Central Coast Surf Fishing

This season has been a record one for the number of fish we have been seeing/ hearing about on the Central California Coast Line. Striper are being caught throughout Seaside and up into Half Moon bay. 

Many more fish in the "Shaker" category have been found but many other "keeper" sized fish are in the mix as well. No monsters reported as of late, but that is to be expected post Striper Spawn.

Evan Praskin Reports:

The striper run this year is off to a crazy good start with nice fish already mixed in with the Diaper stripers.

I have the feeling this year will be one of those magical Surf Stripers years like we have been waiting for. Bass are being caught from Santa Cruz county all the way to the corner in Seaside with many fish in the 20-24” class and chunky.

These fish will remain in our system throughout the summer and get nice and fat on the baitfish that hold in Monterey bay. We should be seeing some mega Bass throughout the summer months.

Perch fishing has also been great for many anglers with some nice sized Barred beauties in the 15” range. If you head out, I’d be fishing 3-5” clouser patterns like the Adachi which should produce both species. Of course my go to Trench Bomb will be landing fish all season.

Can’t forget to mention that halibut are also in the mix right now with some legal length fish being landed on flatter sections of the coastline. You just never know what you will hook out here this time of year!

Be safe, watch your back casts, and I’ll see you on the beach!

 LCO Surf Clinics are in full swing! Join in this Spring/ Summer for a great event that welcomes you into the surf. We aim to help you develop a foundation that is based in understanding the surf, the equipment and the fish that we may run into out on the water.

Lost Coast Outfitters Fishing Report 4/15/23

Spring Fishing has begun! We are stoked to have the report back up and running. We are now working with additional independent guides throughout Northern California as well. Ready to provide a consistent source of up-to-date information for all of of our local waterways and beyond.

The Bay/Beach: The beaches are on the edge of turning on. The bulk of our beach adventures have had to occur further away from home.. areas such as Monterey and Santa Cruz have found schools of striped willing to take a fly. As the bay clears up and water temps begin to rise slightly, more fish will become readily available off of Ocean, Baker and Crissy!

Take a look at our Local Surf Clinics or Call the shop for more info!

Lower Feather River-

The Lower Feather River flows just dropped to around 1100 in the low flow but it still around 9k in the high flow. We have been catching fish in both. There are a lot of fresh spring steelhead in the system and April and May are some of my favorite months to be out there. I was out there three days ago and fishing was great, lots of suckerfish are stacked up and getting their black stripes on the sides in their normal haunts, putting the steelhead on the chow. Go to flies have been sucker spawn and alevins as well as red headed step childs and caddis. Similar to the Yuba's current big water state, soft seams and slower runs will often be the best producers. The spring is the best time of year out there to swing a fly out there and they eat it aggressively. 

Call Ben Thompson to get out on the Lower Sacramento Or Feather River: 916-743-8290

Sacramento/San Joaquin Delta

Delta is still challenging to fish, been managing around 10 fish or so over the past week. Finding cleaner water can be difficult as silt is floating around with the tides. Water temperatures are around 60 degrees but clarity is only around 2’ or so. The Steve Adachi Black with grizzly hackle Clouser has been doing the trick in dirty water! On a positive note, each day this past week we’ve had shots at a 10+ lb fish, a few solid 3-5# fish & some shakers in the mix. Hopefully the waters continue to clear up & more fish show up for the Spring Spawn!

