© 2012 photos by adam perry lang and al quattrocchi
well august is upon us and massive crab beds are still bubbling under the sand’s surface as summer’s slow rolling waves recede back to the sea. this is good for corbina but often times no good for the angler. me and friend, adam have found large schools of healthy corbina doing what corbina do, gorging themselves. in the last four days have hooked at least 7 and put five on the beach, unfortunately all of these fish were FOUL HOOKED. why? well, i believe there is too much food for these fish to want to aggressively grab a fly. we have been putting our flies right in their kitchen but to no avail. frustrating but still fun! all the fish we landed were all healthy fish with big fat bellies full of sand crabs. in past years i have witnessed the same behaviors. these fish get less grabby as we head towards the end of the summer. the first two, minus low tide cycles in july have always been money for fair-hooked fish in the past, with the second not as good as the first. maybe they are on some sort of spawn cycle, who knows? for my friend adam, who has just started fishing our west coast beaches, it has been a great lesson in sighting corbina, observing their shallow water feeding and behavior. it never gets old for me when you look over your shoulder and see your friend hooked up with a big smile on their face…the tug will always be the drug! hopefully this foul cycle will change and they will start eating our bugs…
flies, sand & surf 
Argg! I wish I could be out there! When beans have been gorging themselves through summer on crabs I have sometimes had success with with offering a bait fish imitation like an olive over white clouser. I know it seems counter-intuitive, but the fly does stand out as a quality snack in the midst of a bed of scrambling crabs and will often draw their attention away. My 2c 😉
i agree changing to something else might turn them on…even if is just for the sake of showing them something different. i have taken them on olive/white clousers early in the season, it is worth a shot …thanks doug!