Surf Fishing in Monterey

by Ed Hood May 22, 2014

Fly-fishing the surf zone is a bit of a new experience for me. I’ve always had a strong interest in exploring it more but never explored any opportunity to really learn it on the water. Learning the theory is all fine and dandy, but saltwater fishing is a very abundant local resource, so why let it go to waste?

Over the past weekend, I finally took a formal surf fishing class from Geoff Malloway, owner of Central Coast Fly Fishing in beautiful Carmel Valley, CA. He helped me polish up my shooting head casting abilities and then him and a couple of his buddies took us out to the beach and had us put our skills to the test.

What always sparked my interest in this form of fly-fishing wasn’t just that it offers plentiful opportunities at catching amazing fish approximately 30 min. from San Jose, but how dynamic the environment is. The characteristics of the beach and water changes practically hourly, keeping things fresh and interesting. There’s always something to learn on the beach, and strong, hungry fish are always on the hunt. What hindered me from getting into it sooner, which seems to be common among anglers in my position, was my little understanding of reading water, conditions, and the habits of the fish. Much to my surprise, the beach and water characteristics are not much different from those in a river. For the sake of post length, I won’t go into too much detail, but you will likely be very surprised with how simple surf fishing actually is. The most difficult part is dealing with the elements and waves… and that’s not really all that difficult either. I recently had a customer who went surf fishing once, felt like he was going to die, and never wants to do that again. If you feel like you’re going to die, you probably shouldn’t be fishing that day anyway. Much like in a river; if it’s raging and you feel like you’re going to die, DON’T FISH THERE! As you can see in my photo above, wading in the small breakers doesn’t pose much more danger than wading a river. Just use common sense and you’ll be fine.

Geoff teaching good casting practices.

Sitting in front of the shop working on rigging

What also prompted me to get more serious about saltwater fishing is the drought. If you’re sitting around being bummed because you’re not hearing good reports from your favorite river, get off your butt and learn about saltwater fly fishing. The fish are amazing, it’s very close, and there are hundreds upon hundreds of locations to fish! And they are not affected by low water! There is no need to strain your eyes threading a size 20 zebra midge with a 5x tippet… size 6 to 2/0 and 30# tippet is the norm. You can practically see those from space!

Essential Surf Fishing Gear

As you are quite aware, fishing the surf (and saltwater) is a completely different type of animal from trout fishing. You will need different tools to do the job well. But who doesn’t like to go on a gear shopping spree?

• Quality large arbor reel: Saltwater fish are strong, even the small ones. You also may catch something you were not expecting at all… like a seal. DO NOT skimp on your reel at all! A reel with a sealed drag will also resist premature breakdown by salt and sand. Orvis’ Mirage reel does a phenominal job with this.
• Stripping basket: Important for controlling slack line and will make shooting line easier. It is also great for preventing slack line from wrapping around your legs, which could be very dangerous. There are all sorts of baskets out there, many homemade. Just make sure there are prongs to resist line coil and holes to drain water. A rigid basket is recommended as waves could collapse a foldable one. I personally use the Orvis version. Steep price, but a quality basket. Just make sure you drill holes in the bottom.
• Shooting lines (fast sink, intermediate, floating): Shooting heads are wonderful things. With very little effort, you will be able to cast 80+ feet and quickly get the fly down to where it needs to be. There are a ton of lines out there, but you can go a couple of different routes: Integrated Lines – smoother to cast, better tapering, can’t quickly adapt to changing conditions. Head with separate running line– not as smooth to cast but more adaptable to changing conditions; also don’t need a spare spool and line. I use the latter setup and I will bring my Scientific Anglers shooting heads: Deep Water express, type V tungsten head, intermediate, and floating.

 

The surf fishing getup

• Waders: I personally like fishing the surf in bootfoot waders (the only time I’ll fish in bootfoot waders). It keeps the sand and junk out of your boots and are very comfy if you aren’t doing too much walking. Stockingfoot waders will do just fine also. Waders are optional, but the water is cold and the weather may be colder (typical northern/central California summers). Keeping waders in the car when you get to the beach may be a smart idea.
• Tackle: Don’t worry about tapered leaders. Just bring some 30# or 40# tippet, tie on about 6-feet via loop-to-loop, and that’s it! The fish are not leader shy and you will enjoy not breaking off every time you hook into a piece of kelp. For flies, the fish aren’t too particular either. Sand crab imitations and baitfish work well. Check out Mark Won’s website and Glenn Yoshimoto’s website for some good ideas for flies. Again, the fish aren’t too picky and anything that swims will likely work. Flies with a little orange in it are common as it imitates sand crab eggs, an important food source.

Molted sand crab exoskeletons. The sign of a healthy beach.

Nice flippers! Like little shovels on the end of their legs.

Bright orange eggs, some 40,000 of them. Surf species love ’em!

The day was a little slow, but a few fish were caught. I got a 10″ steelhead smolt (yes, steelhead… told you that you may catch something very unexpected) to hand before the ridiculously strong fish transferred the hook from its lip to my hand, so no photo of that one but a couple of jacksmelt were caught as well, a favorite for seals. Pretty fish and they put up an amazing fight and never give up, but very smelly.

Jacksmelt: a pretty and strong fish but smelly!

Now is the time to get out there and learn how to fly-fish the surf. There are some excellent websites and books out there. Ken Hanley’s book, Fly Fishing Afoot in the Surf Zone is the rosetta stone for west coast surf fishing, but don’t fall into the rut like I did and never put the knowledge to use. It’s easier and more fun than you think. This is a good year to ditch trout fishing and explore other fly-fishing opportunities.

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