Call Bryce Tedford for trips on the Delta year-round: 206-696-2437

Call Patrick MacKenzie year-round for guided trips on the Napa River: 707-721-6700

The lake is nearly full, water falls are flowing, and timber is flooding. Fish are on the feed during the morning and afternoon with a bit of a slowdown from 11am-1pm. Fishing the float n' fly is catching the most fish but fish are shallow enough that a popper dropper or streamer rig is also getting fish. Fishing should remain good through April into June

Ryan Williams Reports Lake Oroville- 

The prime spring season is slowly shaping up. Water temps are still cold at 52-56. Once the temps hit 60 the action will really turn on. When this happens the 50-100+ fish days will start on the main lake. Still waiting on the topwater & streamer bite to begin. Should begin around the 60 degree mark or even a bit less. For the time being it's all float n fly. Going anywhere from 6'-9' leaders. Currently we're getting about 20-40 fish per day between two anglers. Lots of really nice bass being caught lately, hard to find small ones. Big full bellies getting ready to spawn in the next month or so. The bite is going all day. Mornings and evenings have been best, but we are catching fish throughout the afternoons. Some afternoons have really shaped up to fish really well, producing bigger fish. As far as structures go, we have been fishing lately on points, tributaries, and shade in various canyons.

If you are itching to try Float and Fly Fishing with a fly rod The Cal Bass Union can get you Dialed in! 

 

Putah Creek

Slow start to our Putah Creek Fishing Season. The rains kept us at bay due to limited visibility. Current conditions are challenging as Hwy 128 is currently CLOSED. This is a note pulled off of The Cal Trans Website:

[IN THE NORTHERN CALIFORNIA AREA]
IS CLOSED FROM THE SOLANO/YOLO CO LINE TO 4.6 MI EAST OF THE SOLANO/YOLO CO LINE /AT PLEASANT VALLEY RD/ - DUE TO A SLIDE - MOTORISTS ARE ADVISED TO USE AN ALTERNATE ROUTE

Join us Wednesday April 26th from 5:30pm and on at the Shop for our

Putah Creek *Shop Talk* 

Evan Praskin Reports on 10.6.20

Hey my salty surf charging fanatics! Fresh report from the Monterey Bay Area. The mass of salty bass have definitely made their way north from MB to SF Bay, though we always have some lingering around because let’s face it, our water is beautiful!

We have been getting out all over this past week catching halibut and Stripers toward SF and handfuls of perch down in MB. Plenty of action to be had this time of year and now is the time to connect with some of our awesome local surf species. As we climb further into winter, the perch should become more frequent and larger fish will start showing up(MB area). If your closer to SF bay you have great fishing all the way until thanksgiving, so dust off those rods, tie on your favorite Adachi clouser, and go get em. We’ll see you on the beach!

Ben Engle Reports 9.18.2020

STRIPERS ARE BACK IN THE BAY!!! 

Join Us for a Surf Clinic

Fishing has been picking up the last month in the bay.  From as far north as San Pablo bay to the south bay more and more people are hooking into striped bass, halibut, and in some cases closer to the gate even surf perch.  For most of you Crissy field is the best option as far as either honing your skills in an area with some fish around.  Whether you are just learning the cast or a skilled caster Crissy Field is a great option right in our backyard!

As far as tides go I tend to like the hour before and the hour after BOTH low and high tide.  Keep in mind that the wind in the mornings and the evenings is significantly less. Any time you have less wind out there casting is always a little more "Fun". For the next couple of days and into next week our mornings are looking pretty prime.  Low tide at first light tomorrow and similar times through the weekend should add up to some fish

What you'll need to be successful out there:

Rod: any 5-8 wt rod (Switch or Single Hand)

most of the fish we find off crissy tend to be in the "schoolie" size and come in between 16 and 24 inches.  While these fish pack a punch crissy can be a great option for either throwing your traditional 8wt or even lining down to a rod that makes the smaller fish a little more fun (like a 9' 6wt or even 9' 5 wt) Hit us up at the shop if you have any questions about converting one of your favorite trout rods into a potential surf stick!

Lines: Intermediate Sink (1-2 ips )or Type 3(3-4ips)

Either of these 2 lines will work but i prefer the type 3 for most days out at crissy.  The intermediate line allows you to play with the fly a little more through the retrieve with longer pauses through your retrieve due to the slower sink rate. Conversely you can throw a faster sink line out there (like a type 6 which is 6-7 ips) if you want to get deeper but make sure you are stripping quickly as you will definitely bump bottom on some areas of the beach. Learn more about fly lines for fishing the the surf. 

