LaJolla Surf/New Prehistoric Soul Member

[Msimpauco]

  Hi everyone my name is Marvin and I am an member on here. Been lurking this thread for a couple months and I really enjoy seeing everyone's fishing posts.

   I decided to post something after fishing the surf during lunch time in La Jolla. I hit the beach and saw there was A LOT of salad in the water but still decided to throw a Daiwa SP Minnow in the pockets of water. 4-5 casts later I was rewarded with a nice Calico 😊😊. My FIRST fish caught in the surf on a Crank Bait...which I lost to a snag in some weeds a few casts later.
Time to buy a new Lure, any suggestions?


  All in all it was soo much fun finally catching a fish in the surf like that. Maybe next time I'll try SandCrabs for croaker/Corbina. Thanks for reading,  I look forward to meeting/fishing with some of you local guys in San Diego!

[Latimeria]

Welcome Marvin!  Nice bass you caught there and glad you signed up to the forum.

I would keep throwing similar baits to what you lost, but maybe switch out the hooks to inline single hooks over the trebles.  It might snag less grass and give you a better opportunity to landing a nicer one.

I've been playing around with irons in the surf recently and had some luck which I hope to build on.

Anyway, great LJ report.  It is always so weedy down there, but the payoff is usually some nice fish if you can get between all the salad in the water.

Once again, Welcome!

[Pinoyfisher]

Nice! Welcome.

[xjchad]

Nice checker Marvin!  I'm still hunting my first surf Calico.
Welcome to the forum, there's a lot of good guys here.
Looking forward to your future reports!

[BenCantrell]

Welcome, and nice catch!   That's really big for a daytime calico from the surf!

I'm fairly new out here as well - let me know if you ever want to target something together.  If you want a corbina, I'd jump on it right away before it cools off any more.  I've only caught two myself, but it looks like this is the year for them based on all the reports on the various forums.

[sasquatch]

Nice bass.

[BackBayMan]

Hi Marvin, welcome to the forum and nice fish!

[Msimpauco]

Thanks for the welcome everyone. I went out again yesterday right before sunset to try using Top Water Pencils but got no hits. Has anyone had any luck using top water lures in the surf?

Switched back to a Diving Daiwa SP Minnow and landed a Calico that put up a good fight. Haven't changed my hooks to inline single hooks yet as there wasn't much salad around. But I definitely will change em out next time!

[lightline21]

Welcome, Marvin! Congrats, on that calico! You find some really nice people on this site. So, keep posting those pictures and updates. Once again, welcome.

[Fish Jerk]

Welcome aboard and congratz on some nice checkers. 

I would like to point out that unless you are keeping them, please don't hold them by their gill plates, it is way to easy to damage their gills and can add significantly to post-release mortality.  It is much better to hold them by their lower lip, or a lip gripper device. I have been using one lately that i picked up in BPS for around $10-12. Not a boga but works and is small enough.

[xjchad]

Thanks for the reminder Ron!
Could you post a pic or link of your gripper? I need to pick one up too.

[Eric H]

Surf Calicos are fun.

Like Ron said, keep those fingers out there gills. You could easily cause one to bleed out.

Keep the surf Calicos coming