Santa Cruz red tide skunk

Originally planned a ling hunt in the kelp beds, but the red tide was nasty. I headed out past the mile buoy to try to escape the mess, but it was red more than a mile out. Too rough to go any further, so I drifted for a while and headed back in when the swell got bigger. The ride tide was so dense, my depth finder would sometimes register 9 feet when I was in 60 FOW. It was a great day for a paddle, but no ling for Thanksgiving. Luckily, I was able to catch a salmon filet at New Leaf market on the way home.

Way to get out and give it a go, Bill. 

I'd like to see a pic of that red tide...   

Eric

Way to get out and give it a go, Bill. 

I'd like to see a pic of that red tide...   

Eric

I didn't shoot any photos of the water, but it looked anywhere from reddish-brown or brown-green and dense. Very low visibility.

Is it my imagination or has this red tide lasted longer than normal?  In Aptos its been around for over a month

I was down at the wharf in Monterey yesterday and it is still bad here too.

Is it my imagination or has this red tide lasted longer than normal?  In Aptos its been around for over a month

Apparently, it's the most intense red tide since the 1980's:

http://www.santacruzsentinel.com/story.php?sid=45002&storySection=Top+Stories

I did catch some (6 or 7, lost count) surfperch at sundown on the 21st @ seabright.

small fish, but aggressive steady bite. all released.
on a 1.5" perch power grub, baitcaster with 17lb trilene XL on 8' fiberglass crappie rod, 1oz egg.

was fun using a baitcaster and fiberglass rod instead of spinning reel and graphite rod. still felt
the bite, even on the little guys.

some redtide for sure, but I guess they are still eating.

John

I did catch some (6 or 7, lost count) surfperch at sundown on the 21st @ seabright.

small fish, but aggressive steady bite. all released.
on a 1.5" perch power grub, baitcaster with 17lb trilene XL on 8' fiberglass crappie rod, 1oz egg.

was fun using a baitcaster and fiberglass rod instead of spinning reel and graphite rod. still felt
the bite, even on the little guys.

some redtide for sure, but I guess they are still eating.

John

I was just hiking at Wilder Ranch today. No red tide at all, even though it's only a couple of miles north of Santa Cruz.

I stuck a couple more surf perch this morning (2007/11/24) @ seabright beach.

saw two other (old, little skinny asian) dudes fill a plastic bag with small fish. using spinning rods and grubs,
wearing waders.

I released mine, first one was eating size, other 3 were smaller.

fished in just boots, no wading, very high tide, fish very close to shore.

same grub, fiberglass rod, baitcaster as before. leader is 30" of 10lb test. mainline is heavy bass line.

felt all squidder-retro out there. youngest son did some reeling for me.

it's a good thing surf perch aren't bigger or taste better or there'd be a lot less of them.

I stuck a couple more surf perch this morning (2007/11/24) @ seabright beach.

saw two other (old, little skinny asian) dudes fill a plastic bag with small fish. using spinning rods and grubs,
wearing waders.

I released mine, first one was eating size, other 3 were smaller.

fished in just boots, no wading, very high tide, fish very close to shore.

same grub, fiberglass rod, baitcaster as before. leader is 30" of 10lb test. mainline is heavy bass line.

felt all squidder-retro out there. youngest son did some reeling for me.

it's a good thing surf perch aren't bigger or taste better or there'd be a lot less of them.

Were you near the jetty or the river mouth?

they seem to be all up and down, main thing is to find a 'swirl' with not too much eel grass.

the other guys did not work just one spot, they worked the whole beach, generally one guy
on each side of a 'swirl'.

by the jetty has been best for me, it has a lot of debris there now, and my biggest fish came there,
but I caught most of my (small) fish right in the middle of the beach. I have never fished down
by the rivermouth because it has more people.

hmm... maybe I'll put on a big grub and have two casts this morning and see if I can land a
lunker. 6.7 foot high tide @ 9:42... so from 10 to 12 might be fun, and even after that,
but I'm planning to  surf in the afternoon.

"big waves, big fish" is what I have heard for surf perch, but I don't really know.

J

Unless the waves are so darn big when they crash down they scare the bejesus out of you.
I haven't been grubbing in a couple of years, but I saw a few guys bait fishing at Aptos and getting some about a pound. No "hubcaps," but over 10" It made me miss going after those little aggressive perch. I still can't believe the varaciousness of thebit from thos little guys. I never get over it. BENDO goes the rod and out comes a 6" fish.

I didn't land any perch today, but my grub had teeth marks in it.

I had to retrieve super slow to avoid too much seaweed.  Had to
stand high up on the beach due to big waves.

also, I tried a powerbait 2" pumpkinseed grub, a bigger weight (1.5oz),
and my spinning rig so maybe something there threw me off.

gave up after 30 minutes. lost time cause my first rig broke off on
the cast.

waves were big. went surfing later. still some red tide out there.

J