Leader: Wingspan (4-6feet) of 20-25lb fluorocarbon 

Flies: Adachi Clousers!!!

There are tons of flies on the market but as a fly tyer myself, I can say there are few I buy, but i buy Adachi Clousers.  As far as lifespan of a fly nothing compares to these three step epoxy coated beasts.  And they fish better than anything.  Grab a couple of both the size 2's and the 1/0's for the bay. Shop Flies

Fish have definitely started showing up on our coastal beaches.  Been noticing a lot more birds hanging around Ocean Beach and Stinson which means they're chasing the same thing the Stripers are, and that's baitfish.  

Get out there early in the morning to avoid wind and keep an eye on tides.  Remember out there that a long cast can help but even if you're casting 40 feet you have a solid chance at fish.  Make sure you are keying in on rips, buckets, and troughs out there and make sure as always that you are covering water efficiently and not staying in one spot for too long. Most of our local beach parking lots are officially open as well but feel free to give us a call if you have any specific beaches in mind and are wondering if they are open.

Evan Praskin Reports on 6.20.20

Hey everyone, here is a fresh update for the Monterey Bay surf. Stripers are still being caught throughout the bay from Santa Cruz to Monterey. The fish have spread out a bit more now giving many beach chargers a shot at connecting with one of these salty beauties. SC side has some MAJOR bait balls in the area, some half the size of a football field!

Lots of bird diving action along with bass “Blitz’s”( what is this the east coast?!) though we have had some slow days, the action overall is very good. Halibut are also being caught close to shore on the calmer beaches in town, along with some amazing perch action to fill in the slow periods. Some really nice size models are being caught towards the high tide as everything fills in.

The usual small clouser and crab patterns are the ticket. For the halibut let your fly sink and strip it with a slow, repetitive pop retrieve. Hope everyone is enjoying summer as best you can, we’ll see you on the beach! 

Evan Praskin Reports On 6.8.20

Schooools out, for, Summa! Well here we are folks, we made it to summer break. Not sure how we got here so fast, but I think we all were ready for some hot and sunny days! The striper action remains great in Monterey Bay along with some really nice sized perch mixing in. Currently the water in Monterey county has been pretty dirty with a red tide. If you're committed, and know where to look, you can find some clean areas or just contribute to cleaning the ocean of weeds and kelp until you get a bite. Watsonville/Santa Cruz water has been very mellow and much cleaner so if you're planning to get out I would head towards the north side for now. 4-6" clousers chart/white green/white blue/white have all caught fish, but with the mellow swell don't be afraid to bust out that intermediate and throw some deceiver style flies or even some topwater!

I will add that just as many bass are coming in on the sand crab patterns, so pull out those trench bombs and swing away! Some bass caught on the double fly setup have chosen the crab over the clouser so don't be afraid to give them some options. The top of the incoming tide or close to it have produced the most fish, but lately we have been catching them on the outgoing as well. Hope everyone is out and safely enjoying the fresh air, we'll see you on the beach!

Evan Praskin Reports on 5.28.20

What’s up all my surf fishing people! Hope you all are hanging in there through these crazy times. Wanted to get out a quick surf update and let you all know some of the low down for the Monterey Bay beaches. Unfortunately during the last few months rules and regulations were changing back and forth with some false or misleading info mixed in as well. First let’s talk about the fish! The stripers are here and have been for some time, of course during the same time the SIP was ordered. Along with the bass, there has been some very good perch action to fill in the slower days. In general we have had some beautiful weather with very fishable conditions. Typical clouser patterns 4-6” are working for both perch and bass(Chartreuse over white/ blue over white), of course your smaller sand crab imitations are catching fish as well(fish them both!)