bay in Scott’s 26’ Jones Brothers Cape Fisherman, when he mentioned that he had become a field tester for Oakley. We talked about some of the fishing-friendly features that Oakleys now sported, and when I got home, I had to check out their website to see what the current products looked like.

Imagine my surprise when I noticed that there were a number of models in Oakley’s product mix that were available in “Asian Fit” versions. “Asian Fit?” What was that? Their website said: “If sunglasses tend to sit too low on your face or slide down your nose, touch at your temples or cheeks, or feel narrow at the sides of your head, try our Asian Fit.” This definitely warranted more investigation.

We contacted Louis Wellen, who is in charge of marketing for Oakley’s fishing products, to ask him more about their fishing sunglasses, and in particular, the Asian Fits.

Our first question was: What took Oakley so long to move into fishing sunglasses? ”We always wanted to make fishing sunglasses,“ said Wellen, “but we felt that the conventional way of making polarized lenses reduced image quality too much.”

Wellen explained: “Polarized lenses are usually made by bonding the polarizing material between two lenses. The more bonded layers there are, the more the sharpness degrades. It wasn’t until 2001, when we developed a way to cast the lens around the polarizing material and get the two to fuse together, that we were able to produce a polarized lens that could meet our standards for sharpness”.

Since then, Oakley has introduced a number of sunglass styles and lenses targeted at fishing. And along with their polarization technology, Oakley sunglasses have a patented lens coating which they claim repels water, suntan lotion, and bug spray. Trademarked until the name “Hydrophobic”, this proprietary coating helps to keep the lens clear and streak-free once they dry, another obvious benefit to fishermen.

And what about Asian Fit? “Oakleys are very popular in Asia,” according to Wellen, “but the person in charge of our Japanese operations wanted to make some changes to better suit his customers. The redesigned frames worked so well that we thought that all of our Asian customers could benefit.”

Asian Fit design changes can take several forms: flattening the frame, narrowing the nose bridge, adding or enlarging nose pads, changing lens rake, and altering the curvature of the stems (earpieces). “Each model may use a couple of different methods to better fit Asian faces,” explained Wellen. “But the changes are subtle. We wanted to change the fit without changing the overall style of the frame.”

A Closer Look

We received three different models of Oakley sunglasses, in both Asian and Traditional Fit models for testing: the Straight Jacket, the Gas Can, and the Fives. Looking at the sunglasses individually, it was difficult to see any differences between the Asian and Traditional Fit versions. But when we compared them side-by-side, the changes were subtly apparent:

• In the case of the Gas Cans, the Asian Fit version appears to have a flatter frame than the Traditional Fit, but otherwise looked the same.
  
  
• In the case of the Fives, the rake angle of the lenses on the Asian Fits seemed a little bit more vertical, and the nose bridge spacing a little tighter, than the Traditional Fits.
  
  
• In the case of the Straight Jackets, the Asian Fit frames appear to have thicker nose pads, but were otherwise the same as the Traditional Fits.

What’s the net effect of these alterations? Let’s take a look at the Asian Fit versus the Traditional Fit Gas Cans on a person with a typical European face structure:

Traditional Fit (Click for larger image)

The Traditional Fit frame matches this person’s face pretty well. The test subject felt very comfortable with the frames, there was good eye-to-lens clearance, and there seemed to be plenty of ventilation. The Asian Fit versions also felt comfortable on this person, but as you can see in the second photo, the gaps around the bottom of the frames increased noticeably.

Asian Fit (Click for larger image)

Now let’s look at the two versions of the Straight Jackets on an Asian face:

Traditional Fit (Click for larger image)

You can see that the Traditional Fit Straight Jacket has gaps around the nose, but the Asian Fit frames, with the larger nose pads, manage to correctly position the frames on the subject’s face.

Asian Fit (Click for larger image)

How Well Do They Work?

We’re happy to report that Asian Fit Oakleys, do, in fact, fit us better than their Traditional Fit counterparts. But the degree of fit varies between models. Of the three designs we tried, the Asian Fit Straight Jackets fit us the best, followed by the Asian Fit Gas Can and the Asian Fit Fives. However, my spouse (who is a Filipina, and has a bit more of a nose bridge) found the Asian Fit Gas Cans to be the best for her, followed by the traditional fit Fives, with the other Asian and traditional fit sunglasses trailing behind.

