Fly Fishing The Pacific Ocean

Kevin DeGulis reports on 7.12.18

Since the beginning of June, the LCO team has switch gears from bay to open beaches. This fishery is so dynamic, I have had to switch tactics as well.

LCO Teammate Ben Engle painting

Two hands rods! The casting takes a while to get down but like anything practice makes perfect. Don’t get me wrong you can catch fish in the open ocean with a single hand rod. But let’s be honest when fly fishing in the Pacific you need all the help you can get, battling large swell, heavy winds, and line control. Not only you can cast much further, but it’s more comfortable on your shoulders which makes fishing a little more enjoyable. Lately, the LCO team has been driving up and down Highway 1 in search of migrating fish.

LCO Teammate Steve Adachi with a nice 15 pound Striped Bass

Since I was little, I have dreamed of traveling California coast as my father did before me. Exploring the beautiful cliffs, wildflowers, and swell to surf, it sounded too good to be true for a kid from Cleveland Heights, Ohio. And that’s without realizing that Migrating striped bass would be in these areas also! 

So take a drive and explore one of the most iconic coasts in the land of sunshine. Be camera ready, be ready to go slow and embrace the “live and let live” lifestyle that California has embodied for decades. Oh and hang on, these stripers don’t play around.