Central Coast Fly Fishing Report

Dagur Fly Fishing Reports on December 15th, 2024

It’s that wonderful time of year when midges emerge from the Central Coast lakes by the thousands and provide the king of sportfish, the common carp, with a giant buffet of food in the surface film. We’re finding big groups of carp scattered around deeper river channels in Lake San Antonio and Lake Nacimiento feeding on morning and afternoon midge hatches, providing plenty of action on midge emergers, midge clusters and even some terrestrials following the rains. This is technical fishing, where you need accurate casts and delicate presentations, but the rewards are some of the largest carp of the year, as we tend to run into fish that don’t often come up shallow during the flats season. 

The spotted bass fishing at Lake Nacimiento has been solid, a good start to the winter season. Dead sticking leeches and unweighted baitfish on a sink tip is a good way to get into the suspended schools of bass, which have been grouping up along main lake points and steeper bluff walls. This is also a good time to use the bobber and get them on balanced baitfish flies if you’re feeling lazy. 

If you’re feeling salty, this is the start to my favorite time in the surf zone, when the larger mama perch come in shallow. The beaches north of Morro Bay have been productive, but my favorite beaches are in the stretch from southern Big Sur and into San Simeon. These small isolated beaches make for a fun day, as some will fish better on incoming tides and others better on the outgoing tide, and jumping between beaches can be very productive. 

Winter on the Central Coast is awesome, and the mix of different fisheries keeps things interesting all through the cooler months. The occasional rain storm moving through freshens up the lakes with different food, and creates structure on the beaches. It should be a killer winter season!