Louis Wellen explained: “Sunglass fit is a personal thing. Just like the Traditional Fit frames, different Asian Fit models will fit different face shapes better. The only way to find the best fit is to actually try on several different styles.”

On-the-water performance was what we expected from Oakley – great visual acuity and outstanding reduction in glare. We’re not opticians, so we won’t try to make any technical claims, but they did work well for us, and improved our vision on the water. Compared to a couple of other brands of polarized and non-polarized sunglasses that we own, the Oakleys exhibited a sharper image (for example, we could see detail on “busy” surfaces more clearly, and distant birds seemed to pop out of the haze at greater distances).

The Hydrophobic coating also seemed to do its job, but was more effective in fresh water than salt. Fresh water splashed on the lenses, either as water drops or bow spray, dried almost completely spot-free. Salt water, however, was a slightly different story.

As most ocean fishermen will tell you, salt water always seems to leave a film on sunglasses. This film usually doesn’t come off without an assist from soap and fresh water. Wiping the lenses off, even with a clean, dry lens cloth, can leave streaks and smudges.

Even with their Hydrophobic coating, salt water spray hitting the lenses of our test sunglasses left some visible spotting when dried. However, it was much easier to clean Hydrophobic lenses to a streak-free finish than the lenses of other sunglasses that we own. We haven’t had the Oakleys long enough to comment on the durability of Hydophobic coatings, but it would probably not be a good idea to get too medieval on them.

Many Oakley molded frames are designed to stay in place on the wearer’s face through all sorts of strenuous activities. To that end, they may feature flexible stems with larger end paddles, which “grip” the wearer’s face. This is very effective at restricting frame movement, but for fishermen who like to constantly remove their sunglasses and let them hang around their necks on a retaining strap (to gain better visibility in low light, or so that they can use reading glasses), these styles of frames may prove cumbersome. If you fall into this category, Oakley also offers polarized sunglasses that feature (slightly) more conventionally styled frames, such as their Nanowire and Half Wire models.

The Bottom Line…

Oakley’s polarized sunglasses offer outstanding sharpness, excellent polarized performance, extremely durable lenses, and stylish frames. With the Asian Fit models, they offer people with small nose bridges and flatter/wider faces another option for achieving a comfortable fit. They are serious contenders in the premium fishing optics market, and the next time you’re in the market for some sunglasses, you owe it to yourself to check them out.

To see the complete Oakley lineup and to visit their online store, go to: http://www.oakley.com.

Oakley sunglasses will also soon be available through one of our sponsors: The Fishermen’s Spot (http://www.fishermensspot.com). Contact Ken, Steve or Dean for more info.

Contributing Editor Nick Curcione reflects on a life spent fishing both coasts. Click HERE to read the full story



by Nick Curcione

When I say that I love to fish (fly-fish) I’m not merely exaggerating. Fishing has dominated my life to the extent that I’ve made major career decisions based in large part on the opportunities I would have to wet a line.

Of course, when you are young you have to play with a hand that’s been dealt primarily by your family circumstances. In terms of fishing, I was pretty lucky in that respect. Growing up in New York in close proximity to Long Island Sound, I had uncles who loved to be out on the water and fishing was the major pastime.

When I was a freshman in high school, my father felt that Los Angeles was the promised land and we made the cross country trek to settle in Manhattan Beach. My devotion to football suddenly evaporated. Instead of tackling dummies and running wind sprints, I spent most of my free time on the local piers catching halibut, mackerel, bonito, sand sharks, perch and even some "log" barracuda. My meager earnings were spent on the local party boats. San Clemente Island was considered an exotic locale.

I fished all through college and graduate school, and when it came time to choose a university for an academic career I wanted a campus that was close to salt water. I really wanted to stay in Southern California but there were no positions at the time. In New York there were much better prospects, and since I had the opportunity to fish the waters of my childhood, I made the move back in the summer of 1970.

This is where I began to fly-fish in earnest. Bluefish on the fly are an incredible experience, but unfortunately during that time the striped bass fishery was in serious decline. During that period I was receiving steady reports of the red-hot bonito fishing in King Harbor. Coincidentally, in an incredible stroke of good luck, my Alma Mater (Loyola Marymount University in Los Angeles) offered me a position. I returned to Southern California in 1973 and remained in the area for the next 27 years.

