super large arbor reel, 20 weight, 0ne piece, 6 foot fly rod with fighting butt, straight 200# tippet, 40/0 seal fly, cast less than thirty feet, presentation irrelevant! probably do not have to reach the water for a take. oh, and good boots with metal spikes!  this would not be catch and release, it would be catch and run for your life. (grin)

there are a few chunky yellow fin croaker still eating flies in the early am. photo by Al Q

got out for a few hours on saturday morning, i fished up in santa monica. tide was falling, surf was a little off color.
there was a strong current as well. glad I had my t-11 shooting head. i was looking for a spring halibut, i was throwing larger olive and white bend backs but received no love, so I switched up to fish a few smaller perch patterns and immediately got slammed by a few nice yellowfin croaker. later i met another fly angler and he asked me what flies are preferred  to catch these croaker. in my experience any fly that represents bait. these fish usually school and push bait close to shore in the early am, i usually catch them in low light, once the lights come on they move to deeper water. chartreuse/white, olive over white, red and brown/orange flies tied a little longer  clouser-style with flash on #4s will usually get the job done.

beach power plant in el segundo. photo by Al Q

pop fly with a fat barred surf perch that was released. photo by Al Q

Surf fishing buddy, Jim Solomon with a fine yellowfin croaker that ate a small clouser in tight…photo by Al Q

it doesn’t get better fishing with pops and your buddy on a beautiful spring friday morning just before work. water clarity was a little murky, there was some salad from the past few days of wind, but the sea was laying down and the high falling tide gave up a few nice fish. it was good to get my dad back on the beach, it has been a while and i think he got the surf fever again, hope to see him on the sand more often in the coming months. the old baseball stories at breakfast were epic too.