“Getting in my wiggle for the day,” is my simple and truthful explanation when people call and asked what I’m doing. Those who know me understand it means I stopped by the beach to make a few casts and get back into nature.
For much of my life I have kept a lightweight two-piece surf rod and a canvas creel with a tackle pack in the back of my car. That is my reminder and incentive to create a break somewhere in my day (preferably during an incoming tide, near high tide) to stop by a beach, take off my shoes and make some casts.
Even just a 20-minute break does the trick. I feel reabsorbed into nature and remember my place in the food chain. If I am lucky, I might also get to remember how delicious a fresh fish meal is that evening, unless I’m just doing catch-and-release fishing that day.
No offense to the grocery stores, but their fish is usually days old, and I’m very spoiled. If my fish dinner wasn’t swimming just a few hours ago, I pass.
We have a great exception to that rule however, thanks to the Fisherman’s Market down at the harbor. You can buy very fresh seafood right from the boats of our local commercial fisherfolk. Those guys and gals lead interesting lives and are fun to chat with.
When making some casts into the surf, there are plenty of species of fish, sharks and rays to hope to hook into. The most common catch is a barred surf perch, which are fun, and a big one is nearly the size of a dinner plate.
People try to catch halibut, cabezon, rockfish, sharks and rays, depending on where they fish and what they use for bait or lures.
One of the most difficult to catch is the corbina, which we call the “ghost of the surf.” They are a member of the croaker family and are very tasty. They forage in very shallow water for sand crabs and other delectable meals.
They are often in water so shallow that their backs may be partially out of the water when working a receding wave to suck a sand crab out of the sand.
Most people want to wade out into the surf and make a long cast. That is fine for some species of fish, but corbina are probably swimming around their feet. In many cases, I’ve found myself sight-casting to feeding corbina. Even then, it can take extreme patience over many trips to hook one.
My grandson Shaun Vague, Jr. won a surf fishing contest this season by catching a corbina. My friend Sean Hastings caught a very impressive 22-inch corbina at East Beach.
“I meatballed four small sand crabs onto a size 6 hook, with 6-pound leader and quarter-ounce weight,” Hastings said.
That is a good technique to tempt a fine fish. When told I was writing about this fine catch, Sean added, “Mention the feeling of inadequacy and sleeplessness and being ostracized by the family, while in pursuit … and how it was all worth it!”
Congratulations to both Shaun and Sean.
— Capt. David Bacon operates WaveWalker Charters and is president of SOFTIN Inc., a nonprofit organization providing seafaring opportunities for those in need. Visit softininc.blogspot.com to learn more about the organization and how you can help. Click here to read previous columns. The opinions expressed are his own.
