Spearfishing Striped Bass in the Surf in California: Summer of 2016

Compilation vid from May through August...all fish taken with a Pathos 75 with reel and single small ID band from Red Triangle Spearfishing:



Little bit of advice for guys wanting to try this...

Get a reel and leave the floatline at home.

When diving in the surfline it is a lot easier to just jump in with your gun rather than having 75 feet of line trailing behind you and getting pushed and pulled by the breakers etc.

Also, you take up less "territory" if you don't have a floatline...this is important because there are often surf casters walking up and down the beach and you wanna be respectful and courteous and not get in their way anymore than is needed...

FWIW, all my face to face interactions with surfcasters have been very positive, and when I have seen guys casting at a spot I walk past them a good ways to not crowd them.

Spearing these fish is still pretty new (since 2013) so some surf casters may not be stoked to see you out there, but if you are polite and respectful of them and the resource I think that goes a long way...

And as always, don't pull the trigger unless you are sure the fish is legal sized and don't take more than you need...the medium sized fish taste great too!!

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Very impressive.


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Very impressive.


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Thanks Matt!!

Little bit of advice for guys wanting to try this...

Get a reel and leave the floatline at home.

When diving in the surfline it is a lot easier to just jump in with your gun rather than having 75 feet of line trailing behind you and getting pushed and pulled by the breakers etc.

Also, you take up less "territory" if you don't have a floatline...this is important because there are often surf casters walking up and down the beach and you wanna be respectful and courteous and not get in their way anymore than is needed...

FWIW, all my face to face interactions with surfcasters have been very positive, and when I have seen guys casting at a spot I walk past them a good ways to not crowd them.

Spearing these fish is still pretty new (since 2013) so some surf casters may not be stoked to see you out there, but if you are polite and respectful of them and the resource I think that goes a long way...

And as always, don't pull the trigger unless you are sure the fish is legal sized and don't take more than you need...the medium sized fish taste great too!! 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

All of your videos are just plain bad ass.  Thanks for sharing, I enjoy every one of them.

I'd love to give it a try but too many issues to overcome.  Keep posting.

All of your videos are just plain bad ass.  Thanks for sharing, I enjoy every one of them.

+1k on this!
Awesome job on skewering these fish in the surf.
On the videos, all I see is you pulling the trigger, and then a couple of seconds later a fish flopping around.
I never see the flash of a fish or anything before you shoot.
How, do you know it's a legal sized fish when it's so hard to see (at least from the video it seems impossible even when setting the vid to the highest Res.).
Anyways, Keep up the great videos. 

Damian

Gill Rippin good time. Manshit

Beautiful video Jim. ....nice shooting.  Congratulations! !!!

That looks like both fun and great eating!
I remember several years back when we'd been turning our brains dizzy hunting halibut over the sand ripples coming in north of the holiday inn. There were quite a few just at the surf- I m pretty sure they weren't legal then. But clearly you've got the hunt dialed in!
Bet the surf casters will start following you!

Thanks for the kind words guys!!

 

Song on vid is "I am California" by John Craigie..great musician.

http://www.johncraigiemusic.com/bio/

How, do you know it's a legal sized fish when it's so hard to see

Practice and experience and erring on the side of caution...

I'm used to shooting a lot of fish and measuring them after so have a pretty good feel for what 22 inches (min Ling size looks like)....

In 2015 I saw a small striper at night and captured him on film (see attached pic) and decided he was short (prolly 17 inches or so ?) and used that to help with judging future fish...

Also, the first day this May that I shot fish I shot a 20 incher and a 24 incher (see second pic) and so remembered what the 20 incher looked like underwater and have passed on any fish that looked smaller than that...

The majority of the fish I took this year were right in the 24/25 inch range so I think I've got recognizing that size down pretty good...see other pics...

Was also lucky enough to get a 33.5 incher and two in the 43 inch range so now have those images/memories added to the catalog in my brain to help in judging future fish size...

http://doty.norcalkayakanglers.com/catches/2317

http://doty.norcalkayakanglers.com/catches/2310

http://doty.norcalkayakanglers.com/catches/2316

With these fish you do need to make quick decisions (much quicker than with Lings/cabs that are often sitting still) since they are swimming past you in murky water, but like anything the more you do it the better you get at it?

When I see I a striper here is what goes through my mind:

1. Am I sure the fish is of legal size? If I'm not sure I don't pull the trigger.

2. Do I have a good shot? (Is the fish within range? Do I have a good shot angle? Do I have time to pull the trigger before it goes by?) If I don't think I have a good shot I don't want to pull the trigger. Sucks to hit a fish and have it tear off and leave a gash in its back or belly. It happens, but I try and avoid it when I can.

So far that has been pretty much all I have been able to think of before pulling the trigger or not on a striper...hunting stripers in the surf (for me at least) has been VERY different than hunting other NorCal fish...if I see a Ling or a Cabezon in a hole I can pretty much take my time and size up the fish and go through numbers 1 and 2 above and then also think "I know this fish is legal, and I have a good shot, but is this a fish I want to take today? Do I need the meat or have I harvested enough already today? Is it guarding eggs, if so I will leave it. etc etc"

I would like to get skilled enough at hunting stripers in the surf that I can go through all of the above in my mind and still have time to take the shot, or pass on it....I'm not there yet to be honest, but I'm trying.

Hunting them in rivers/freshwater may provide the hunter more time and more chances to harvest or pass on different size fish, I honestly don't know. I can only speak to my experience since 2013 of looking for them in the surf in Monterey and Santa Cruz counties...and to be honest it has been mostly quick moving fish in murky, dark, aerated, sandy moving water with very little time to take the shot or not.

Hope that helps?

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Thanks for the super in-depth (no pun intended) answers BigJim!

Jim, shoot em all, in the face.

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Jim, shoot em all, in the face.

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YES!

 

 

Sincerely,

Jim

Kind of like hunting some grouse, pheasants, or quail. Sudden erruption of game and split second to pick and shoot! I love it! Someday, I want to try this spearo thing. Gotta get healthy first 

The one at 1:46 has an elongate face look like a snook!  congrats again on a bountiful summer

The one at 1:46 has an elongate face look like a snook! 

Martin, I know right?!?

Weird looking guy...

 

Sincerely,

Jim