Photo courtesy of Bob Miyamoto.
Posts Tagged With: corbina
pick of the weekend…
Photo courtesy of Bob Miyamoto.
this is why we do what we do….
“Al, I appreciate you! I was hooked after getting my hands on “The Corbina Diaries”. I caught my first corbina on the fly. Thank you for sharing your passion.” – Sam Triantis
PS: Hats off to Kesley and Scott for taking a group of fly anglers out to the surf in good conditions to show them the corbina game. Take note that Sam’s fish was fair-hooked, (in the mouth) there are many fish showing up on instagram these days that are foul-hooked (me and the Corbina Patrol never take a grin and grip shot of a fouled fish, the fish has to eat the fly! That’s the challenge. ), it easy to foul a fish when they stack up in pods. Believe me, we all foul em, you can’t help it when you’re sight casting to groups. It’s a let down for me when that happens, not a celebration. This is a great accomplishment by Sam. His first fair-caught bean in the surf, it doesn’t get better than that. WTG dude! You have become an honorary member of the Corbina Patrol. – Al Q
pic of the day!
pic of the week…
Photo courtesy of Eric Warner.
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: #alquattrocchi, #corbinapatrol, corbina, corbina on fly, HolyMoley
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The Corbina Diaries! Pre-sale is live.
Click here to reserve copies of the book and receive a special Love2FlyFish vinyl decal with each pre-sale book as a thank you.
Don’t miss the opportunity to catch a special limited edition set that includes (1) signed book, (1) 8″ x 10″ color signed corbina photograph, (1) corbina patrol vinyl decal, (1) hand-tied Holy Moley fly by Al Q and a color step by step Holy Moley fly recipe. Supplies will be limited and will not be sold at retail. You can only get this Special Edition here.
The books should be here the middle of next month and will ship as soon as they arrive. I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I enjoyed writing, designing, illustrating, photographing and fishing over twenty years for these crazy fish up and down our California beaches. – Al Q
The conscious choice to fly fish, as opposed to other, often more productive methods, is generally made by way of entering a fraternity of fishers who choose to find places and ways to more closely approach the natural world…to challenge themselves and to employ methods more artful, than “catchfull.” Add sight fishing for a super elusive species, like corbina, to the mix, and you enter a realm known only to a few stalwarts…Al Quattrocchi has stepped up to the task of walking you through that world. You should join him; I certainly shall. – Flip Pallot
Little do beachgoers know the elusive corbina swims at their ankles, all the while keeping a sharp eye out for Al Q. This is the definitive book on saltwater sight fishing in Southern California. – Jimmy Kimmel
Fishing in saltwater poses many challenges as we all know, but when it comes to fishing in the surf for corbina the challenges are far greater. If there is an angler that could simplify these challenges, Al Q is the one. He has been fishing for corbina for many years with excellent results. – Enrico Puglisi
We all should feel fortunate that Al Q has shared his years of knowledge targeting these great West Coast game fish. Al Q is one of fly fishing giants! From his innovative fly designs to his straight forward narrative, this book is a must read for all fly anglers. Thanks Al Q, for making all of us better fly fishermen. – Capt. Conway Bowman
maybe time to change tactics?
photo by Al Quattrochi. This fish ate the fly right on the edge of a crab bed almost exposing his head on dry sand.
As we get deeper into the Corbina season we notice the fish are gorging themselves on sand crabs and they start to get picky. If you are fortunate to fish during the low tides during the late morning or early afternoon when the sun is higher and visibility at its optimum you will notice that the fish get really spooky. You can see them and they can see you! LOL This is the time to switch to a clear intermediate (Aqualux II, pictured below) or slow sink line (Type 3) mainly for low impact and stealth. When the fish get super spooky and are feeding right at the edges of the waves, you need to stay far back and drop down your gear to as light as you can throw for soft landings. This is the time to increase your leader length, and slow your heart rate! LOL
let us take you to the promise land…
My good buddy and “Corbina Whisperer” Jon Nakano will be joining forces with me to help you get that dreaded Corbina tick off your list or perhaps make you a better Corbina fly fisher if you have caught them before. We will be presenting at the Fly Fair at the Glendale Civic Auditorium, both Saturday and Sunday. Jon and I have over forty years combined experience, flyfishing for beans and are willing to share our secrets and experience on the sand with you, so please try not to miss this one, it should be very informative…
Categories: Uncategorized
Tags: #corbinapatrol, corbina, corbinaonfly, flyfishingforcorbina
2 Comments
summer time in bean land…
Photo by Al Quattrocchi
Photo by Al Quattrocchi
Photo by Al Quattrocchi
Photo by Jon Nakano
photo by Al Quattrocchi
Photo by Al Quattrocchi
Photo by Al Quattrocchi
Photo by Al Quattrocchi
photo by Jon Nakano
The new Q EP hi-tie sand crab. Been doing really well with this fly this season so far. I do not figure eight tie in the EP like the surfin merkin, everything is tied on top of the shank and folded back giving the sand crab a more slender higher in the sand profile…keep the tails short, no fouls. they work equally as well in grey and salmon pink. try them and let me know how you do? photo by Al Quattrocchi
Photo by Jim Solomon
The water temps hit the magic mark and the beans are crawling. In the last two days, my buddy Jon Nakano and I landed 8 fish on fly. Four a piece. We each had a few bust off as well. This morning for kicks Jon busted out the spin reel and landed another four within a forty five minute window on live crabs. Pretty sick sight fishing. I have been fishing a slightly different fly pattern than the standard tied surfin merkin I usually fish with confidence. The surfin merkin is wide, they can be trimmed but overall flat in nature. I am making my EP sand crabs a little slender, more of a tear drop shape and taller in profile by stacking the fibers in a hi-tie style and they are getting eaten pretty well, so as they say if it ain’t broke don’t fix it, I am staying with it. I got one fish a week ago on a white, the others all on grey and pink. Grey and pink work equally the same, i have no preference. Size 6 hook. Use a thin wire hook to stick em. My advice for beginners is don’t give up, this is a hard game, one if not the toughest in flyfishing. I have been on it for over twenty years and it still drives me crazy. Spend more time walking and looking for groups of fish, they are your best shot, if you haven’t gotten one on fly yet. Make the cast count, anticipate their next move, think like a corbina, watch the nervous water…and try to continue to breath…lol
confessions of a bean machine…
Jimmy showing me how it’s done. This fish ate the fly in inches of water. Photo by Al Quattrocchi
Photo by Al Quattrocchi Another one chewing gum.
