Monterey Bay Surf Perching

+1 on this being a a tough perch season. I've been walking the beaches of aptos consistently this winter/spring and not getting a quarter of the hookups of the last two years.

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Water Temp has been in the very low 50's since before  the New Year, as opposed by the previous 5 years with it hovering around 58
With that said, I've been most successful this year with smaller gear fished slowly

Oh that's interesting re: water temp.  I normally have a good feel for that from surfing, but this damn ankle sprain has kept me out of the water.  That said, it it has felt cold around my feet!

It makes sense that cold temps night slow fish metabolism and thus the bite, does anyone remember the bite being slow other cold water la nina winters?

+1 on this being a a tough perch season. I've been walking the beaches of aptos consistently this winter/spring and not getting a quarter of the hookups of the last two years.

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Water Temp has been in the very low 50's since before  the New Year, as opposed by the previous 5 years with it hovering around 58
With that said, I've been most successful this year with smaller gear fished slowly

Hopefully those water temps hold true for the bay. Water temps were in or near the 60's last year. Most salmon we caught were at 150 ft and deeper.. There were a few caught running near the shore at 60 ft but that was pretty uncommon.  Heck, we even had tuna in the bay with such warm waters last year. No bueno.

Yeah I hope these strong spring NW winds keep up and drive some solid upwelling this year.  The wind is no fun for fishing or surfing, nor is the cold water, but that upwelling is the base of the marine food chain here and I'd hate to see another summer of starved seabird carcasses on the beaches.

How does that work? Is it part of the la Nina pattern where westerly trade winds push water westward pulling cold water up from the deep trenches in areas like monterey bay? Does that usually translate into a better season when the water eventually does warm up?

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Basically strong NW winds push surface water off shore (which seems counterintuitive since NW is onshore, but the rotation of the earth makes it work that way).  Then cold bottom water loaded with sunken nutrients rises to fill the void.  This drives the immense productivity along the Cali coast by fertilizing the kelp and algae, and it all flows up the food web from there.

Here is a great Bay Nature article on it:

https://baynature.org/article/a-moveable-feast/

If this thread is old enough to hijack, I don't want to start a whole new one for surf fishing.

I'm going to Fort Ross Sunday-Tuesday but now the weather report looks too windy for kayaking.  Bummer.  Stuck on shore, I'll have a bit of time to mess around and switch things up from rock fishing.  Should I bother surf fishing at Jenner or in any of the small sandy coves around Fort Ross?  If I can get some good size perch it'll be nice to save my knees from the rocks for an afternoon.  If there's nothing to be had, or just small shiner perch, I'll push forward climbing rocks and pay the price later.

If this thread is old enough to hijack, I don't want to start a whole new one for surf fishing.

I'm going to Fort Ross Sunday-Tuesday but now the weather report looks too windy for kayaking.  Bummer.  Stuck on shore, I'll have a bit of time to mess around and switch things up from rock fishing.  Should I bother surf fishing at Jenner or in any of the small sandy coves around Fort Ross?  If I can get some good size perch it'll be nice to save my knees from the rocks for an afternoon.  If there's nothing to be had, or just small shiner perch, I'll push forward climbing rocks and pay the price later.

Head a little south of Jenner if you want a better chance of bringing home a few perch for the skillet. Check out some of the long, wide-open beaches in the area. If you just want to catch something, you can usually get some smaller rockfish and monkey faced pricklebacks pokepoling in the rocks at the Fort. Good luck !

If this thread is old enough to hijack, I don't want to start a whole new one for surf fishing.

I'm going to Fort Ross Sunday-Tuesday but now the weather report looks too windy for kayaking.  Bummer.  Stuck on shore, I'll have a bit of time to mess around and switch things up from rock fishing.  Should I bother surf fishing at Jenner or in any of the small sandy coves around Fort Ross?  If I can get some good size perch it'll be nice to save my knees from the rocks for an afternoon.  If there's nothing to be had, or just small shiner perch, I'll push forward climbing rocks and pay the price later.

Keep in mind the Russian River SMCA when thinking about fishing near Jenner:

Boundary: This area is bounded by the mean high tide line, the mouth of the Russian River estuary as defined in Section 632(b)(37)(A), and straight lines connecting the following points in the order listed:

38° 27.380' N. lat. 123° 08.580' W. long.;
38° 26.380' N. lat. 123° 08.580' W. long.; and
38° 26.380' N. lat. 123° 07.700' W. long.

Permitted/Prohibited Uses:

It is unlawful to injure, damage, take, or possess any living, geological, or cultural marine resource for recreational and/or commercial purposes, with the following specified exceptions:
The recreational take of Dungeness crab by trap, and surf smelt using hand-held dip net or beach net is allowed.
The commercial take of Dungeness crab by trap is allowed.

Ahh cool, I'll stick to the rocks then.  I do actually like the eels and would rather fillet a whole mess of them than skunk entirely.  I definitely check Fish Legal app any time I'm fishing the coast and will not get caught unaware in protected areas. I'm so glad to have that information easily available and linked to GPS!  Thanks y'all!