Sticky Ferrule

I was recently back in San Diego for a conference and to visit my family for a few days. The last time I was there over the winter I gave some surf fishing a try. I didn't catch anything but during the winter there are not too many fish in the surf. Summer on the other hand is sand crab spawning time and the beaches are alive with all sorts of fish and little crabs diving under the sand in the breakers.
This time, I decided to get some flies at a local shop and figure out what equipment I should be using. Basically, I found out that I didn't have any of the right equipment with me. I left my 9 wt at home due to lack of carry on capacity and I figured I could borrow my Dad's 5wt. The 9wt would have been okay, maybe a little heavy. My intermediate line would work okay as a running line but I really needed a shooting head. And a striping basket, for sure. I know, a striping basket for surf/beach fishing sounds funny but, as I found out later, they are absolutely required. I read on a forum somewhere that a pretty nice striping basket could be made from a small dish tub and a nylon cinching belt. In fact, a very nice striping basket can be made form the a fore mentioned parts and everything, including a waterproof box for my camera, can be found at walmart for less than $15 (the striping basket parts totaled $4 the waterproof box was $11). So, with a under-weighted rod, no shooting head, and some pretty bulky heavy flies, I tried surf fishing.

Torry Pines State Beach

I was standing about where this is about to crash.  Not as much fun with a striping basket and a rod as it is while swimming

Surf fishing with a trout rod.  Don't try this at home. Notice the size of the fly I was trying to cast.  It's almost as long as my reel. 

Can you tell I really set myself up behind the eight ball? Yeah, here we go. My first tip is make sure the striping basket is in the right spot. There is nothing worse than striping in a bunch of line directly into the tumbling surf. If you think a current does bad stuff with striped in line you should see what the surf can do. Second tip: pick a beach that has some time between breakers. I tried Torry Pines State beach first and really had a tough time. I waded in about up to my waist which is right about where the shore break was crashing. The waves were about 1.2 seconds apart which gave me about 10 feet to cast before the next wave would crash and send my line every which way. The idea is to wait for a wave to break in front of you and cast between waves. Since there was no time between waves, there was no place to fish. I left defeated and pretty wet. I was fishing in my trunks with my shirt on and I was soaked. I got back to the car and realized I forgot a towel too. Now I was wet, fishes and very frustrated.

This sport did not exist in San Diego when I moved away. 

I headed back up north to try and find a beach with more spaced out waves. Once I go up to Carlsbad I found a nice stretch of beach that was flatter and seemed to be just what I was looking for. I waded out and realized what my next problem was going to be. It turns out, that I can cast a surf fly with a 5wt about 40 feet which is about 40 feet too short. I had huge open stretches of water to cast to but I could only get my fly out maybe 50 feet if I really tried hard. I see why a 7wt with a nice shooting head is standard equipment. Once again I couldn't shake the skunk and I went back in.

Carlsbad State beach

I learned a few things. Having the right tool for the job is just as important in fly fishing as all other endeavors. Its just too bad my wife doesn't understand why I need ANOTHER fly rod and another fly line and oh yeah, another reel that won't get destroyed in salt water. Maybe if I move back to San Diego I'll get the right stuff but for now, maybe next time I'm in town I'll try out the sweet water river with my 3 wt for some trout.