For at least seven of those years, in the decade of the 90’s, I made annual summer pilgrimages back to the Northeast, and the inshore fishing was nothing short of fabulous. An abundant striper population accompanied the blues, which were often augmented with schools of bonito and false albacore.

With this kind of readily available inshore action, when I took an early retirement from the university, I decided to head back east again. But now, despite eight years of rewarding fishing, the long, cold, grey Northeast winters have lost their novelty. That, coupled with my wife’s constant longing to be closer to her two kids in San Diego, prompted us to relocate back to the Southland. Even though the bonito fishing in King Harbor is only a shadow of what it once was, we opted for our old neighborhood in Redondo Beach.

I now have easy access to one of my all time favorite environments, the surf. On my numerous visits back to the South Bay area during the last few years, I always managed to get in some surf fishing, and I’ve found the perch, corbina, halibut, and yellowfin croaker fishing to be as productive as ever.

So what measure of fishing wisdom do we derive from this seemingly schizophrenic sequence of bi-coastal transitions? The backdrop for this kind of discussion rests on the well-established fact that fishing preferences are highly subjective. Locale determines species, seasons, and accessibility, so obviously where one chooses to live is a major determinant of the type of fishing that presents itself. I won’t attempt to judge the merits of a Northeast vs. a Southern California saltwater fly fishery because it will generate arguments that probably will never be resolved. Simply bear in mind that like most things in life there are pluses and minuses to each area.

One west coast technique that really served me well all those years on the east coast is the use of fast sinking shooting heads. I remember back in the early 70’s, they were practically unheard of, at least among most mainstream salt water fly-fishers. Even today, they are not all that popular back there.

A few of my friends that I turned on to this technique are forever grateful, because they see how useful these lines are, particularly when fishing fast moving rips. I don’t want to appear dogmatic, but you can’t beat shooting heads when you want to probe the depths. For the shore-bound angler, they are one of the most versatile systems you can use. In about a minute’s time you can easily change to a completely different line. I wouldn’t hit the beach anywhere without a few heads stuffed in my pocket.

Regardless of one’s geographical affiliation, there is no denying the fact that the Northeast inshore fishery can border on the phenomenal. Striped bass and bluefish are prevalent and are prime targets for the shore-bound angler. At times, and in certain places, it is even possible for wading anglers to score on bonito and false albacore. During the fall months, which are considered prime time for the aforementioned species, few place anywhere can match the kind of dramatic surface action you’ll find off Montauk. And because it’s a migration period, all these fish can found literally in the same area.

In comparison to Southern California, one of the major distinguishing characteristics of this fishery is the prevalence of surface action. You will find much more opportunity to fish with floating and slow sinking intermediate lines. If you are dialed into the thrill of top water strikes, opportunities abound in the northeast. There are also some great sight fishing opportunities. I’ve had every bit as much fun stalking stripers in the shallows as I’ve had with bonefish and permit in the tropics.

The negative side to this is that the fishing is closely tied to the seasons, and in that respect the window of opportunity can be quite limited. For almost half the year, if you want to fly-fish the salt you have to plan on traveling somewhere south for a considerable distance. Another frustration is that in places like Connecticut the shore access is very limited. If you don’t have a boat (or access to one), your only option is to try and hire a guide, and during peak times, if you are not a regular client that can be a difficult proposition.

I guess what I love most about Southern California is that I can fish the salt all year long without having to hop on a plane. And the inshore access is practically unlimited. About the only expense is feeding the parking meters. In terms of launching your own boat, I would rate the situation in South Bay as abominable. You either have to go to Marina del Rey to the north or head south to the Cabrilla launch in San Pedro. For serious anglers, I find the boat hoist in Redondo to be highly dysfunctional.

Once you do get on the water and head offshore, I think that you will find consistently better fishing (particularly on species like albacore, yellowfin tuna, and sharks) than what normally prevails in the Northeast. We definitely have more months to fish the open ocean, and the weather is usually far more cooperative. And two of our highly prized species, yellowtail and white sea bass, normally do not require much of a boat ride. Yellows are one of my all time favorite species. Whether you’re fishing fairly close to shore or near one of the offshore islands, you would be hard pressed to encounter a critter that pulls with the ferocity of a yellowtail. For me, that alone is worth the trip back home.

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SoCal's oldest fishing club has added fly fishing divisions to their club record books. Click HERE to read the full article.