The Qman get one to eat. Photo by Jim Solomon
The beach isn’t always flat. We came up on a nice cut and Jim being the fisherman he is, looked at me and said I am putting on a clouser. We had seen egrets and white bait dimpling on the surface. He tossed into the seam and bang , landed a nice yellowfin croaker. photo by Al Quattrocchi
This morning me and my buddy Jim fished one of our favorite local spots. There were no other anglers around except for a few football players doing drills in the sand. We had an idea where some fish were going to be, given we have been tracking them the last few weeks. It is all about getting enough water on the flat so they could get up and over onto the secondary sand crab flats. We fanned out, Jim sat in the honey hole, I went north looking for signs of life. On the way back, I see Jim’s rod bent, so I scurry back to take his pic. The flat had filled in. He landed a beautiful bean and had her on the sand. I took a few pics and began to fish. He waved me in and said there was a mystery pod, working very shallow, right at the edge of the waves, to fish right there and not to cast to far. I saw some dimpling on the surface which indicated fish but never saw a back, fin or tail. I changed my fly from grey to pink. Made a soft cast as the wave began to push water over the flat and continued to strip the fly until it hit dry sand. On the second cast just before the fly was a foot from coming out of the water a bean rushed and ate, she shook her head as to say WTF! I saw the whole take, it was sweet. Just as Jim predicted, she ate right on the doorstep. I landed her in short order, we high-fived, Jim took a nice pic and off she went back with her friends…
Moral of the story, it is always refreshing to fish with a buddy that doesn’t have an ego, willing to call ya in when the fish were working right in front of him. He wished my fish on me. I wouldn’t have gotten a fish this morning if Jim didn’t show his experience and sportsmanship. I didn’t have to write this, but I feel it is important because this used to be a normal occurrence. Something changed. I see anglers today, that only care about how many they caught and will throw over your back to catch them. If you hook a fish they run right up to where you are and start casting before you even land your fish. That wasn’t the case this morning. I will take one fish, out of kindness, to forty. It should be fun not competitive. Thanks Jim! Tight lines and have fun out there…
-Qman
smackdown in bean town…
she ate the bubblegum before breakfast. a big mistake. photo by Al Q
I field tested a new SLV Okuma fly rod the past week that a buddy got me ands far landed seven species on it. Check out the Fly Zone with me and Jim Solomon to learn more about sight casting for corbina.
Tod goes three for five after a long beanies streak on the sand. He was on fire! photo by Al Q
Jim Solomon, Fly Zone master with one of two beans landed on Father’s Day. All on the pink surfin merkin. WTG Jimmy. photo by Al Q
a new EP sand crab I have be working on, Ill be tying some of these this weekend at the Fly Stop in San Diego this Saturday from noon to three pm.
Tod working his third bean of the morning on a pink modified, surfin merkin
Brad, a newbie to the corbina patrol and flyfishing for corbina, landing his third bean in two days on the surfin merkin.
Yes dreams do come true. Brad with a beauty that took him into his backing. Photo by Al Q
I love those days when the wind is down, the swell is dead flat and the sun lights up the water like your in the Bahamas fishing for bonefish in a swimming pool. You can spot Corbina all lit up, a half a mile a way. NOT!!!!
Sunday’s early morning session was crazy with rain, wind, no sun, choppy surf. Even though conditions were not favorable, our Corbina posse landed seven fish, which is an above the average Corbina count, given this fish’s ability to drive you crazy and have lock jaw often… we had a small swell but the wind tended to foam up the beach making sight fishing pretty difficult, so what do ya do? You can go home and curl up in bed or you can tough up and spend more time searching and less time standing around waiting for something to happen. The moral of the story? Study the beach, walk! Once we located fish in one particular area the boys put a hurt on them. Tod who went through a long fishes streak, hooked five and landed three. It can be done, I have seen this scenario played out before. This game is about perseverance, don’t get frustrated. the more time you put in on the beach the more the rhythms of the beach become apparent. Watching these fish work the surf line is for me just as cool as catching them. Be one with the bean! The anglers that catch them consistently are usually in areas where the corbina are most of the time. Finding those areas is what separates the average weekend warrior with the seasoned veterans. Even on beaches with no structure the fish spread out but there will be a small seam or slight depression or sand crab bed that will concentrate more fish in a particular area. This is what we look for, it is prime real estate in bean town baby. Tight lines
-Al Q
flies, sand & surf 