Posts Tagged With: corbina
mr “pink lips” skinnyheimer…
a slice of humble pie…
well all I can say is even though we are seeing lots of fish, they seem to be spread out and seem to have lock jaw. the beaches have lost most of their structure. it’s like rolling a pair of dice on a flat pool table. I did have my fair share of opportunities this morning but only had two fish bubble up and turn on my fly as to say we are on to you Qman. We know your game and we ain’t going for it. I threw at many singles and had the opportunity of pulling through a few small groups with no love today. My buddy Jim got a hold of one fish that was chin hooked on a pink merkin this morning. I was really happy to finally see a bent fly rod. there were a total of six anglers fishing this morning and I think we all had similar results, that is what keeps us coming back, you don’t always catch em, they can be humbling, challenging, aggravating, comical, etc. For me it is the adrenaline and chase that keeps me focused, I am always trying to make a better cast, timed swing or perfect strip. That’s why it’s called fly fishing an not catching… there’s always another day and another tide.
from steelhead to corbina
Last year I got a call from a steelhead guide from Oregon named Teresa. She was visiting her mom down here in Los Angeles and was mutual friends with some of my old time
Southbay Flyfishing club fishing friend’s, Joe & Jan. Teresa is a real fishy woman, she picked my brain on our local surf and killed it up in Santa Monica last year. I think she even landed a leopard shark.
Well a month or so ago, she emailed and said she wanted to get that elusive corbina tick off her list. She told me when she was coming, the tides were not perfect for sight fishing but I knew there were fish around. I sent her to a spot where we did well the week before. My local sources were still nailing fish, blindcasting (my friend Steve got three this Saturday on a brown sand crab pattern). Teresa had two days to complete her task. The first morning the stars aligned. Here is her email note to me, i love when a plan comes together.
“I’d say this is a very challenging fishery. I had two days to fish it and wish i had three to dial it in even better.
When I actually thought out what a crab pattern tumbling in the surf might look like, on day two, my hook-ups increased dramatically. I blind cast all of the first day, which is the day i caught and landed my first bean. The second day is when I finally saw the fish, watched their behavior and deciphered what a strip might look like to imitate the tumbling of a crab pulled out of the sand by the surf. That changed the game and I started feeling takes and misses, two more hook-ups and one good battle which I lost to the fish and a small halibut, again fair hooked to hand. Day three, I coulda moidered them! Thanks for all the help Al. Without you, i wouldn’t have even known where to begin.
tight lines ,
teresa
teresa caught her fish on a del brown tan merkin ( the original permit pattern)
PS: this week from wednesday through Saturday are prime sight fishing opportunities, if the wind and surf stay down and we get some sunshine it could be great. this tide cycle usually is the last
good shot at getting a bean to eat a fly by sight casting in our area. after this they can be caught but are harder and less interested in the fly, but anything is possible. 🙂
corbina season off to a slow start

tons of crabs due to the cooler water temps have the corbina stuffed with indigestion and closed mouths…2012 © photo by al quattrocchi

too many crabs is making it hard for the fish to get excited about the pink merkin so far this season. hopefully the tide will swing. 2012 © photo by al quattrocchi
well, we are seeing a few beans in the skinny, but not many. the june gloom early cloud cover is making things even tougher. my suggestion is wear glasses with yellow lens in the low light, it will help you to see fish. there are some areas that anglers have reported are full of cruising corbina so you will need to search to find fish. my neck of the woods near LAX has been slow, with occasion fish popping up here and there. my favorite spot this time of year was horrible this morning, full of shovels, and rays. so tomorrow I am on a corbina mission to find new real estate. happy hunting…








